BEST FIGHTER FOR CANADA

As much as the F-35 Lightning II gets more than its fair share of criticism and ridicule , it is far from the worst aircraft of all time.  At the end of the day, it will still be a decent strike fighter with a a good payload and advanced sensors.  No, the worst aircraft are the ones that are almost impossible to defend, served little or no purpose, or straight up had no real reason to exist in the first place. In honour of Canadian Thanksgiving, here's a few turkeys! NB-36 Nuclear powered bomber See that "RADIOACTIVE" decal on the tail?  Yup, the NB-36 was a planned version of the B-36 bomber that would power its propellor engines using a full-blown nuclear reactor, similar to that of a nuclear submarine or aircraft carrier.  Needless to say, the possibility of an aircraft fitted with a live, working nuclear reactor crashing anywhere near a populated area makes us all thankful this aircraft never made it to production. Brewster Buffalo F2A While the Br...

Canada's military procurement.  A few hits, but mostly misses.   Canada's military procurement strategy lately seems to beg the question:  "Does Canada have a military procurement strategy?" Big ticket items, like fighter jets, helicopters, and even a new headquarters seem almost unobtainable thanks to controversy, cost overruns and delays.  In the meantime, the Canadian Armed Forces are left wondering when the new equipment will arrive, if ever. How bad is it?  Some have compared it to a Monty Python movie. The Sea King replacement:  Going on 30 years of searching... The most notorious example, the Sea King replacement, has now been in the works since 1983.  It's one time designated replacement, the EH101, was canned by the Chretien government back in 1993, and the program was put on the back burner until the mid-1990s.  Finally, in 2004, a militarized version of the Sikorsky S-92 Cougar, dubbed the CH-148 Cyclone, was selected....

Sorry about my lack of posting this week. Consider me furloughed.  

Chengdu J-10A Big, nasty, superfighters like the PAK FA and J-20 are getting plenty of headlines regarding their performance.  Other designs like the updated Sukhoi Su-35 are getting plenty of attention as well.  Undoubtedly, these are the designs that current and future military planners are seeing as the biggest threat to western air dominance.  Much like the emergence of the MiG-25 during the Cold War, western air experts are seriously wondering if western designs can hold their own against these emerging threats. But the MiG-25 wasn't the biggest fighter threat of the Cold War.  It was produced in relatively small numbers and it had a rather specialized role as an interceptor, meaning it wasn't a very good air-superiority fighter. No, the biggest aerial threat during the Cold War was the MiG-21. One of MANY MiG-21s Was the MiG-21 a good fighter?  Not when compared to American F-16s and F-15s it wasn't.  It had quite a short rang...

"Anybody know where I can find a job?" It's good to know a retired RCAF officer need not rely strictly on his or her modest pension after retirement.  There are plenty of other jobs in the private or public sector for those with the experience and credentials. Take Lt. General Charles Bouchard for instance, just slightly over a year (the mandatory "cooling off period) after his retirement from the RCAF, Bouchard has now been chosen as the new boss in charge of Lockheed Martin's operations in Canada.  Quite the prestigious, and no doubt well compensated position. Does the name sound familiar?  It should, Bouchard led NATO forces during the bombing runs over Libya a few years back.  While the actual benefits of that action are debatable , the operation itself went off rather smoothly.   But perhaps you heard the name somewhere else, maybe more recently? Back in December 2012, when the damning KPMG report prompted the Canadian federal govern...

Goldilocks be damned.  Too expensive, not enough two-seat models, not stealthy enough. In a move not unlike an elementary school recess game of "soccer tag", South Korea has declared the unofficial winner of its K-X competition , the F-15SE, has now been disqualified for not following rules that weren't agreed upon at the start of the game. As previously reported here, South Korea's K-X competition between the F-35A Lightning II, Eurofighter Typhoon, and F-15SE "Silent Eagle"was for 60 jet fighters to replace aging F-4s and F-5s. A hard and fast budget of 8.3 trillion won (US$7.2 billion) was set.  The F-35, in which the unit cost is still very much in flux, was the first eliminated . It could not be delivered at a fixed price due to U.S. foreign military sales regulations. Shortly after, the Eurofighter Typhoon, very much the dark horse of the competition due to close S. Korean and U.S. ties, was eliminated.  Eurofighter's bid, while under bud...

Textron Scorpion Textron, parent company to Cessna, the well known civil aviation manufacturer, unveiled an interesting concept recently named the Scorpion. It's a two-seat, twin turbofan design meant to be used as a light strike aircraft, ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) platform, or a trainer.  Wing pylons are capable of mounting external fuel, weapons, or sensors.  A modular design allows easy customization for potential customers. The Scorpion's stingers. While it certainly appears sleek, with a tail quite reminiscent of the F-14 Tomcat, the Scorpion is certainly no dogfighter.  It's incapable of supersonic flight and those long, straight wings are designed with loiter time in mind, not high speed performance.  Still, the promise of an affordable ($3,000 per flight hour) light attack and ISR platform seems to have a lot of potential in the days of military budget cutbacks and uber-expensive stealth fighters. But is there a market?...