Fighter jets practise for 2010 Games, roaming over Vancouver.

[nack]

Originally Posted by belka

I hope the infantry soldiers enjoy tent city out in Cloverdale or whatever. I'll enjoy my clean, warm, DRY hotel room in downtown van.

nah man, we sleep in g-wagons :{D

[JD¹³]

There are a lot of misconceptions and bad info being posted here so I'll try to clear those up as my father is directly involved with these operations.

The Air Force has been running operations to prepare for the Olympics since the spring, the jets are just now being seen over Vancouver because prior to this the entire "system" under which they're now operting had to be assembled from scratch. My dad took part in the initial setup by flying low level highspeed operations to test the radar systems all over the country initially and now most recently in BC. The fighters are now here to test reaction times and so on. The F18's will be based at NUMEROUS airports across BC, and not just the lower mainland - most of which are classified for obvious reasons. I'd actually be surprised if there were any at Vancouver International as the local air traffic would make scrambling them more difficult than is necessary. On the burners they fly over 1100mph, so they're distance from the heart of Vancouver isn't a huge issue: they'll get there very quickly.

The Aurora's are submarine hunters and do a great deal of electronic warfare, which is probably why local GPS amongst other systems has been an issue as was posted. It's all testing and preparation for "the worst". If they wanted to the military could probably shut down almost every form of communication in Metro Vancouver, cell phones, internet, you name it. The Navy is also heavily involved and are ramping up their radar systems for the Olympics. My dad will be towing targets for them in the next few weeks to test their radars, cannons, and self-defense systems against both air targets and simulated cruise missles.

As for the F18 being a relic, you could call it that since the original design is over 20 years old but the jet is still one of the most dominant fighters in the air today. It's a multi-role fighter that can be heavily armed for air-to-air, air-to-ground, or both simultaneously. That versatility is why it's so popular, many different countries within NATO have the F18 as their primary fighter. The US Navy replaced the F14 Tomcat with the F18, and it's so versatile they will undoubtedly retire the A6 Intruder as well as it's simply obselete. The F18 can do it all, especially now that the Navy has the Super Hornet (30% bigger, more payload, more fuel). They're even looking into converting Super Hornets into mini-AWACS jets.

The F22 was kind of a stupid jet to build as the F35 was being designed pretty much in parallel with it. The Air Force pushed for the F22 to replace the F15 Eagle which it has now done but it's development is already terminated. The F35 is the new F18, it will do everything the F22 can but be more versatile thus the F22 being cancelled. Now someone posted about the Canadian Air Force being ghetto by only having standard F18's, no Super Hornet or F35's. Well here's why: the CF-18 is the absolute top-of-the-line standard sized F18. They've all been updated with the latest radars, weapons, electronics packages and so on. They've got "HUD-in-helmet" technology now that allows for the pilot to see the HUD on the inside of his visor so he'll always know what's going on with his systems. So if the pilot is looking over his shoulder and jigging around in a dogfight he'll always know his airspeed, altitude, what his weapon systems are doing, etc. That visor HUD automatically turns off if the pilot is looking straight through the normal HUD or down at his instruments, it's a slick system (but the lids cost $130,000+ each). And for all you movie buffs out there: Top Gun is a real elite fighter school and Canadians have won it a couple times in F18's against the F14/15/16. The Canadian Air Force is very capable

Instead of buying the Super Hornets, Canada decided to upgrade our F18's and wait for the F35. Yes, Canada has ordered them, and from what I've heard the number is pretty high. Australia will be one of the first to get the F35 as they haven't upgraded their F18's to the same level as Canada, and their F111 Ardvarks are TRULY ancient. Canada's in no rush because our jets are pretty much unchallenged in this region of the world with the exception of the United States. Russian fighters aren't going to be coming over the poles, though their revived Bear bombers have recently to test OUR reaction times and kinda say "Hey, look what we can do." Here's a picture of a Canadian F18 intercepting the old Cold War relic over the Arctic:



The F35 will come in 3 configurations. 1 with the vertical take off and landing capability for the US Marines (a config called STOVL) to replace their F18's and A8 Harriers, 1 with beefed up landing gear + larger wing and tail control surfaces for the NAVY, and 1 just "standard" jet for the Air Force to replace the F16. Canada will be getting the standard configuration. The F35 could quite possibly be the last manned jet fighter ever built as remote technology like used with the Predator's evolves (one of the reasons the A10 Warthog was just retired).

JTF-2 (Canada's SEAL/SAS/Delta Force equivalent) will be all over the place too. These guys are no slouch's either and have performed some of the most dangerous missions in Afghanistan to date. They also hold the record for the longest single-shot sniper kill in history @ over 2km's. They were recently heralded by top US military officials for their actions in Afghanistan.

Hope that helps clear some things up and provide some insight into our military

[rsx]

The security detail in Vancouver is somewhat of an overkill isn't it geez.

