BEST FIGHTER FOR CANADA

Is one of these a deathtrap? There was a decent crown at the air show today.  It was a beautiful August Saturday, with just the slightest wisps of clouds high up.   "Time to start the show." Captain Buster said to himself as he throttled his trusty CF-18 Hornet demonstrator up and off the tarmac.  Buster had a privilege of following The Snowbirds that day, so he knew he had his work cut out for him.  "No problem." he thought, those 50-year-old CT-114s may have their precision, but the ol' Hornet had raw power on its side.  Captain Buster imagined he could hear the crowd's "Ooohhs!" and "Aahhhs!" over the roar of this after burning GE404 turbofans.  Even after 30 years of service, the Hornet was still an impressive plane.  Its high thrust and high angle-of-attack performance allowed it to perform maneuvers that seemed to contradict the laws of physics.  "Not bad for an old girl..." thought Buster with a smile. ...

Eurofighter Typhoon:  Limited to 1,500 hours? As if a history of maintenance issues, parts availability, and high costs were not enough, it looks like the Eurofighter Typhoon has a new fly in its ointment. Recently a " manufacturing fault " has resulted in Typhoon deliveries being put on hold.  On top of this, existing aircraft are now limited to a mere 1,500 flight hours.  This is a mere fraction of the 6,000-8,000 flight hours typical for medium-sized multirole fighters.  For reference, Canada's current CF-18 fleet is now pushing 6,000. The Typhoon's problem seems to originate in the way parts of the f uselage are drilled for rivets . BAE Systems and Britain’s RAF reportedly discovered that some of the rivet holes in the rear fuselage of the jet were drilled in ways that could introduce splinters and cracks into the rear fuselage, giving it less ability to resist wear and tear. That section is built by BAE, and tests are underway to get a more precise e...

"A few more rolls of duct tape and she'll be good as new!" It looks like Canada will not be getting new fighter aircraft anytime soon. RCAF CF-18s are getting another life-extension, this time to keep the aircraft flying until 2025 .  This comes with news that Canada has invested another  $25-30 million into the Joint Strike Fighter in order to "buy the plane at a slight discount if it chooses" and, more importantly, remain eligible to bid on JSF related contracts. The message here is very clear, the Canadian government still sort of wants to buy the F-35...  Just not right now. This places it in a difficult position, however.  Aging CF-18s are already stationed in the Baltic region and now there is talk they may participate in airstrikes against ISIS/ISIL .  Meanwhile, an election is scheduled for fall of next year.  The "strong on defense" Conservative party will have a lot of pressure on them for sending Canadian military personnel into c...

HMCS Protecteur being towed by USNS Sioux The Canadian Navy's two Protecteur- class replenishment ships are done.  After 45 years of faithful service, HMCS Protecteur suffered an engine room fire off the coast of Hawaii and needed to be towed back to port.  Her sister ship, the HMCS Preserver, is not doing much better.  In 2011, it smashed into a Halifax dock causing over a half-million dollars in damages .  Both ships have been plagued with electrical problems . These ships are no longer just "showing their age".  One of these ships is now officially dead with the other on life support.  Recently, it was announced that both ships have sailed their last journeys , along with the similar vintaged HMCS Iroquois and HMCS Algonquin destroyers.  This is just as well, as the two Protecteur- class ships were beginning to wear out there welcome in many ports thanks to their monohull design. The Queenston- class These two ships have served Ca...

Captain Buster was about to take his CF-18 fighter back to base.  Several boring hours of flying over the Canadian tundra had left his aircraft at near bingo fuel.  His stomach started to rumble as he started to contemplate what was for dinner at the mess hall that night.  "Maybe that cute logistics officer would be there again tonight" he thought with a smile. "PING!"   His thoughts were rudely interrupted as a blip appeared on the very edge of his radar screen.   "Unidentified bogey detected coming in from the north!"  Blared the excited voice of his wingman through the headset.  Captain Buster wished he could go back in time thirty seconds and preemptively turn down the volume.   "Calm down, Newbie..."  Answered Buster.  "It's probably nothing.  Just in case, lets check it out before we run out of gas."  He did not want his wingman to know it, but this one just did not feel right.  The hair...

WARNING:  THE ABOVE VIDEO CONTAINS SPOILERS! (Seriously though, the movie's 15 years old, go see it already!) So that's it.   After weeks of pitting various fighters against each other, the dust has finally cleared and we are left with...  What exactly? I would like to be able to say that after examining all of the aircraft potentially available, one aircraft has stood out.  That aircraft enjoyed an undefeated streak in FJFC and is unequivocally the best fighter for Canada. I would like to say that...  But I can't. I am no expert.  I have no inside knowledge about these aircraft, their systems, nor their operating procedures.  What I have is access to is the information that if publicly available to anyone with an internet connection.  In other words, all comparisons were made based on the obvious.  Does that mean "Fighter A" is better than "Fighter B"?  Of course not.  My scoring was basic.  ...