BEST FIGHTER FOR CANADA

In 1959, the Avro Arrow was canceled by then-Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.  After sixty years, many still view the decision with disgust.  For them, the Avro Arrow was more than an interceptor; it was the embodiment of Canadian pride.  The Arrow was proof that the Canadian aerospace was on par, if not superior to, anything else in the world. In retrospect, those people were right. The Arrow was Canada's last serious effort to design its own fighter jet.  Not only that, Canada has pretty much given up designing any military aircraft since then.  The CP-107 Argus ASW aircraft, developed alongside the Arrow, failed to justify a Canadian successor after   The far less ambitious DHC-4 Caribou's lineage died after the DHC-5 Caribou. While Canada still maintains a robust aerospace industry, it is dwarfed by the American and European giants.  Our largest indigenous aerospace manufacturer, Bombardier specializes in small regional airliners and busi...

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...

Forgive me if this post seems a bit like a rant.  I've been fighting both a gastrointestinal infection and a lung infection for the last few days and the meds are only helping me so much... The United States Government Accountability Office recently released its yearly report on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter .  This 2018 report is of importance because the decision to enter full production will be made in October this year. Spoiler alert:  Despite being in development for over 17 years, there are still major deficiencies in aircraft performance, longevity, and even safety .  Even with the current problems, the US Department of Defense " plans to defer resolving some critical deficiencies found in testing until after its full-rate production decision in October 2019, even though DOD’s policy states that critical deficiencies generally will be resolved before then." It would seem " concurrency " is the gift that keeps on giving.  Why mess around recallin...

Why is the fighter jet debate so fraught with political baggage? A recurring theme of the fighter jet debate is that it would go immensely smoother if it were not for all the partisan grandstanding and bickering gumming up the process.  Politics has a nasty habit of delaying or sometime outright ending a promising defence acquisition.  Politicians, eager to sway public favor, will demonize a program while in opposition, only to bungle the process themselves once in power. Much like being stuck for 10 minutes in the Tim Horton's drive-through, it is a Canadian tradition.  It is also infuriating. Going all the way back to the Avro Arrow (and even further back), Canadian military procurement has been fraught with political intervention.  It has become so commonplace that it is difficult to find an example where politics  has not  played a major role. The FWSAR replacement was a prime example.  What should have been a straight-forward process...

As we enter 2019 and what  should be  the homestretch of Canada's CF-18 replacement saga, I thought it would be useful to do a quick update on where all the fighters stand. F-35 LIGHTNING II After years of development problems and controversy, the F-35 can now be declared an operational fighter.  The jet has been declared IOC for both the USAF and the USMC, with the USN scheduled for later this year.  Not only that, but  foreign customers are taking deliveries  and the aircraft has even seen  limited comba t. Better still, the JSF's unit cost has finally dropped.  While early models were wildly expensive, later model prices seem to have leveled off to approximately  $95 million  (US) per unit.  Most recently, the F-35A broke the  $90 million barrier . Despite the current Trudeau government campaigning on the promise to not buy the F-35, the JSF is still very much a contender to replace the CF-18.  The requirem...

Once again, I apologize for the lack of content lately.  My work/life balance has been completely out of whack lately and I needed a little time to perform what mental health experts call "self care"...  Which basically means taking a step back and relaxing for a bit. I am working on new material and I do plan to follow Canada's fighter selection saga until the bitter end (whenever that is), In the meantime, please check out Alex McColl's thesis on on the subject, available here .

Well...  That didn't take long. Less than a week after Canada released a new Request for Proposals (RFP) to replace the CF-18, Dassault has decided to drop out of the running.  This is despite the fact that the new RFP made it easier  for European fighter manufacturers to compete . Unfortunately for Dassault, the new RFP still required the ability to integrate with existing NORAD and NATO infrastructure.  Most notedly, encrypted communication.  While the RFP did allow for additional leeway to meet this requirements, it does entail additional cost and risk.  This was likely too much for Dassault. As unfortunate as this news is, it should not be that much of a surprise.  Out of the five contenders, the Rafale was always the the "odd man out" when it came to compatibility.  Dassault's insistence on French-sourced weapons and subsystems makes the Rafale a harder sell to other NATO nations, especially those with their own aerospace industry t...