The RCAF's Next Generation Fighter (CF-188 Replacement)
- Thread starter WingsofFury
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My gut tells me that we need a larger Reg Force fighter fleet...as much to have a large enough pool of pilots to support all the non-operational pilot roles we require as for the purely military requirement.
But when it comes to adding a Reserve fighter fleet in addition to (ideally?) 130-150 Reg Force fighters I'm pretty sure that the major resources required to do so would be much better spent on UCAVs and GBAD to support the Reg Force fighters. I don't see the need for crewed aircraft disappearing any time soon, but definitely see unmanned systems and missile defences taking a much more prominent role going forward. I see Reserve fighter squadrons as more of a 1960's requirement than a 2060's requirement.
But when it comes to adding a Reserve fighter fleet in addition to (ideally?) 130-150 Reg Force fighters I'm pretty sure that the major resources required to do so would be much better spent on UCAVs and GBAD to support the Reg Force fighters. I don't see the need for crewed aircraft disappearing any time soon, but definitely see unmanned systems and missile defences taking a much more prominent role going forward. I see Reserve fighter squadrons as more of a 1960's requirement than a 2060's requirement.
It's a question of ratio. Most major air forces are aiming for a ratio of 2-3 unmanned systems for every manned system by 2050.
By this view, after we get 88 F-35s (or whatever our final mix is in 2035), our biggest gap won't be manned aircraft.
You're falling for the same fallacy here as a lot of the kids on Reddit. You find it harder to understand unmanned systems. So you to default to saying we need a lot more manned systems. What we need is a balanced force. And the only way to build substantially more mass these days is unmanned systems.