[rsx]

OOOH..
"But a pair of federal contracts and a security products conference arranged this week by Acklands-Grainger, the official safety equipment supplier for the Vancouver Organizing Committee, gave hints about the level of preparation going into emergency planning for the Games.

The federal public works department issued advance notice that it plans to award two directed contracts relating to 2010 security. One involves the testing for the Department of National Defence of two "passive coherent location radar" systems to fill in gaps in "existing national air surveillance pictures."

The contract is being given to Thales Canada of Ottawa and Lockheed Martin of Colorado and involves a three-month test of technology used to detect small aircraft flying at low altitude. Award documents say the government's plans "reflect the desire to evaluate the current state of commercial systems for rapid implementation into the field for events such as the 2010 Olympics."

There is no price attached to the documents."
Security contracts hint at level emergency planning for 2010 Games
Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun, Friday, October 31, 2008

Money money money....money.

[belka]

Originally Posted by keitaro

Belka did you take those photos? Whats the tail number of the Herc your in?

Yes I did take the photo's and I don't remember what the tail number was since this was back in May.

Originally Posted by JD¹³

They've got "HUD-in-helmet" technology now that allows for the pilot to see the HUD on the inside of his visor so he'll always know what's going on with his systems. So if the pilot is looking over his shoulder and jigging around in a dogfight he'll always know his airspeed, altitude, what his weapon systems are doing, etc. That visor HUD automatically turns off if the pilot is looking straight through the normal HUD or down at his instruments, it's a slick system (but the lids cost $130,000+ each).

We have no such helmets.

Instead of buying the Super Hornets, Canada decided to upgrade our F18's and wait for the F35. Yes, Canada has ordered them, and from what I've heard the number is pretty high.

We haven't ordered anything yet. The Fighter replacement agenda is on the table and is being discussed. What I've heard, directly from a very reliable source, is to look for an announcement on the purchase of new fighters in the early 2011 time frame.

Canada will be getting the standard configuration.

No, we will be most likely getting the F35C, the Navy version. It has a larger internal fuel capacity, a wing fold system, greater range and stronger landing gear, everything that we need.

[Spectre_Cdn]

And... they're back this week:

News1130

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - The skies above Metro Vancouver will be filled with the sounds of CF-18 fighter jets this week.

Canadian Forces pilots are flying over Olympic venues as part of last minute preparations for next month's games. The test flights are designed to familiarize them with the area and with local weather conditions. The pilots are authorized to shoot down aircraft that violate restricted airspace but the military insists lethal force is purely used as a last resort.

[Mugen EvOlutioN]

pfff the game is lame and overated

[CP.AR]

They were taking off while I was at yaohan yesterday - boy did it sound so SEXY

[nack]

so who's going to go to the free DEADMAU5 concert at yaletown on the 19th?

alotta hot babes from everywhere (and since its all ages, ALOTTA JB'S AS WELL)

[Tegra_Devil]

id prefer to see a cf-18 rock enemy aircraft rather than watch womens aerials.....

[matter]

they make an awesome noise.

[Rich Sandor]

not quite an f18, but i'd take either one of these:

[- kT]

saw a pair today flying when i was near kwantlen in richmond

[The_AK]

saw 2 black military helicopters today in richmond

[nickmak]

saw 2 flying side by side over the cambie and jacombs (richmond) area this afternoon when i was at work. not VERY loud, but i definitely knew there were fighters flying over so i ran outside to look. when i worked on #3 road, it was MUCH louder. i remember they used to set off car alarms!

[Supafly]

Originally Posted by The_AK

saw 2 black military helicopters today in richmond

i saw them aswell...they appear to be uh1 hueys..
they're matte black.

[!Tigger]

pics?

[hotong]

Originally Posted by Crossbone

pics?

in for pics aswell

[nack]

Originally Posted by Supafly

i saw them aswell...they appear to be uh1 hueys..
they're matte black.

there actually called Griffons


and look what i found :{D

[Tegra_Devil]

^are you a sniper?

[nack]

Originally Posted by Tegra_devil

^are you a sniper?

only on COD, but i found the pic on wikipedia

[seakrait]

Originally Posted by JD¹³

The US Navy replaced the F14 Tomcat with the F18, and it's so versatile they will undoubtedly retire the A6 Intruder as well as it's simply obselete.

Intruders were retired in 1997. They were replaced by the F14s equipped with LANTIRN pods. EA6 Prowlers are still in use though they are to be replaced by the EA18G Growlers.

The F35 could quite possibly be the last manned jet fighter ever built as remote technology like used with the Predator's evolves (one of the reasons the A10 Warthog was just retired).

The F35 will actually eventually replace the A10, not the Predator/Warrior/Reaper drones.[/quote]

[Rich Sandor]

Originally Posted by JD¹³

There are a lot of misconceptions and bad info being posted here so I'll try to clear those up as my father is directly involved with these operations.

I think you posted more misconceptions and bad info than what you corrected.

[dutch]

Originally Posted by jivan6

and look what i found :{D

"on your left!"