Super Hornet fighter jets during tests at an unidentified location.
Posted on 10/06/2017 9:08:18 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reopened the competition to select a fighter to replace the CF-18, two questions were raised from that decision, one with long-term implications, and one with immediate consequences. The first: when will the modernization of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) fighter force be complete? The second: what will the RCAF do to mitigate the so-called capability gap (Canada’s current fleet is more than 30 years old, and down from 138 to 77 aircraft) to have a certain number of the most capable fighter jets mission-ready at all times and to ensure the capacity to address all the missions asked of it between now and complete modernization? I would like to address the second question.
I’m a retired U.S. Naval Aviator with almost 40 years of service. I commanded at every level in the U.S. Navy: Strike Fighter Squadrons, Air Wings, Carrier Strike Groups, and Fleets. I started flying the F-18A in 1983, and stopped flying the F/A-18E/F just before I made my third star off the flight decks of the USS Harry S Truman in the Arabian Gulf. After flying F/A-18’s for 25 years and continuing to command them for another eight years, I’ve been called a Hornet Admiral. I know Hornets and Super Hornets and have relied on them for decades. Today, I consult for industry, including Boeing. I do so because I believe in the importance of competition in the defense industrial base. Competition balances industry’s need to provide profit to their shareholders, while delivering both the best capability to the warfighter and value to the taxpayer.
As the debate unfolds in Canada over the modernization of its fighter jet fleet, my largest concern is the continued delay in both capacity and capability of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalpost.com ...
Super Hornet fighter jets during tests at an unidentified location.
In all honesty, no Canadian fighter jet will need ever fire a single shot in the defense of Canada...ever.
Not as a long as the USAF is standing tall!
The answer is simple: An independent Quebec and Canada gets absorbed by the U.S.
Couldn’t we just send the Quebecois back to France.
I would hate to have to drive through some place that isn’t the US to get from one part of our country to another.
How about just Alberta? We don’t need Vancouver.
Super Hornets should be the easiest transition for current pilots, but SAAB jets should be well suited to Canada’s environs as well.
The French could move all those that have given up on France to Montreal. Gove them Detwah.
100% false, but thanks for weighing in.
But thanks to our US taxpayers footing a large part of their defense expense the Canadians get to enjoy healthcare and educational benefits denied to our own citizens.
But when Russian Bear bombers come across the Arctic Circle to nuke the U.S., Canada will be adversely affected by the nuclear fallout, so they will want to have the ability to defend their airspace.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.