BEST FIGHTER FOR CANADA

For years, the Pentagon and the USAF have extolled the virtues of the F-35 Lightning II.  The message has been very clear:  Fourth-generation fighters are now obsolete, no matter how good they may have been in the past.  The JSF is a complete game-changer, a paradigm shift in air combat.  Whatever the mission, the F-35 is superior. While the USAF will not come out and say it, it is clear that they are they are not as enamored with the F-35 as the public relations material would suggest.  Earlier this month, the USAF proposed to cut F-35 orders down to 78 from 84 . And then...  In its 2020 budget, the USAF is swapping out JSF orders in favor of the F-15EX .  cut its F-35 orders from 54 units a year to 48.  This will free up enough money for the USAF to procure 8 F-15EXs instead.  Moving forward, F-15EX deliveries will ramp up to 18 per year. This certainly pokes a AMRAAM-sized hole in the press material that states that the JSF is superior to fourth-generation aircraft in both

Let me get this off my chest...  I hate the term "emerging threats". Those two simple words are a powerful combination.  They are ominous and imply a need for urgency while also being incredibly vague.  What are these threats?  Where are they emerging?  How long do we have until we see them?  Will it be too late once we do? The term is often used when justifying some sort of military largesse, whether it be a cutting edge weapon system or massive building projects .  After all, what better way to combat "emerging threats" than to SIMPLY BE PREPARED FOR ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING. Nothing exemplifies this more than the current United States military.  It is not enough to have the biggest military in the world, but a larger military than the rest of the world combined.   Despite this, there is still the drive to take it even further.  The mere suggestion of a slight reduction is scoffed at.  How could the USN possibly get by with only 10 nuclear powered superc