bill gates could buy like 300 of them

that too.

In just the developement, Canada had a return on its investment.

"Ottawa has invested $168 million into the development of the Joint Strike Fighter Program, which has already produced a return of $350 million in contracts for 85 Canadian companies, research laboratories and universities"


I remember an article a while back which said that Canadian companies lost a few of the contracts for the JSF, but in general, Canada is still coming out of it in very good shape.

Buying the F-35 is a waste of money compared to the F-22. We don't need the vertical takeoff capabilities. We need a long distance, high speed aircraft to patrol the lands of our vast country.




Oh and I would say thats a pretty short take off^

Did they say that Canada will be getting the short takeoff version?

all said and done, canada doesn't need F-35 type aircraft. yes canada has already $ invested in it , but the cost of maintaining these aircraft will be too high. and they haven't been arn't being even actively used. that means, no body know how much it will cost to keep them in the air. Take f-22 for example, for every hour it spends in the air, i needs 30 of hrs of maintenance.

Canadian air force, hardly sees action, and cannot justify purchasing F-35 type of machine. the most they should go for is Super Hornets , or other single engine type air crafts, or even EF.
2ndly the argument of parts being produced in canada will help canada, is a bogus argument. Cause that can be done with any manufacturer, not only US. case example India is in the process of procuring 126 fighter jets for around $10billion and they have put that 40-50% parts will be produced locally into the contract that means (40-50% will be re-invested by whoever they select into the indian economy for parts etc)
NOT to mention Transfer of Technology is also listed as a requirnment. THey just finished field testing 6 aircraft and will short listing 3-4. All the aircrafts that they are at, is what canada should be looking at also.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_MRCA_competition

Case example, take sea king helicopters. after the liberals came into power, they squashed that deal, costing another $500 mil to canada. (same fate is likely as liberals are already up against this deal).

its been said like 5 times in this thread.

the F22 is NOT AVAILABLE to Canada. and will be out of production in 2 years. Canada doesnt receive its first F35 for 6 years.

the F35 is basically the ONLY option for Canada.

from what I understand the F22 had such a short run because it simply costs way to much to keep flying and all the systems which were so advanced at first, are now already getting dated and are not compatable with any other systems. the JSF is supposed to be a very upgradable machine with a long life expectancy like the jets built in the 60s-70s which are still in the air and now on their 4th or 5th varients.


and one of the reasons Canada needs a fighter is the debate over claims to the North Pole are starting to heat up with Russia being one of the countries wanting a stake. dont doubt theres oil up there, and dont doubt the Russians want it as bad as we do. and dont think the environmental and financial impact of Canada losing the north, wont affect the whole country. I would not hesitate for a second to think the US 'suggested' Canada get more involved in such things.

I'd love to see one of these around (Not due to warfare of course:thumbsup: ), T50 PAK FA
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/3088/pakfaaerial.jpg
http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/4...aknaapo3s6.jpg

This is a good start, but its not enough. We've updated our air support from a bunch of guys in cessnas dropping beer bottles full of gas on the enemy to something a little more modern. Now we need to take our navy and army seriously. Cold War-era equipment isn't going to cut it in 2010.

our tax money!

What about our tax money?

I understand that we can't get the F-22, but we need a plane with the same capabilities as the F-22. How are the F-35's going to stand a chance against the SU's in air to air combat? * If that was to ever happen*.

mmmmm

http://www.lisisoft.com/imglisi/5/Sc...-2-spirit2.jpg

Why the hell would we need that. The F35 makes sense, a B2 doesnt. Plus, then people will definately start complaining considering theyre $2billion+ each.

B2s are for attack bomb runs, unlike the F35, multi-role defense fighter. Plus, running F35 should be much cheaper than say a F22... Besides, what are the chances we'll face a whole bunch of fighters that have F35+ capability? UN and states ain't gonna attack Canada, China, India, and Russian fighter's still in the development phase, Mitsubishi's making a copy of the F22 iirc, It'll be much more possible we'll have to face long range missiles and fleets of submarines than have air to air combat... In any case, F35 can be fitted to all situations.... just like all season tires, not the best, but plenty enough.

air to air dog fighting is a thing of the past.

20 posts and you're been failed in 25% of them... you rock sir

I laugh at the people saying the F35 is a waste of money and that we don't need it. The CF-18's are pushing 40 years old. They're updated to the very latest weapons and radar technologies available and are still very capable, but with fighters like the F-22, F-35, SU-37, T-50 and so on out there... Canada needs a 21st century jet.

There are 3 versions of the F-35 that were designed for different roles within the US militrary. A standard version (USAF), Navy version with bigger control services and beefed up landing gear for carriers (USN), and the STOVL version with vertical takeoff capabilities (Marines). Canada as far as I know is getting the Navy version, so no we will not have the planes that can hover. The Marines are using them to replace their Harriers.

Though a lot of people don't realize it, pretty much any major threat that might attack North America (Russia, North Korea, etc) is going to come by flying over the North Pole. Guess which country they come across first? The Russians pulled their old Cold War era Bear Bombers out of mothball a couple years ago and have been ROUTINELY punching into Canadian and American airspace over the Pole as a way of saying "We're here and look what we can do". Should a situation with the Russians ever arise the fighters that would be escorting them would be one of a number of VERY capable fighters such as the SU-37, SU-47, or the new Sukhoi T-50. In short, Canada's F18's wouldn't stand a chance. We NEED the F35.

Here's what we're up against:
As an aside: there was a recent incident involving a USAF F15. They're about as old as the F18 and those airframes have been pushed hard for the past 30-40 years. One actually came apart behind the cockpit while in the air because the airframe was so tired it couldn't handle the stress anymore. Basically the same thing as when you bend a piece of metal back and forth over and over it eventually weakens and snaps. It grounded the entire F15 fleet for a period of time. We do not want that happening to our ONLY northern defense weapon. Bring on the F35 (and fingers crossed I get selected to fly it).

Isn't SU47 pulled out due to high twist on wing design?

^There's that, and the development of the MiG into a 5th gen fighter. Only one was ever made as a technology demonstrator.

If you want to see a sneak peak of how awesome the F-35 is, watch Die Hard 4

But... but... what if the terrorists have boxes?

The west has the hedgehog. He's wrecked enough box in his time that I doubt they'll be coming anytime soon.

http://www.perfectpeople.net/photo-p...1193606561.jpg

heath care and education is provincial. not federal.... lean how government works before ranting about it.

who cares about social housing. don't have a job, go sleep in the forest. I ain't paying for you.

I bet $10 that Russia will attack us within the next 10 years. we need defence.. the liberals didn't spend any money for years and now we have nothing. time to get some stuff back. is that the best choice? I have no idea. I'm not a rocket scientist. now we need some navy ships and arm the coast guard boats.

The sultan of brunei could buy 1000 of them.