BEST FIGHTER FOR CANADA

As Canada's 151st birthday passes by, Canadians enjoy the usual swell of patriotism.  No wonder, as  our nation is pretty great .  The last two years has found even the least-patriotic Canadians being proud.  Even those curmudgeons have to admit...  " At least we're not the United States." Canada still, and always will, have its share of issues.  That is to be expected.  Unlike some other nations, we still have an air of optimism about us.  Things are good and we hope that we can make them even better. One only has to take a cursory glance at the rest of the world to realize that not everyone shares Canada's optimism.  Not only are people taking a pessimistic view...  But they are looking for someone to blame. It is for this reason that Canadian as a whole must make a renewed commitment to its own sovereignty, lest we get bogged down with the same division. One need only look to our southern neighbor to realize how a nat...

The UK Ministry of Defence made a major announcement at the Farnborough Air Show today.  It unveiled plans for a new fighter to replace the Eurofighter Typhoon . First of all, let us start with the name:  TEMPEST.  It is very cool.  The name implies lineage with the current Typhoon and harkens back to the Hawker Tempest fighter-bomber of WWII.  Not only that, but the name "Tempest" is darn-right Shakespearean . The design itself seems rather plain in comparison. BAE Replica At first glance, it resembles the BAE Systems Replica  design study.  A stealthy twin-engined, twin-tailed delta that also happens to look eerily similar to Boeing's X-32.  There even seems to be a slight resemblance to the Handley-Page Victor bomber. While the Tempest is being billed as a sixth generation fighter, its appearance is distinctly fifth generation.  Then again, nobody really knows what "6th gen" aircraft are going to look like...  Desp...

Although some might believe otherwise, I have really done my best to present the F-35 in a fair and unbiased light.  I have even warmed up to it somewhat lately, going so far that it could  have a place in a mixed Canadian fleet ...  And then I see something that makes it nearly impossible to take any of Lockheed Martin's marketing fluff seriously. Look at the above graphic, coming from a positively glowing article from ForeignPolicy.com . Does anything seem a bit off to you? Those numbers are optimistic.  Wildly optimistic. According to Lockheed Martin, Canada (notice the asterisk there) canceled its planned JSF purchase (of 65 planes)...  But because of Boeing's tomfoolery, it will now buy 88  F-35s instead. Huh? While the F-35 is still very much in the running, its high cost and recent political fallout make it far from a sure thing. Yet this infographic presents it as such. Yeah... Maybe Lockheed Martin can be excused for being bullis...

Happy Canada Day everyone! Enjoy the (hopefully not too hot) weather, crack open a cold one, light up the barbecue, and be proud! Nobody ever needs to say "Make Canada Great Again"...  We never stopped.