Super Hornets it is!

[mcrit]

Sole sourcing is bad.....unless the Liberals do it. 


[quote]
OTTAWA—Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan says Canada’s aging fleet of CF-18s fighter jets could leave the air force with a “gap” in its capabilities, suggesting that Ottawa might be in the market for a stop-gap fighter.

The tortured process to procure a new fighter jet appears ready to take another turn, this time under the Liberals, who made an election pledge not to buy the Lockheed Martin F-35.

But now Sajjan suggests there is growing urgency to move on the file before the CF-18s — first purchased three decades ago — stop flying.

“We are looking at a gap — that’s (what) we have to deal with. And these jets should have been replaced a long time ago,” Sajjan told reporters Tuesday.

“We’re in options analysis, looking at the capabilities required. We’re actively looking at replacing the F-18.”









The minister insisted that a gap will exist between the retirement of the CF-18s and the arrival of a new fighter. One solution is for the military to buy a number of F/A-18 Super Hornets, a modernized version of the CF-18, as it continues the drawn-out procurement process to select Canada’s next fighter jet.

Australia has gone that route, purchasing 24 Super Hornets after delays in the F-35 program.

The previous Conservative government had originally announced in 2010 its intention to buy F-35s, but then put that decision on hold in late 2012 after the auditor general flagged concerns about the potential price tag. But during last October’s election campaign, the Liberals declared the F-35 would not be a contender — a pledge the new government has since suggested is not iron-clad.

Still, going with the Super Hornet in the interim would allow the government to delay a decision on long-term fix for Canada’s air force, putting off a controversial choice that could include the F-35.

Yet the head of the Royal Canadian Air Force said in April that the current fleet of 77 CF-18s will last until 2023, perhaps longer, thanks in part to a $2.6-billion project to modernize the aircraft.

Lt.-Gen. Michael Hood said the air force would need replacements coming on line starting in 2025.

“I know that some aircraft will end their useful life before that date, starting perhaps in 2023. Others could last longer,” Hood told the Commons’ defence committee.

“I’m confident that if a decision were taken, certainly in the next five years, we’ll be in a comfortable position changing that aircraft,” Hood said at the time.

In the Commons Tuesday, the Conservatives accused the Liberals of creating an “imaginary capability” gap and warned the government against giving the contract to Boeing, makers of the Super Hornet, without a competitive process.

“The Liberals have fabricated a false narrative to sole-source the Super Hornet,” said Conservative MP James Bezan.

But Sajjan responded to opposition MPs, insisting that the CF-18s will be unable to fly in 2025. “It is important that we move very quickly in filling this capability gap,” the defence minister said.
[/quote]





[url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/201 ... warns.html]https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/201 ... warns.html[/url]

[Colonel]

Too funny.

Heck, we'd be better off just with new (zero-time) versions
of what we have now - original Hornet.

Would the last deployment (to Iraq/Syria) have been
noticeably better accomplished by F-35's?

It's a good thing that with that river of billions of
dollars flowing by, that nobody gets affected by it
and politics doesn't get involved in procurement.

Hey, the argument that since the production line
could be shut down, that something is garbage
(argument against Super Hornet) also apply to F-22?

The production line for it was killed by Obama
years ago, so the F-22 is shit, right?

Chris Meyers shut down the MX production line,
so Rob Holland flies a shit airplane now?

Spitfires and P-51 haven't been made in 70
years, so according to Canadians, they must
be super-shit.  Can I have some?

SR-71 hasn't been made in 50 years, and it
flew over 80,000 feet and mach 3.3 - that's
shit by Canadian standards, right?  F-35
flies much higher and faster than SR-71
because it's production line is still open?

Just like the F-22, MX, Spitfire, P-51 and
SR-71 are too shitty for Canada, so is the
Super Hornet, which the USN and RAAF use,
because they're shitty compared to Canada.

Did I get that right?

[Liquid Charlie]

Out dated technology is our specialty. Best job in the world is a submariner for canadian forces. Lots of shore leave, home every night, it's all good

[ScudRunner-d95]

Hope they give some of the old CF-18s to the Snowbirds, I mean the Tudors are all well and good but they don't set off car alarms in the parking lot at the airshow.  :(

[David MacRay]

That car alarm comment makes me think about AirVenture.

I was hanging out bothering Robert Baslee and there was a P-38 flying around in formation with an F-18. This caused a fair number of the WW I replica building folks to complain about the noises. "I wish they would not have brought that thing here."

Funny because when I was younger that would have been what I was at any airshow to see.

[Colonel]

If you can't crash at an airshow, at least make
lots of smoke and noise.

My favorite motorcycle has enough bass to set
off car alarms as I ride by.  I was once stopped
on it by a rather nice young Ottawa policeman
who told me in a somewhat admiring tone that
it was the loudest motorcycle he had ever heard.

[youtube][/youtube]

I try not to ride it in the city.  I'm told it sounds
like a boat, WOT on the country roads.

[Colonel]

There's nothing like an old hornet:

[url=http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/06/22/ma ... tcmp=hpbt3]http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/06/22/ma ... tcmp=hpbt3[/url]

[quote]The Marines are looking for a few good planes, and their search has taken them to an Arizona boneyard where the Corps’ old F/A Hornets have been gathering dust and rust for years.

“[b]In hindsight, it was a misstep for the USMC to not have purchased the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet[/b]"

The F-35 was supposed to be ready for front-line service in 2006. The Marine Corps reasoned that the Super Hornets were too pricey to serve as a bridge to the new planes, and chose to continue to operate their current fleets.

As the F/A Hornets dwindled through attrition, and quality-control issues delayed the F-35 from coming off the assembly, the Corps was caught short.

Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, the USMC deputy commandant for aviation, told Senate lawmakers that [b]just 32 percent of the Corps’ Hornet fighters were operational[/b].[/quote]

Too bad we can't get 30 refurbished "C+" Hornets!

[Slick Goodlin]

[quote author=ScudRunner link=topic=3284.msg9395#msg9395 date=1465656219]
Hope they give some of the old CF-18s to the Snowbirds[/quote]
I actually like the graceful routines that the Tutors can do, that was an appreciation I developed after learning to fly myself.  For comparison, it seems like most F-18 shows are just a bunch of fast, loud, level passes.