Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau is showing every sign of following through on his pledge to cancel Canada’s participation in the F-35 program and that will likely mean a three-way race for a less expensive and less capable aircraft to replace the CF-18.
The bonus is that the RCAF will probably end up with more airplanes.
Ruling out the F-35 (there may not be a legal way to keep it out of the bidding, however) effectively leaves the F/A-18 Super Hornet, Dassault’s Rafale and the Eurofighter as contenders for the contract. However, without the F-35 in the mix, Saab might rethink entering the race with its updated Gripen NG.
None of those options has the combination of stealth, surveillance and weapons capabilities that the F-35 and some other fifth generation designs from Russia and China have but Trudeau has said he doesn’t think Canada needs a fifth generation fighter because Canada won’t need to attack anything.
As if to punctuate that premise, one of Trudeau’s first acts after the election was to tell U.S. President Barack Obama that Canada will cease participation in the bombing campaign against ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria. That likely means the Aurora long-range patrol missions will also be halted.
There was no mention of the need to replace fixed wing search and rescue aircraft during the election but that will also be on the new PM’s plate.
DND Looking to Demobilize the Snowbirds’ Tutor Jets (again)
Once again, the Department of National Defence is talking about getting rid of the RCAF’s fleet of Canadair CT-114 Tutor jets. The aircraft, used by the military’s iconic Snowbirds, are now in their 7th decade, […]
Noorduyn Norseman on the Move
A Noorduyn Norseman bush plane, suspended inside the atrium of Suncor’s office building in downtown Calgary for the last 40 years, is moving out. In fact, it is returning to a home it once knew […]
Some of this Week’s Other Highlights in Brief
A glitch in the certification of a new storage tank at an Edmonton refinery has led to a scarcity of avgas across western Canada. Many fuel facilities at airports around B.C.’s Lower Mainland began running […]
Mid-Air Collision in Alberta
A rare occurrence in Canadian skies to be sure, but a mid-air collision did take place this week not far from Alberta’s Villeneuve airport (CZVL), and remarkably no one was killed or even injured. At […]
Some of this Week’s Other Highlights in Brief
Joby Aviation has announced the completion of a 523-mile flight with its eVTOL using a combination of batteries and an on-board hydrogen fuel cell. The only emission the aircraft produced during the flight was water […]
Helicopter Firefighting Fatality
Although wildfire activity across Canada is noticeably lighter this year than in recent years, the risk associated with fighting them remains. Last week a Bell 212 helicopter belonging to Great Slave Helicopters crashed near Fort […]
Some of this Week’s Other Highlights in Brief
PAL Aerospace pilots have ratified their first collective agreement on Wednesday (July 3), according to a press release issued by their union, the Air Lines Pilot Association, International (ALPA). The three-year contract includes pay hikes, […]
The RCAF’s Canada Day Celebrations
This year’s Canada Day celebration in Ottawa will include a larger than usual display by the Royal Canadian Air Force, not unexpected given this, their 100th anniversary. While the Snowbirds can always be counted on […]
Give Hope Wings Raises Over $170,000
The national charity Hope Air is the recipient of over $170,000 in donations that have been raised by Give Hope Wings (GHW) in three separate flying expeditions across Canada in June of this year, with […]
Some of this Week’s Other Highlights in Brief
KF Aerospace founder and current board chairman Barry Lapointe was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada on Thursday (June 27). Originally established in 1970 as Kelowna Flightcraft, the company is now Canada’s […]
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