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 su...

Here we go again... After finding out that nobody was interested in its "stealthy" F-15SE Silent Eagle, Boeing is now promoting yet another F-15 variant, the F-15X "Super Eagle ". Those of you not familiar with the "Silent Eagle" can be forgiven.  Boeing concocted the idea when it realized it was running out of fighters to build .  The F-15SE was a valiant effort.  Building upon the much loved F-15E Strike Eagle, the SE updated the platform with modern avionics, sensors, and even stealth improvements.  Aimed towards current F-15 operators, the Silent Eagle promised a happy compromise between the F-35 bleeding edge stealth and the F-15's performance and reliability. Unfortunately for Boeing, the Silent Eagle never found a buyer.  The closest it came was South Korea's FX-III  competition, when its competitors (Typhoon and F-35) failed to meet budget targets.  In the end, South Korea decided on a reduced number of F-35s instead. One can u...

There was nothing Jim enjoyed more than a game of "Pull the Nozzle". There is an oft repeated trope that Canada requires a twin-engined aircraft for "safety reasons".  Some even go so far as to rule out any single-engine  fighter as a replacement for Canada's CF-18 Hornets. This blog has examined the issue before .  While it certainly is not an unfounded opinion, modern jet engine reliability has rendered the argument all but moot.  Both the RCAF and the Government of Canada seemed to agree when they made the infamous decision to sole-source the F-35 Lightning II. When the current Trudeau government campaigned on the promise to cancel the JSF purchase, it was on the grounds of cost, not safety. There are still those that lack confidence in a single-engine layout, however.  Perhaps a stronger argument needs to be made. The best way to make a comparison is to eliminate as many variables as possible.  In this case we will examine two fighters tha...

VS. ( Sorry about the haphazard updates lately.  Summer is here, the weather is too nice, and great outdoors beckons. ) My last Question of the Week (or so) looked at the potential for using a bomber platform as an air-superiority asset.  A resounding 64% of you think I might need mental health counseling for even asking the question Fair enough. This week (or so)'s question revolves around the need to balance numbers with capability. In most cases with fighter aircraft, you get what you pay for.  Top-notch fighters like the F-22 earn their "air-superiority" classification thanks to their speed, agility, and powerful sensor suite.  The ability to out-run, out-maneuver, and out-shoot an opponent does not come cheap, however.  The F-22 was an incredibly expensive aircraft to develop and build, and it has more than triple the cost-per-flight-hour (CPFH) of the F-16C . Needless to say, during the post-Cold War era of declining defense budgets,...

When the UK, Spain, Germany, and Italy got together to design the Eurofighter Typhoon, one wonders why they simply did not decide to procure the F-15 Eagle instead.  Instead, they decided to to go one better and develop a new medium-sized multirole fighter.  In theory, this had the benefit of both producing a fighter for the 21st century (hence the "Eurofighter 2000" moniker) as well as keeping the European aerospace industry up to date. Did they succeed?  In a word...  Yes.  But not without difficulty.  The Typhoon program has been beset with cost overruns, maintenance issues, and dissent among the partner nations.  Much of this is due to simple timing.  With the Cold War ended, many questioned the need for a cutting edge fighter. In recent years, economic concerns have led to austerity measures.  Now, the Eurofighter partners are looking for foreign buyers to help breath new life into the Typhoon. The F-15 had no such issues. ...

In this week's edition of FJFC we look at a classic scenario pitting an up-and-coming star against a grizzled old veteran.  The Lockheed-Martin F-35 is the new kid in town, looking to make a name for itself.  A product of the Xbox generation, this kid played Call of Duty on a plasma screen, not Cops and Robbers in the backyard.  While its being promoted as "the next big thing" in fighter aircraft, many remain unimpressed . Some say that it has only gotten this far due to "friends in high places" and a few greased palms . Unlike the new kid, many think the F-15 Eagle's best days are behind it.  Despite many years as the reigning champion , it has been surpassed by another prizefighter, the F-22.  This, despite the fact that the F-22's fights have all been fixed and real challengers ignored .  Some even say that the F-22 has issues that make it impossible to work with . The F-15 has not been sitting idly by, however.  The Boeing Bruiser keeps...

Please, Boeing...  Pretty please. For those of you who might have missed it, the Ottawa Citizen's Defense Watch blog posted another three-part thesis on why Canada should adopt the Boeing F-15SE Silent Eagle to replace the CF-18.  The article can be read here: Part 1 Part 2  Part 3 The author, Kristopher D. Lorelli, makes some great points.  The trouble is, Boeing has not seen fit to offer up the Silent Eagle to Canada.  Instead, it is offering up the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.  This does make sense, as the Super Hornet can be seen as a logical replacement to legacy Hornet.  It would also likely be a easier sell given the Super Hornet's reputation as an affordable and reliable workhorse. The F-15 on the other hand, was already passed over once by the Canadian government, when the smaller, newer, and (most importantly) cheaper F/A-18 was selected.  If Canada didn't select the F-15 back when it was still in its prime, why would it select i...

The RAH-66 Comanche With the all-or-nothing attitude toward the F-35A , combined with the insistence that the A-10 is no longer a useful platform , one wonders if the USAF still has its head on right.  Surely, with all the JSF's issues and controversy, not to mention the threat of budget cuts, they would at least be considering a "plan C", wouldn't they? Well, thankfully for the USAF, it would appear as though someone  is questioning General Mark Welsh's insistence that "there is no other choice" for the USAF but to acquire over 1,700 F-35As in order to replace the bulk of its fighter fleet. Colonel Micheal W. Pietrucha of the USAF has written a well thought out piece on the F-35, some of its more glaring tactical issues, as well as proposals for viable alternatives. The piece can be read in its entirety here. Pietrucha compares the JSF to another ill-fated stealth aircraft program, the RAH-66 Comanche .  The result of the Light Helicopter E...