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Great White North | |
Canada looks to delay tricky F-35 decision by buying Super Hornets | |
2016-06-08 | |
I believe the idea of leapfrogging the F-35
At last week's CANSEC defense trade show in Ottawa, Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said that the Canadian Air Force's aging CF-18 Hornet fighter fleet would present a "growing capability gap" over the next decade that would make it difficult for Canada to meet its commitment to NATO. "This I find unacceptable, and it's one thing that we plan to fix," Sajjan said. And as Defense News reports, the fix Sajjan and the Trudeau government will implement was proposed by Boeing. Instead of waiting for the F-35 to become available, Canada would buy a new version of Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet--and thus push the need to make a decision on an F-35 purchase into the late 2020s. The "interim" acquisition plan was reportedly presented to the Canadian government by Boeing with a very warm reception. Canada's government committed to purchasing the F-35 as its exclusive replacement for the CF-18 in 2010. But the delays and cost overruns since then gave Boeing an opening, and the company's executives have proposed various sales of the Super Hornet to Canadian officials over the past four years. Boeing has pointed out that in 2014 a fleet of 65 Super Hornets would cost Canada $1.7 billion (ÂŁ1.2 billion) less than the proposed F-35 purchase. Boeing made the same pitch successfully to the Australian government, which moved to purchase more Super Hornets (primarily the F/A-18F two-seater variant) for the Royal Australian Air Force because of F-35 program delays. Australia ultimately ordered 24 more F/A-18s in 2015 along with 12 new EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft. Australia originally purchased the Super Hornet in 2007 to replace the RAAF's 1970s-era F-111 Aardvarks (which are still being used as strategic strike aircraft today). The Super Hornet has had extensive modifications over the previous generation of the aircraft, which currently is the workhorse of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Work has particularly been done to reduce the vehicle's radar cross-section. While it's not a "stealth" fighter like the F-22 or F-35, its front and rear radar cross-section are dramatically smaller from other current generation fighter aircraft, and it also carries more extensive electronics countermeasures. The Super Hornet also has the advantage of sharing about 90 percent of its avionics with the Hornet--so there will be little retraining required for the RCAF's pilots. | |
Posted by:gorb |
#7 "And for Canadian air defense you need? Mission defines requirements. theirs is not the same as the USAF, plus Canada's printing presses aren't as deep as Washington's." Which would suggest something more like an F-15 than an F-18, IF one were going to exclude the F-35. It'll be a long-range interceptor that can actually handle the ranges involved in patrolling the Canadian arctic. |
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2016-06-08 19:59 |
#6 ...FWIW, my understanding is that it might not be that easy - apparently LockMart got themselves one hell of a contract team because if the Canadians buy any F-18s, LockMart is dragging them to court. Popcorn, anyone? Mike |
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2016-06-08 17:35 |
#5 Awesome! We get the sell the Canadians aircraft two times. Must be nice have another Obama in office with that kind of money to burn. |
Posted by: Eohippus Snore8229 2016-06-08 13:49 |
#4 And for Canadian air defense you need? Mission defines requirements. theirs is not the same as the USAF, plus Canada's printing presses aren't as deep as Washington's. |
Posted by: Procopius2k 2016-06-08 12:22 |
#3 The Super Hornet is a really good multi-role fighter. Its only real drawback is that it has short little legs and can't go very far without a tanker. |
Posted by: DarthVader 2016-06-08 12:11 |
#2 Ars technica, REALLY? And I guess I'll have to be weak on defense if y'all believe all the stuff from AT and Justin Trudeau is strong. What next, Ben Affleck as Batman? The F18E/F was never fixed to have the advertised payload/combat radius specs. |
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2016-06-08 12:08 |
#1 So it shares it's avionics with a 1980s plane. Commodore 128s for everyone! |
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2016-06-08 12:02 |