RCAF: Fifth-Gen fighter jet transformation - Skies Mag
"The almost 10-year delay caused by political wrangling has in many ways benefitted the RCAF and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). Instead of the original 65 jets requested by the Harper government, 88 F-35s are on order....instead of a mix of early block F-35s, Canada will receive the most advanced version of the Block 4 fighter"
F-35 Cleared For Full-Rate Production 17 Years After Its First Flight
"The F-35 stealth fighter has finally been cleared for full-rate production, 17 years after the aircraft first took to the air, and almost 23 years after Lockheed Martin won the contract for the Joint Strike Fighter...
the latest accomplishment is overshadowed somewhat by
the ongoing saga surrounding the development and testing of the
Tech Refresh-3 (TR-3) hardware configuration. This is a set of hardware and software changes that effectively underpin the F-35’s future capabilities,
known collectively as Block 4...with ongoing delays to TR-3, completed F-35s are being parked as soon as they come off the production line and are not being delivered, until they receive these new features."
So Canada's dithering on the FFCP has benefited us in terms of the F35 being a more mature product and hopefully we dithered enough that once our jets come off the assembly line they will be ready to use.
Hooray?