The RCAF's Next Generation Fighter (CF-188 Replacement)

[ytz]

Planning a fighter sortie takes 2-3 hrs, followed by a 1 hr brief, a 1-2 hr flight, followed by. 2-4 hr debrief. The overhead in fighter ops is enormous because of the complexity.

What are you guys going to do with all that free time when the mission planner does all your homework for you? Volleyball pitch re-enactments from Top Gun?

I kid. I kid.....

But has there been any discussion about how your planning workflow will change with that new trade?

 

[markppcli]

It's not even the flying part that is necessarily hard (though it might be if you're doing it only occasionally). It's being proficient at employing the airplane as a weapon that's the truly challenging part.

And until we have fully stacked up our fighter force, the training system, etc we just don't need part-timers as fighter pilots. And really most of NATO is the same.

The US is exceptional with the air national guard because they have the full range of full time reservist to people that just do a 2-4 flights a months to maintain currency, but not proficiency. They have the insane amount of airplanes, support infrastructure and funding to do that. And even then most is the Air NG is not fighters. Maybe if the RCAF ever gets to 400+ jet cockpits we can start thinking about this. But I highly doubt that will happen, especially as automation eliminates more cockpits.

People also tend to forget that the US sends surplus ROTC (to include their sister service equivilants) to commissions into their reserve / guard.

 

[childs56]

Keep doing things the way they are and hope for the best I guess.

No way to create a Reserve Fighter pilot cadre from current commerical pilots.
1. They aren't in as good of physical shape as fighter pilots.
2. They don't have the mission planning training and or expierance.
3. They don't have the time avaliable.
4. They might burn the popcorn in the machine and ruin the movie screen.
5. We don't have the required equipment.
6. Not enough training resources.
7. It won't work similar to the US because we don't do the same thing. (Why are we buying the same.aircraft then)?

Great discussion, good to hear from the subject matter experts.
I am still wondering after all these years if our Griffon helicopters could fly in Afghanistan? A few people a number of years ago said they couldn't.....