What Would It Take for Canada to Build Its Own Fighter Jets Again?
What Would It Take for Canada to Build Its Own Fighter Jets Again?
Carney throws a grenade into the F-35 defence deal as the US becomes a less reliable ally
Deep pockets and a spine
The cost isn't actually much higher for the Gripen proposal this is about, although I'm not sure if that leaves things like the actual factories out.
The future is in drones. If Canada should sink funding into anything, it should be that.
I've wondered about just SAMs and MANPADs as an alternative to any new fighter jet. We can't really trust the F-35 and the alternatives (the Gripen E) might not be survivable, depending on a bunch of data I don't have.
Sure, they can't be used offensively, but that's not the main thing I worry about in the near future.
Until someone comes up with a very compelling anti-drone countermeasure, drones are basically the ideal weapon for a battlefield. Cheap, mobile, can loiter, good recon, etc.
Drones are the future, fuck building fighters or bombers.
Sort of? Existing software isn't smart enough to fight a battle on it's own, and electronic warfare is a real thing that makes communications hard. In a full-blown war situation there's appeal in having a human being in a cockpit close to possible targets.
The things we worry about in Canada are more specific, though. For example, we probably don't need long-range bombers of our own.
The real concern is not “which aircraft to buy” — its “in 20 years will Canada be able to even arm itself in a world of disrupted supply chains?”
Agreed that drones are tactically important, but tanks and fighters ships are strategically important, and will never go out of style.
I have seen plenty of tanks and ships crippled or destroyed by drones...
It would take billions of tax payer dollars and decades
No more than what we're spending on the F35. We could design 10 new aircraft for that price
The money is there. The Weston family and other billionaires are all holding it.