F-35 v F/A-18 Shornet-play ground style

[MilitaryMuseums]

this thread has made me laugh so many times

[Maxor]

Considering brand new f-15's are being built today and there are thousands in graveyards parts for that plane shouldn't be a problem for 20+ years.

[JA Boomer]

So the Canadian Government is now fueding with Boeing over Boeing's claims that canadian company Bombardier has been 'price dumping' their new CS100/300 commercial airliners onto the market.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/sajj...nsec-1.4139748

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/boei...lled-1.4141267

If you ask me the government was looking for a way out of the Super Hornet purchase which was fairly uniformly criticized from where I stand, while also re-opening the door to buying the F-35 after making campaign promises not to buy the Lightning II.

[jlvfr]

If this keeps going, they won't have any choice left...

[surfgun]

Well the USN apparently wants 80 more super bugs.
https://news.usni.org/2017/06/13/nav...hter-shortfall

[Gun Grape]

Maybe they will get rid of their legacy Hornets. Still have 4 18C squadrons after all these years.

[jlvfr]

Canada seems to be pulling out of new F-18s. Smart, but now what?

[SteveDaPirate]

They'll kick the can down the road until Trudeau leaves office I expect. Then have a quick competition and buy F-35s. Hopefully before the wings fall off their Hornets...

[surfgun]

Apparently the US legacy Hornets are a bit rougher than anticipated.
https://news.usni.org/2017/06/15/nav...ars-grow-based

Hopefully the Canadian birds can keep flying until the Government can decide, well something.

[jlvfr]

Apparently the US legacy Hornets are a bit rougher than anticipated.
https://news.usni.org/2017/06/15/nav...ars-grow-based

Hopefully the Canadian birds can keep flying until the Government can decide, well something.

Surely the CF-18 is less worn out than the USN's models?...

[JA Boomer]

US Government has approved the sale of 10 F/A-18E and 8 F/A-18F Super Hornets plus spares to Canada to the tune of 5.23 million dollars.

http://www.dsca.mil/major-arms-sales...rcraft-support

Hopefully this never happens, as it makes no sense to spend that kind of cash on an interim fleet of 18 aircraft to meet a requirement that doesn't really exist. Save it for the true replacement aircraft.

I hope there's a public outcry for the completely waste of money here.

[jlvfr]

US Government has approved the sale of 10 F/A-18E and 8 F/A-18F Super Hornets plus spares to Canada to the tune of 5.23 million dollars.

http://www.dsca.mil/major-arms-sales...rcraft-support

Hopefully this never happens, as it makes no sense to spend that kind of cash on an interim fleet of 18 aircraft to meet a requirement that doesn't really exist. Save it for the true replacement aircraft.

I hope there's a public outcry for the completely waste of money here.

The problem right now, for the RCAF, is: how long will the current CF-18 last? Choosing a new plane, then getting them might take years...

[JA Boomer]

The problem right now, for the RCAF, is: how long will the current CF-18 last? Choosing a new plane, then getting them might take years...

Yes, I understand that. So we should have started the new fighter competition at the same time as the government started investigating this interim buy. The problem with that, is that the fighter competition can not resolve during this governments term, as they made an election promise not to purchase the F-35. God forbid you explain to people that you made an uninformed pronouncement and proceed with the best choice for the RCAF should the F-35 come out on top.

The whole Super Hornet purchase is political in my view. They want some Super Hornets in RCAF colours to improve the Super Hornet's chances of competing in the new fighter competition, again, because they campaigned against the F-35.

They even changed the contingency plans of the RCAF, increasing tasking from NORAD and NATO in order to justify the purchase of the interim fleet of Super Hornets.

http://globalnews.ca/news/3094298/tr...caf-commander/

It's all political, and it makes me sick. My country is going to waste money on an interim fleet of 18 aircraft that will be the training, operational, and maintenance red-headed step child of the RCAF. Boeing likes to say it's a completely new aircraft from the Hornet, then turn around and say a Hornet pilot can step right into a Super Hornet cockpit with little conversion .. which is it? Never mind the maintenance nightmare of two fighter types. To top it all off the interim fleet will make it even more unlikely that Canada will buy the F-35 as the total fleet replacement, which, IMO is the aircraft best suited (for a variety of reasons) to serve the RCAF for the next 40 years.

The media focused on the F-35 has made a 360 degree turn since the Liberals choose their horse in the race. They should wake up and smell the jet fuel, as they can no longer keep calling the F-35 a giant money pit as it continues to impress.

And I'm not suggesting the F-35 is the be-all, end-all for fighter aircraft. But based on what we do and what we can afford, it's the best choice for Canada over the next 40 years.

I'll say this again, the only way an interim fleet makes sense is to purchase 18 F/A-18Fs now, and convert them to Growlers if the F-35 is selected as the next fighter. But then we don't have the budget to operate an EA aircraft so it will never happen.

[jlvfr]

It's all political, and it makes me sick. My country is going to waste money on an interim fleet of 18 aircraft that will be the training, operational, and maintenance red-headed step child of the RCAF.

Yeah... imho, Canada has a 2-government problem: first the one that went F-35 headon, with barelly a glance at alternatives, and now this one, that canceled it with looking at the consequences...

[surfgun]

The big problem is, Canada has lost her place in line for F-35. She is screwed if it decides it wants F-35's as she would not see a new F-35 until, what 2030?