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CF-188 Hornet, Canada's jet fighter

dapaterson said:
The role of the generals is to effectively communicate to decision makers.

Bald Fonzie, his predecessor and his successor all failed to do so.
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If only more people gave credit to the role of GOFOs as you do, good sir. I figure you and I sat at enough tables with them to know who was really calling the shots.

Overall, it’s about as simple as in the old days, the F-16 was the light multi-role fighter attack aircraft of the majority of the Western Allie’s’ air forces, NATO in particular…today’s F-35 is the majority common multi-role strike fighter that the F-16 was in the past. It’s not like Canada is anywhere close to going out on a limb with some uninteroperable aircraft…
 
Good2Golf said:
If only more people gave credit to the role of GOFOs as you do, good sir. I figure you and I sat at enough tables with them to know who was really calling the shots.

Overall, it’s about as simple as in the old days, the F-16 was the light multi-role fighter attack aircraft of the majority of the Western Allie’s’ air forces, NATO in particular…today’s F-35 is the majority common multi-role strike fighter that the F-16 was in the past. It’s not like Canada is anywhere close to going out on a limb with some uninteroperable aircraft…
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My impression of the F35 early attempts was RCAF fighter pilot GOFOs shitting the bed.

Why the RCAF doesn't have F16s can be tracked back to their attempt to get F15s (the dual engine requirement).
 
dapaterson said:
My impression of the F35 early attempts was RCAF fighter pilot GOFOs shitting the bed.
Click to expand...

RCAF was still getting used to an aircraft that was barely 9-10 years old. It wasn’t any RCAF general’s signature on the Canadian Government’s first JSF MOU with DoD back in 1993…hint: Alan Williams, then ADM(Mat) who years later chirped the non-1993 line that the MOU that meant Canada would get billions and billions of aerospace business didn’t mean it would necessarily procure the F-35. That was a retelling of history by Williams decades later that says the F-35 wasn’t a *done deal back in 1993 (under PM Jean “Zero ‘elicopters” Chretien). Maj Blondin was a flight commander at 433 ETAC in Bagotville…far far away from trying to *strong arm the F-35 as the RCAF’s 5th gen fighter 30+ years later.

dapaterson said:
Why the RCAF doesn't have F16s can be tracked back to their attempt to get F15s (the dual engine requirement).
Click to expand...

That aligns with my recollection as well. The F/A-18 was a ‘tweener…neither F-15 nor F-16…
 
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36 CF-18s are due to get upgraded with Aesa radar and weapons package. Hopefully this has started.

Who's Bald Fonzie?
 
dapaterson said:
Patron saint of the RCAF leather jacket (not flightline approved)
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angry homer simpson GIF
 
PBO is out with the latest projection on life cycle cost for the F35.

74 BCAD

Over 45 years or 1.6 BCAD per year.


But how much money will be spent on defence over the next 45 years?
And what has been the cumulative cost of the F-18 fleet over the past 45 years?
How much of the total defence budget does that capability represent annually?
 
armrdsoul77 said:
36 CF-18s are due to get upgraded with Aesa radar and weapons package. Hopefully this has started.

Who's Bald Fonzie?
Click to expand...
I actually hope this hasn't started, tbh...but I fear that project will go ahead because all that kit you mention has already been purchased.

(As far as I remember reading...somewhere...once...a while ago now...)



If that project is well underway, then I do think it's a good thing and will make the CF-18 a pretty formidable platform for the years we have them still...

If not then I fear our replacement jets will already be starting to appear on the flightline by the time the upgraded CF-18's start showing up. And by then...what's the point??
 
36 HEP II Hornets to be fully operational by June 2025 if it's on schedule and replaced by F35 in 2032. First F35s to be delivered in 2026? but I don't think they will be used operationally as soon as they arrive.
It sounds like the bigger issue is the lack of experienced pilots to fly hornets and transition to a new fighter.
 
From what I've seen online, the first F35 squadron won't be 'operational' until 2029...and the rest of the fleet by the mid 2030s. And those are the estimates...
 
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