Pressure increases on [Canada] to stay or leave F-35 program

ricnunes · by **ricnunes** » 19 Feb 2019, 19:29

Well, let's look at the "bright side":
- The RCAF will be a the perfect Agressor force to model a 3rd world country of the present or near future
May have some use for its allies afterall... :roll:

mixelflick · by **mixelflick** » 20 Feb 2019, 13:12

Brilliant move by Trudeau, he just keeps upping the stupid factor.

It will get his countrymen killed, but he saved face. Way to go, boy wonder!

lbk000 · by **lbk000** » 20 Feb 2019, 23:11

Well you know, the enemy can't kill your people if you don't call them your enemy. *head tap*

firebase99 · by **firebase99** » 21 Feb 2019, 02:48

Wait these Bugs are 'A' models???????????? Couldnt even spring for some used C's?????????? What in the actual...?

magitsu · by **magitsu** » 21 Feb 2019, 02:51

firebase99 wrote:Wait these Bugs are 'A' models???????????? Couldnt even spring for some used C's?????????? What in the actual...?

Well, at least they don't stand out next to the Canadian clunkers. They can buy two decades younger Finnish C/D's with only 3-4.5k hours on the meter if they are still making a choice around 2023 (delivery 2025-). Imagine how long they could fly for Canada with a center barrel & wing replacement. At least 10 of RAAF Hornets have undergone such procedure, RCAF Hornets surely have similar work done on them as well.

firebase99 · by **firebase99** » 21 Feb 2019, 03:04

magitsu wrote:
firebase99 wrote:Wait these Bugs are 'A' models???????????? Couldnt even spring for some used C's?????????? What in the actual...?

Well, at least they don't stand out next to the Canadian clunkers. They can buy two decades younger Finnish C/D's with only 3-4.5k hours on the meter if they are still making a choice around 2023 (delivery 2025-). Imagine how long they could fly for Canada with a center barrel & wing replacement. At least 10 of RAAF Hornets have undergone such procedure.

LOL, maybe Germany has some Phantoms left they can unload in a fire sale?

weasel1962 · by **weasel1962** » 21 Feb 2019, 03:52

What would induce apoplexy? F-15X

mixelflick · by **mixelflick** » 21 Feb 2019, 12:59

firebase99 wrote:Wait these Bugs are 'A' models???????????? Couldnt even spring for some used C's?????????? What in the actual...?

If Canada goes to war with A's and they fare well, what are the repercussions? It might mean legislators in the US start demanding we raid the boneyard, and go "retro". If McCain were still around, I swear he'd run with the idea...

lbk000 · by **lbk000** » 22 Feb 2019, 01:39

IIRC existing Canadian F/A-18's are A's upgraded to C standard ("A++") so I imagine this isn't as scandalous as it sounds? It might actually be more convenient for them as they would already have the conversion parts.

weasel1962 · by **weasel1962** » 22 Feb 2019, 02:02

mixelflick wrote:If Canada goes to war with A's and they fare well, what are the repercussions? It might mean legislators in the US start demanding we raid the boneyard, and go "retro". If McCain were still around, I swear he'd run with the idea...

"Retro" is what the USMC will go to war with today....I think the state of the legacy hornet fleet (incl boneyard) is well known at least to those living south of the border.

ricnunes · by **ricnunes** » 22 Feb 2019, 11:40

lbk000 wrote:IIRC existing Canadian F/A-18's are A's upgraded to C standard ("A++") so I imagine this isn't as scandalous as it sounds? It might actually be more convenient for them as they would already have the conversion parts.

Yes, their are. The Canadian F/A-18's (-A variant) received the ECP 583 upgrade which puts them basically on the same/similar standard as the F/A-18C.

http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/news/article ... n/hnps1ums

mixelflick · by **mixelflick** » 23 Feb 2019, 12:49

Lovely!

So they're retro 1987 models, not 1982 LOL.

But the previous poster's point about the Marines flying basically the same model is a good one. So sad. How in the hell did Marine Corp aviation get in such a pickle? Probably the same way the Air Force did: Fly the wings off your fleet for 20 years and fail to have a new type enter service.

Sure, they were investing in the F-35. But it was a long, long developmental progress and if I'm not mistaken, the B was almost cancelled. Glad they stuck with it, because it's increasingly sought after by many countries. England opted for it, the Japanese now want it for its pocket carriers and both Israel and Singapore have expressed interest too.

In the SCS, it's good insurance should the Chinese rain down IRBM's onto American air bases..

madrat · by **madrat** » 23 Feb 2019, 17:17

iIRC both Clinton and Obama were stalling new purchases.

mixelflick · by **mixelflick** » 25 Feb 2019, 14:25

madrat wrote:iIRC both Clinton and Obama were stalling new purchases.

This is (one) of many reasons I rarely vote for Democrats/Liberals - they're weak on defense. Perhaps not all of them, but every President since Carter seems to not value our military. The funding dries up. Force structure (and readiness) shrink. And our foreign policy loses its testicles.

Obama didn't involve Congress when giving billions of our tax money to Iran. But when Trump does it to pay for the wall, he's crucified for it. The double standard in the media is on full display. They don't even try to appear objective anymore. In fact, the mainstream media is simply an extension of the Democrat party. Nothing more, nothing less.

Reagan and Trump don't take any sh!t, from anybody. Get in line or "all options are on the table". When Quadaffi started acting up, Reagan rained 2,000lb bombs on his head. He got the message. For a lot of these foreign dictators, it's the only language they understand...

steve2267 · by **steve2267** » 04 Mar 2019, 04:13

Billie Flynn gets it (of course). Hopefully some up there in Canaduh still pay attention to their native son, test pilot extraordinaire:

Billie Flynn tweeted:

"For years I have taught pilots never to do math in public if more complicated than Saskatchewan High School Farm Boy Math. So $1.15B / 18 = $64M per used Aussie F-18s. I first flew the CF-18 more than 35 years ago. Seems like these jets cost more now than when they were brand new"

https://twitter.com/billieflynn/status/1102371636609724422