BEST FIGHTER FOR CANADA

X-47B Pegasus Captain Buster felt his stomach tie in knots when he was told the news.  How was this possible?  After countless years as one of the RCAF's most talented pilots, he was now wondering what he would end up doing until retirement. "Sorry Captain...  But I'm afraid you are now obsolete.  These new drones are cheaper, stealthier, fly longer, and can maneuver way harder than any manned fighter.  They really are the future don't you see?" Captain Buster was not convinced.  "How is some bucket of bolts going to make up for years of experience?" "That's the beauty of it, don't you see?  We just upgrade the software every couple of years and these things will be better than you could ever be!  Don't feel so bad.  It's much safer to stay on the ground anyway." "I don't know how to do anything except fly!  What am I supposed to do?" "Maybe we can switch you over to flying a transport or somethi...

Northrop Grumman X-47B Pegasus While the F-35 program continues to stumble along at a snail's pace , progress towards the UCLASS (unmanned carrier launched airborne surveillance and strike) has progressed rather quickly and cleanly.  This was demonstrated recently when Northrop Grumman's X-47B Pegasus demonstrated its ability to operate alongside other aircraft types aboard an aircraft carrier .  Meanwhile, problems with the F-35C's tailhook has delayed carrier testing until later this fall . On September 10, the Pentagon will decide the ultimate fate of the UCLASS program .  Given the X-47B's successful testing, it would seem foolish to simply give up on the concept.  In little over three years, the X-47B has proven itself.  Its performance has been so consistent that testing has actually been cut short  for the simple reason that the UAV has nothing left to prove. How has the Pegasus fared so well when other modern military developments have been...

"Ugh..." From the Ottawa Citizen today comes an interesting opinion piece penned by no less than Charles "Buzz" Nixon, Canada's deputy minister of national defense way back from the Trudeau days. Nixon believes that Canada has no need for a CF-18 replacement, citing that they are simply too expensive and "drones" should be used for asserting Canada's sovereignty and protecting against terrorist attacks.  Any incursion by a foreign nation should be met with diplomacy. The sovereignty of Canada’s airspace can be affirmed by any aerial vehicle carrying an official logo of Canada. A non-credible event of a rogue Russian scouting aircraft actually entering Canada’s airspace would be addressed by a diplomatic response. Let's ask Ukraine how that's working out ... Canada needs fighter jets.  We may not need many, but we certainly need a few.  Enough to police our own airspace, support our ground troops, as well as honor our NATO commit...

Let me start out by saying that I hate the term "drone".  Calling a UAV a drone implies that it is completely autonomous and acts without oversight or input.  Not so.  Most UAVs are also completely unarmed and quite far removed from Terminator-like killing machines. A recent article at Cracked.com (of all places) separates some of the commonly believed fiction from fact. Here it is.