BEST FIGHTER FOR CANADA

I apologize for my extended vacation from the blog.  There has not been a lot of aviation-related news lately, and the Clinton/Trump debacle of 2016 has most of my attention.  (Enough that I have an extended rant ready to post about how Trump's candidacy will effect Canada's long-term defence needs.) We can thank China for giving us aviation buffs something to talk about.  Not one, but  two J-20  "Mighty Dragons" made its  public debut  the other day, after years of being a  poorly kept secret .  While its performance and equipment specifications are still relatively unknown, China has made it very clear that it is now making 5th generation stealth fighters. From a design standpoint, the J-20 is clearly aimed at the F-22 and the Russian PAK FA.  Unlike the F-35, this is a big twin-engined fighter.  Also similar to the F-22 and PAK FA, the J-20 utilizes four (not two) internal weapon bays.  Its forward weapon bays, ...

Oooh...  Fancy. I always get suspicious when the the JSF program releases a fancy new picture and a bit of positive news.  While the photograph is always well done, the "good news" is usually rather anti-climatic.  Often, it merely boasts of meeting defined test points, stuff that should be deemed merely acceptable, not brag-worthy.  What would be news is if the JSF did not meet these test points. This is exactly the case this past weekend, when the program office released the picture you see above, along with the press statement that the  "F-35 CONTINUES ON PATH TOWARD FULL WEAPONS CERTIFICATION" Good to know that the F-35 might actually have weapons when the USMC declares initial operating capability (IOC) in six months . As impressive as that photo above looks, there are a few caveats: First of all, ignore those 25mm cannon rounds in the foreground.  The gun that shoots them will not be ready until 2019 . Second, you will notice most of t...

ShenYang J-31 Another close vote for last week's "What if".  At 37%, the Gripen is the most favored choice for a possible interim fighter for Canada.  Two other options, the Rafale and Super Hornet are almost tied at 26% and 25% respectively.  No love for used Typhoons or other choices, however. This week's "What if?" goes into completely different territory.  Of all the "What ifs" presented here, it is the most improbable.  No, I have not last my damn mind (that happened long ago).  The whole point of these scenarios is to open up our minds and consider everything, so why not go completely off the deep end? China does not have a good reputation when it comes to building combat aircraft.  For the most part, their expertise seems to be in designing home-grown versions of Russian aircraft .   China has been combatting this reputation, however. Knock-off? While some have dismissed the Chengdu J-10 as a knock off of the stillborn IAI L...

I've been criticized for being a bit of a F-35 "basher", but I honestly do try to keep the JSF program in perspective.  It certainly isn't the first large scale military project to run off the rails a little bit.  My issues with the F-35 mainly center around its suitability for for Canada, what with it being better suited for attacking foreign ground targets than protecting a country's airspace. When the news came out a few days ago that the F-35 was being constructed with Chinese parts, I didn't think it was that big of a deal.  These were supposedly simple magnets , after all, worth little more than $2 a piece.  Perhaps these magnets required rare earth metals found predominantly in China, I thought.  It certainly wouldn't be the first time a western defense contractor needed to go elsewhere for rare metals, the SR-71 Blackbird was constructed from Soviet sourced titanium , unbeknownst to the Soviets at the time. It turns out that the Chinese sou...

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...