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Reuters: Canada election results seen as bad news for Lockheed's F-35
Oct 20 (Reuters) - The election of Canada's Liberal leader Justin Trudeau as prime minister spells bad news for Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jet program given Trudeau's staunch opposition to any F-35 purchases, U.S. industry and government sources said on Tuesday.
Trudeau's election offers hope to Boeing Co, whose F/A-18E/F fighter jets are nearing the end of production and could be considered to replace Canada's current aging CF-18 fighter jets.
Industry executives and government officials said there would be difficulty ahead for the F-35 program.
WNU Editor: I have been told that Canada's purchase of the F-35 program will be scrapped .... and a new bidding process will be mandated. I have also been told that Boeing's F/A-18E/F fighter jet is favoured as being the perfect jet for Canada .... it has two engines (ideal when you are flying around in the Arctic and one of the engines malfunctions), and Canadian maintenance crews are already experienced with the CF-18 (an older version of the F/A-18E/F fighter). Costs are also a factor .... especially since the F-35 is becoming a very expensive plane. I expect the official announcement will be made when the new defence minister is named in the coming weeks (and no .... I do not know who that person will be).
More News On Reports That The Incoming New Canadian Government Will Scrap The F-35 Purchase
Liberals Win Canadian Vote; May Drop F-35 Program -- Defense News/AFP
Canada election results threaten F-35 program -- UPI
Canada's Trudeau will dump $130 million stealth jets Australia wants to buy -- Sydney Morning Herald
Trudeau Victory Threatens US F-35 Jet Deal With Canada - Reports -- Sputnik
Justin Trudeau, Canada's incoming prime minister, could axe F-35 -- IHS Jane's 360
Canada May Dump F-35, Open New Competition -- Defense World
How the Liberal’s Win in Canada Could Hurt the F-35 -- Martin Matishak, Fiscal Times
23 comments:
WNU Editor,
You don't know?
One time my Wife told me she didn't know what she wanted for an anniversary present.
I didn't believe her either.
Anyway,
F18s are fine I guess, but Sukois are where it's at.
All it takes is a little imagination....
Sukois if you want brochure performance and not proven combat performance and reliability.
Well, I have a brochure Prime Minister with not proven performance or reliability. So, I'm just trying to be consistent.
Seems they're performing pretty decently so far over Syria. They're certainly making an impression on the Wahhabis.
fazman,
The Soviets/Russians have a different take on air combat.
When the West discovered the Mig-29's off bore sight helmet and it's aaram, they were a little freaked out. The Idea that a pilot could just look where he wanted to shoot, even if it was sideways, and the missile would go there changed the close in fight.
The Western concept is that you identify the target at Beyond Visual Range, and kill it at long range with a Meteor, or AIM. The Meteor is brand new, and the AIM doesn't have a good kill ratio, it's about 1:100 over the various models combat history.
The SU-35M idea, is that ground based, air based and SU fairies EM and ELINT systems negate radar and sensors at long range, jam and misdirect AIM and Meteor missiles, so the SU's survive to the Visual Range fight.
While the SU's air shows moves are great for stunts, they are pushing the envelope for entertainment values. In combat such moves bleeds too much energy for a continued fight, instead, it's the Off Boresight, and subtle instant moves, that allows an SU a kill shot, in a situation where neither side has a nose on.
Neither "system" has ever gone head to head.
So, Russia builds dog fighters as opposed to stand off platforms.
I'm liking them more and more.
We'll take twenty-five to start....
The SU's also have a large onboard tank, before you start to add carried tanks and conformal tanks.
You can't turn and burn with wing tanks, (G forces), and the longer you can turn and burn, the longer you can maintain an advantage.
What about mig 29 in serbia and iraq? , are russian polots really any better particulary in relation to the serbs.
In a environment of near zero threat. , syria is just a weapons oroving ground
Thanks for the information Jay. I've bern watching these planes a lot. The super hornet looks to be slower with lower range and more expensive.
I can see the Sukois being good for Canada due to the ruggedness of Russian designs. With their short take off ability, they could be used on old remote air strips and mining camps which are found all over Canada.
The 34s would be nice to have as well for recon and interdiction of ships along our coastlines.
Scrapping F-35 is a great idea at least. Would that it was done earlier, and everywhere.
Maybe, but isnt all dependsnt on how stealthy it is. Surely when they designed it they would have lit it up with a mig 29 and worked from there?
Regardless russian equipment has been less than stellar when compared to its western counterparts.
Sure u.s pilots have more experience and flight time than anyone else which is a more credible argument than "on that serbian mig29 was the export model.
Neither the Serbs, nor the Iraqi's, nor the Syrians had Mig 29's,
And the Syrian Mig-29's are derisively called "monkey models". Retuned aircraft with out the best toys, just like the Iraqi M-1 tanks.
