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

[dapaterson]

Imagine if the prototype had performed as well as the pretty future pictures….

Is this a future fighter thread or a Cyclone thread?

 

[Retired AF Guy]

Interesting, very interesting..

CAE and Saab agree Gripen training and mission support framework for Canada, linking fighter offer to local industrial capability

CAE and Saab have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on advanced training, simulation and mission support for the Gripen fighter aircraft in Canada.

defence-industry.eu

 

[KevinB]

Imagine if the prototype had performed as well as the pretty future pictures….

There is some conjecture that the prototypes never really got tested.

Boeing also had the potential to be better at mass production than Lockheed.

Boeing had way too many irons in the fire at that point in time to do much.

In the end, we'll never know.

We may never know on the F-47 either.
If it flies, or if it dies.

 

[lenaitch]

Y'know,

A deep thought part of me wondered a while back if the X-32 was really all that bad...

The funny chin scoop and Delta wing was not going to be how the aircraft would look in the final design form.

If Boeing had actually won, they'd have had separate tail plane, and a nicer looking ventral intake.

Boeing also had the potential to be better at mass production than Lockheed.

In the end, we'll never know.

If I recall correctly, the prototype acquired the nickname Monica Lewinski.

 

[Swampbuggy]

If I recall correctly, the prototype acquired the nickname Monica Lewinski.

View attachment 101318

Yeah, if they made a demo team fly them they could have been the “Blue Dresses”….

 

[Nvlgzr]

If I recall correctly, the prototype acquired the nickname Monica Lewinski.

View attachment 101318

If they just moved that intake back a metre or so… voila F16XL

 

[brihard]

If they just moved that intake back a metre or so… voila F16XL

Like an F-16 times two. An F-32.

 

[Good2Golf]

Like an F-16 times two. An F-32.

 

[The Bread Guy]

TWZ also has an article on Canada and GCAP:

Canada Throws A Curveball As It Signals Interest In Joining GCAP Sixth-Gen Fighter Program

The move comes as Ottawa weighs splitting its fighter fleet while broadening defense partnerships beyond the U.S., but timing is an issue. The move comes as Ottawa weighs splitting its future fighter fleet while broadening its defense partnerships beyond the United States.

www.twz.com

Next step: Canadian MSM catching up a bit with, "International news media have reported for months that Ottawa is poised to sign (on) ..."

Canada to join multinational fighter program: reports

Canada is widely expected to enter into a multinational, next-generation fighter jet program this week, though not as a full member.

www.ctvnews.ca

 

[KevinB]

View attachment 101325

Duct tape…

 

[KevinB]

The proposed production variant looked better.

View attachment 101300

View attachment 101301

View attachment 101302

That looks like the bastard love child between a F-22 and a A-7

Also skimming the model, I really hope that the same engineers where not still on payroll, as the front and side surface areas aren’t very radar slimming.

Someone I was talking to about that program suggested that the best case of the X-32 was 2x the F-35 radar signature - they should have been in a position to know -- but he also alluded to only the models being looked at - and never the tech demonstrators so...


Also apologies for the semi-necropost - this is what you get when someone with ADHD is on Percocet has internet access.

 

[Kirkhill]

Does Saab's New Gripen Agreement With Canada's CAE Have Any Significance for Ukraine? | Defense Express

The Swedish defense company Saab and Canada's CAE have signed a memorandum covering Gripen pilot training and support capabilities. While the agreement is aimed at a potential Canadian Gripen fleet, one clause could indirectly be relevant to Ukraine

en.defence-ua.com

 

[PrairieFella]

Big announcement in the UK today - do we finally found out whats up?

Minister McGuinty to make an announcement with partners in United Kingdom - Canada.ca

Members of the media are invited to an announcement with the Honourable David J. McGuinty, Minister of National Defence and international partners on advancing air combat capability development in London.

www.canada.ca

 

[dapaterson]

Twin Otter with a pair of C6 in a cupola.

 

[KevinB]

Twin Otter with a pair of C6 in a cupola.

Grand of you to think it rates a pair…

 

[OldSolduer]

Twin Otter with a pair of C6 in a cupola.

What? Sopwith Camels not good enough for you?

 

[dapaterson]

Grand of you to think it rates a pair…

One manufactured in Quebec, one in Ontario. Obviously.

 

[ytz]

The official presser....

QUADRILATERAL Joint Statement on Canada becoming an Observer to GCAP - Canada.ca

On July 21, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, Japanese Defense Minister KOIZUMI Shinjirō, UK Secretary of State for Defence Wes Streeting, and Canadian Minister of National Defence David J. McGuinty met in London to discuss Canada’s participation in the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP).

www.canada.ca

 

[Halifax Tar]

One manufactured in Quebec, one in Ontario. Obviously.

Friggen Upper Canadians

 

[Rainbow1910]

Very interesting news breaking out of La Presse on the same day as GCAP observer status was signed. This is machine translated by Google, so take it with a grain of salt but this does seem to undermine the Bombardier/Saab fighter relationship.

La Presse à Farnborough | Bombardier n’a pas d’intérêt à assembler des chasseurs suédois

L’entreprise suédoise Saab a peut-être émis l’hypothèse que son partenaire d’affaires Bombardier pourrait assembler au Canada ses chasseurs Gripen si le gouvernement fédéral lui accordait le mandat de renouveler en partie ou en totalité sa flotte de CF-18. Mais Bombardier n’y gagnerait...

www.lapresse.ca

The Swedish company Saab may have speculated that its business partner Bombardier could assemble its Gripen fighters in Canada if the federal government gave it the mandate to renew part or all of its CF-18 fleet. But Bombardier would gain absolutely nothing, quite the contrary. "We already have our hands full," agrees its CEO, Éric Martel.

Bombardier has left the door open to its partner Saab, with whom it has very successfully developed the Global Eye mission aircraft, but Éric Martel confirms that Bombardier would gain nothing by simply assembling aircraft for Saab, without any other added value.

The company, which employs 19,000 people worldwide, including 12,000 in Canada, faces the retirement of several hundred workers each year and will even host a branch of the École nationale de l'aéronautique in its facilities in the borough of Saint-Laurent in order to train future employees that it hopes to retain.

"Orders for the Global Eye are going very well, we have signed with France, NATO has committed to buying up to ten aircraft, Canada up to six. All NATO countries must increase their military spending, we can take advantage of it," says the CEO.

Rather than planning the assembly of a few dozen Gripen fighters, Bombardier is planning to open a new plant where it will do the electronic wrapping of the Global Eye and the installation of radars, which is normally done by its partner Saab in Sweden.

"We will first order aircraft for Canada and then we will be able to export the Global Eye with the contract with NATO," says Éric Martel.

Bombardier must also not alienate the United States, which remains its main market. If the Saint-Laurent company starts assembling fighters and takes the contract away from Lockheed Martin, Donald Trump could very naturally decide to impose juicy punitive tariffs on the business jets that the company sells in the United States.