GR66
Army.ca Veteran
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I think it goes back to as @dataperson said - opportunity cost. What has to be given up in order to be able to have a Mistral-type ship in the fleet vs the utility it provides. Absolutely it provides utility. No argument there.I tend to think a Nation with many islands, and interests in islands further south, should be able to put people ashore with minimal infrastructure.
It takes a lot in terms of capital, personnel and maintenance to have this type of asset and it can only be in one place at a time. We have many places both in our territory and around the world where we may need to move assets and getting this ship there in a timely manner might not be easy. Since I'm fairly confident that Canada is not looking at using such a ship for a forceable entry type situation then how many likely missions that it might be used for could not also be done with existing air assets?
Yes there will be some situations where air delivery is not possible or sub-optimal, but is the likelihood/frequency of those scenarios worth the cost? Everything we want is a trade-off for some other capability. I love the idea but not convinced it would be worth the cost.