The fact is, the F-35 is questionable so far as capabilities, reliability and of course we know the costs have skyrocketed and will continue to rise way past original estimates.
For Canada’s needs, they would be far better off with the F-22 Raptor. As for what’s left of the Canadian Navy?
The quickest way to replenish and rebuild their current fleet of rusting hulks is to reach an agreement for the equivalent of a ‘lend-lease’ program with the U.S. Reserve (mothballed) ships, a good place to start would be the Beaumont Reserve in Texas, where the USS Tripoli (LPH-1) and the USS Nassau (LHA-4) could form the backbone of a resurgent Canadian Navy.
In Philadelphia, there are a pile of ships that are inactive but could be placed in service, here are just a few:
USS Boone (FFG-28)
USS Hawes (FFG-53)
USS John L. Hall (FFG-32)
USS Stephen W. Groves (FFG-29)
Those frigates would be highly useful for coastal defense and/or interception and inspection of suspicious foreign vessels.
The Canadian defense establishment is in dire straits and has been for years, and Justin Trudeau had better understand that in order to have any sense of national sovereignty, they can’t just rely on the U.S.
I think you forgot the ‘</sarc>’ after your comment! A resurgent RCN under a Trudeau and/or a Lieberal? You so very funny! You must be very fun-gi!
Sorry, I guess you don’t know the Turd-owe and Lieberal legacy of Canada’s military. If you think O’Venal has gutted the US military, he is a PIKER compared to the Lieberal Party of Kanada! Turd- owe is left-leaning even among Lieberals!
Years ago, I suggested that the RCN could have purchased some of the ex-Soviet Navy for pennies on the pound (or kilogram) to rejuvenate our Navy and study their equipment for flaws.
In spite of all the ‘jawing’ by Harper about the sad state of our military and the need for new equipment, little was done. Part of the problem being our ship building capabilities are reduced to boats, not ships. Even the ships that ply the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway are all made in China or India. Canada Steamship Lines received delivery of a number of vessels over the last five years. NONE were built in Canada. Our last carrier was the HMCS Bonaventure, had an $11 million refit in 1966-68, to allow it to carry jets (Banshees), then was decommissioned in 1970 and sold to Taiwan for scrap in 1971, so there is no one in the RCN with ANY carrier experience. Expecting Turd-owe to do a THING to help our military is like expecting P’Venal to defend Israel.
AFA the F-35, it sounds like a dud, a sinkhole of spending where SO MANY NATO and allied countries sunk vast sums into a craft that sounds like a failure. AFA selling F-22s tothe RCAF, not a good idea. Whatever secrets BJ Klintoon did not sell the Chicoms and Ruskies, Turd-owe Jr. would give them.
Disappointing to remember that Canadians developed the Avro Arrow, a plane that was 15 years ahead of ANYTHING Washington, Moscow, London or Paris could imagine, let alone build! Since there was NO WAY the USAF would have been allowed to buy a Canadian aircraft, it got cancelled, all four prototypes were destroyed, as were the plans and all tooling. NASA can thank the Arrow debacle for reaching the moon in 1969, as many of the Arrow engineers, after layoff from A. V. Roe Ltd., were solicited outside the gates of the factory, by US technology companies and many worked on Apollo.
Oh for the days of Canada being an aviation leader and having some strength in heavy industies like steel and ship building.
I think we may need a fence on the Northern border.