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Here in Canada a major issue of the 2015 elections was whether to buy in on the F-35 project. The liberals wanted open procurement and specifically said they w

by Pxtl 6y ago

Here in Canada a major issue of the 2015 elections was whether to buy in on the F-35 project. The liberals wanted open procurement and specifically said they wanted the to avoid the F-35. The conservatives wanted to continue with the process that was basically designed to justify procuring F-35s. In the meantime, Canada's F-18s are absurdly old, and we have a tradition of screwing up open procurement by sandbagging it for decades. So the Conservatives looked quite reasonable in wanting to buy in on this internationally supported plane made by our closest allies. I think the liberals are vindicated at this point.

zepearl 6y ago
I just did a search => this article (Dec 2020) sounds funny: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/f18-fighter-jets-canada-australia-1.5836504 https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/f18-fighter-jets-canada-aus... > Only three of seven F-18 fighter jets purchased from Australia by the Canadian government have been integrated into the air force so far, and the Department of National Defence says key upgrades to as much as one-third of Canada's fighter force will take up to five years, according to documents recently tabled in the House of Commons. > The slow introduction of the used warplanes — meant to bolster Canada's existing CF-18s squadrons — and the long timeline for radar refurbishment have the opposition Conservatives questioning the value of the interim fleet. > When it first announced the plan three years ago, the government said it expected to keep most of the existing CF-18 fleet flying until 2032. Is the article correct? Anyway I'm not laughing because here in Switzerland we have as well to replace our relatively old F-18 which might generate a huge debate with the potential result of nothing happening (F-35 is as well one of the candidates, but I've personally always been against it for various reasons).
- Pxtl 6y ago
  Yup. Canada's F-18Cs (aka CF-18s) are ancient and were so bashed up that we ended up buying used Australian leftovers for parts and repair as a stopgap until we can decide what we're doing for our next-gen fighters. Basically we're procrastinating on the decision because the F-35 is at once the best and worst option - our closest allies are heavily standardized on it. But it's also a boondoggle. For a while Canada looked to be moving up to the modernized version of the F-18 platform, the F/A-18 Super Hornet. But then Boeing started a fight with Bombardier, a company that the Canadian Liberal government is very protective of. So the plans to invest in F/A-18 planes was scrapped. So Canada is basically endlessly procrastinating on what new jet to buy because of the F-35 boondoggle.
rjsw 6y ago
The Eurofighter is probably the best fit for Canada's needs but I gather that the US has blocked that.
908B64B197 6y ago
What's interesting is how Trudeau changed his mind after he bowed down to Trump and submitted when the Bombardier CSeries was slapped with tariffs (later judged illegal and promptly removed) by Boeing. He immediately changed his tone and seemed happy to buy an American plane from Lockheed this time. That, subsidizing another US plane maker, was in fact the only thing he did to try to protect his country's aerospace leader.

by Pxtl 6y ago

zepearl 6y ago

I just did a search => this article (Dec 2020) sounds funny: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/f18-fighter-jets-canada-australia-1.5836504 https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/f18-fighter-jets-canada-aus... > Only three of seven F-18 fighter jets purchased from Australia by the Canadian government have been integrated into the air force so far, and the Department of National Defence says key upgrades to as much as one-third of Canada's fighter force will take up to five years, according to documents recently tabled in the House of Commons. > The slow introduction of the used warplanes — meant to bolster Canada's existing CF-18s squadrons — and the long timeline for radar refurbishment have the opposition Conservatives questioning the value of the interim fleet. > When it first announced the plan three years ago, the government said it expected to keep most of the existing CF-18 fleet flying until 2032. Is the article correct? Anyway I'm not laughing because here in Switzerland we have as well to replace our relatively old F-18 which might generate a huge debate with the potential result of nothing happening (F-35 is as well one of the candidates, but I've personally always been against it for various reasons).

Pxtl 6y ago
Yup. Canada's F-18Cs (aka CF-18s) are ancient and were so bashed up that we ended up buying used Australian leftovers for parts and repair as a stopgap until we can decide what we're doing for our next-gen fighters. Basically we're procrastinating on the decision because the F-35 is at once the best and worst option - our closest allies are heavily standardized on it. But it's also a boondoggle. For a while Canada looked to be moving up to the modernized version of the F-18 platform, the F/A-18 Super Hornet. But then Boeing started a fight with Bombardier, a company that the Canadian Liberal government is very protective of. So the plans to invest in F/A-18 planes was scrapped. So Canada is basically endlessly procrastinating on what new jet to buy because of the F-35 boondoggle.

rjsw 6y ago

The Eurofighter is probably the best fit for Canada's needs but I gather that the US has blocked that.

908B64B197 6y ago

What's interesting is how Trudeau changed his mind after he bowed down to Trump and submitted when the Bombardier CSeries was slapped with tariffs (later judged illegal and promptly removed) by Boeing. He immediately changed his tone and seemed happy to buy an American plane from Lockheed this time. That, subsidizing another US plane maker, was in fact the only thing he did to try to protect his country's aerospace leader.