BEST FIGHTER FOR CANADA

"Have I got a deal for you..." In the wake of the Boeing/Bombardier/Airbus fiasco, the Boeing Super Hornet is all but disqualified as Canada's " interim fighter " to fulfill the " capability gap " inflicting the RCAF.  That has left the Government of Canada scrambling to find another fighter to bolster is aging CF-18 fleet.  Unfortunately, this means considering buying used legacy Hornets from other nations. To some, this is an  acceptable idea .  Next to buying simply nothing at all, it certainly is the most affordable option.  Apart from the the initial purchase price and getting the aircraft up to Canadian spec, there would be no additional costs required for training or setting up separate supply chains.  Procuring used Hornets would be as close to "plug-and-play" as we could ever get. It could be argued that used Hornets would be a much more sensible option than new-build Super Hornets.  This certainly is true from a value propos...

RAAF F/A-18 Hornet Canada has officially begun the process to acquire used F/A-18 Hornets from the RAAF .  It has presented the Australian government with a "Letter of Interest".  This tire-kicking will give a sense as to how much these second-hand fighters would cost us and how soon they would arrive. Let me save the Trudeau government some trouble:  Don't bother. This is not to disparage the Australians or the RAAF.  Like Canada, the Aussies have continuously upgraded and refurbished their fleet of Hornets.  While there are minor differences between the two, integration into the RCAF fleet should be relatively "plug-and-play". As far as costs go, second-hand F/A-18s would likely seem like a bargain.  It would certainly be a lot more affordable than the mind-boggling $5.23 billion quoted for 18 Boeing Super Hornets . So why give the RAAF Hornets a pass? It is a simple matter of availability.  The whole point of the interim fighter is to...

Welp...  So much for that! Thanks to " Trumponomics " the plan to acquire 18 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets is now effectively dead . While not yet official , Boeing has now positioned itself  persona non grata  to Canada's Liberal government.  After months of rhetoric and threats, the Liberal government would be foolish to back down on their threats to cancel its Super Hornet buy if Boeing continued its suit against Bombardier. Procuring the Super Hornet at this point would be political suicide to the Liberal party.  They would be roasted, and rightly so, all the way to the next election.  In the meantime, they risk appearing weak in NAFTA talks.  Who would back down against a government full of empty threats? Barring any last-minute compromise, the idea of a Canadian Super Hornet dead on arrival.  And we were so close, too . What is Canada to do now though?  We still have a fleet of rapidly aging fighters and a "capability gap".  We...

No...  Not that. It would seem that the CF-18 is not the only RCAF asset that is being tasked with flying past its prime. (Unlike the wonderful and evergreen Anne Murray) There ya go. Recent news reports have stated that the RCAF's fabled demonstration team will likely continue flying the venerable CT-114 Tutor until the year 2030 .  This would put the 60's era jet trainers approaching their 70th birthday by the time they retire.  Not as a design, but as actual 70-year-old airframes, as the last Tutor was built in 1966.  Even now, the Snowbirds can be considered ancient artifacts (apologies to any of my readers over the age of 50).   There is no shame in this, as the CT-114 Tutor has outlasted the CF-101 Voodoo, and is well on track to outlasting the CF-18 as well.   Indeed, the 431 Demonstration Squadron could be considered a "Heritage Flight".  As Professor Jones would say: From 1961 to 2000, the CT-114 Tutor served ...

And so it begins...  Again... The Canadian Government has taken its first step towards (hopefully) restarting its quest to find a suitable replacement for the CF-18. The " CF-18 REPLACEMENT INDUSTRY CONSULTATION QUESTIONNAIRE " was answered by five aerospace companies (Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Saab, Eurofighter, and Dassault) regarding their respected fighters. Earlier reports that the Canadian government may sole-source an "interim" Super Hornet buy were met with sharp criticism (not from me) that doing so would break a Liberal election promise to hold an fair and open fighter competition.  Selecting a sole-source Super Hornet as an interim solution would make it all but inevitable for a full purchase.  Even if a different fighter was selected afterward, the additional costs of operating a diversified fighter fleet would cause financial stress. [NOTE:  I believe the interim Super Hornet idea may have been intentionally "leaked" to gauge reactio...

F/A-18E Super Hornet The National Post yesterday announced that the current Liberal government is making plans to acquire the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet as an "interim" replacement for the CF-18. The story can be seen here . It is important to note that there has yet to be an official announcement.  The National Post does state that the story was confirmed from "multiple sources", however. Purchasing or leasing the Super Hornet as a "interim" fighter would follow Australia's example .  In 2011, the RAAF announced plans to purchase 24 Super Hornets as a way to bridge the gap between its aging legacy Hornets and its eventual acquisition of the F-35A Lightning II. In retrospect, one can see that a major announcement should be forthcoming.  Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan recently stated: “ Our fleet of CF-18s need to be replaced now. And the fact they have not been replaced means we are facing a capability gap in the years ahead ,”  This cont...