The Serbs kept their aircraft in their hardened bunkers, as they were outnumbered 100:1. The Lybians complied with the No-Fly Zone.
fazman,
There were no Serbian MIG-29's during the Yugoslav Wars.
When the Wall came down the German Airforce kept the Warsaw Pact Mig-29's, and crosstrained their pilots. In cold exercises, USAF F-15's went 0:13 against the German MIG's, and after a month of joint training, the best the USAF got was 1:1.
One of the CAF's role is patrol, interception and escort, for that, stealth is not needed,
Another of it's roles is Ground Strike for NATO, and for that, stealth is only needed if "Han shoots first",
It's third "unofficial role", is as a Junior Varsity player in the US's Expeditionary Wars abroad, (something we should not be involved with).
Sorry their were mig 29 when nato attacked serbia during the kosovo war.
2 were shot down asap by coalition forces within minutes of engagement.
Google mig 39 losses balkans.
29 not 39 oops typo.
"During the night of March 24/25, 1999: Yugoslav air force scrambled five MiG-29s to counter the initial attacks. The two fighters that took off from Niš Airport were vectored to intercept targets over southern Serbia and Kosovo, were dealt with by NATO fighters: the MiG-29 flown by Maj. Dragan Ilić was damaged. He landed with one engine out and the aircraft was later expended as a decoy. The second MiG, flown by Maj. Ilijo Arizanov, was shot down by an USAF F-15C piloted by Lt. Col. Cesar Rodriguez. The pair from Batajnica Air Base (Maj. Nebojša Nikolić and Maj. Ljubiša Kulačin), were engaged by USAF Capt. Mike Shower who shot down Nikolić while Kulačin evaded several missiles fired at him while fighting to bring his malfunctioning systems back to working order. Eventually realizing that he could not do anything, and with Batajnica AB under attack, he diverted to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, and landed safely, his aircraft temporarily concealed under the tail of a parked retired airliner.[81] The fifth and last MiG-29 to get airborne that night was flown by Maj. Predrag Milutinović. Immediately after take-off his radar failed and electrical generator malfunctioned. Shortly after, he was warned by SPO-15 of being acquired by fire control radar, but he eluded the opponent by several evasive manoeuvres. Attempting to evade further encounters, he approached Niš Airport intending to land when he was hit by an 2K12 Kub in a friendly fire incident and forced to eject. In total, the 127.LAE launched five MiG-29s on that night, of which three were shot down, one badly damaged, and one returned in unserviceable condition. Not a single pilot was killed – even if it would take few days until one of them was recovered. "
5 vs. 1,031 are not good odds, more so for "monkee model" MIG 29B's.
And we are talking SU's here, not MIG's.
Russian Aircraft will never be considered for the CAF.
The Yugoslav civil war. Sighhh .... it brings back bad memories. Its a long story Jay.
WNU Editor,
It was going to happen. Tito kept Yugoslavia together, and not in a way that allowed a post - Tito continuety,
And then, a united Yugoslavia would have been a major economic threat to both Germany and France.
It was, and remains, a complete and utter waste. People who could have remained a major economy and multicultural entity, provoked, and were provoked, into creating a bunch of microstates, based on old resentments and hatreds, going back 900 years.
My "Canada" will always include Quebec and the First Nations.
Jay. Quebec has changed .... and is changing. This province is not what it use to be when I fist visited here over 20 years ago. And as for the First Nations .... I know that every reserve/community is different, but I live across the St. Lawrence river from Kahnawake .... sighhhh .... and it is suppose to be one of the better reserves. On a side note .... and something that is completely different from WNU ... I have been working with Paul Martin's son in developing web based educational resources for native peoples (my contribution to the betterment of mankind). Unfortunately .... it has been a disappointment ... and the reason why is simple .... it takes more than opportunity to get an education .... the person/family/community must also embrace the culture of learning and reading .... but .... among the adults .... for many of them this is not the priority. But what gives me hope is that the children (because they are children) have an open mind .... and if the First Nations are to have a bright future .... they have to focus on them. Anyway .... I better stop blabbing. It is late .... time to sleep.
"and the reason why is simple .... it takes more than opportunity to get an education .... the person/family/community must also embrace the culture of learning and reading"
Respectufully, WNU Editor,
That statement could apply right here in my hometown or any community right across Canada.
"Russian Aircraft will never be considered for the CAF."
Today, Jay, today.
Tomorrow belongs to our grandchildren.
RRH. I know that many communities lack a culture of education/learning/reading. The high school dropout rate for boys in French schools on the island of Montreal is a whopping 60% http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/dismal-dropout-rates-among-french-speaking-students-worry-minister-1.2771757
In this case .... much of it is due to immigrant children from Haiti, Arab countries, etc. dropping out.
But for Canada's native communities .... the problem is far worse. But there is a concerted effort and a lot of good will to rectify the problem. Unfortunately .... again .... cultural issues make it difficult.
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