You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!
The banners on the left side and below do not show for registered users!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.
Vancouver Off-Topic / Current EventsThe off-topic forum for Vancouver, funnies, non-auto centered discussions, WORK SAFE. While the rules are more relaxed here, there are still rules. Please refer to sticky thread in this forum.
Concorde is a fascinating plane.. ive watched a few doc's on it and they were all really interesting, too bad the crash of the air france one seemingly ended the project
guess fuel costs, and the cost of the trip itself onto passengers was also prohibitive
__________________
Dank memes cant melt steel beams
__________________ "The guy in the CR-V meanwhile, he'll give you a haughty glare. He's responsibly trying to lessen his impact, but there you go lumbering past him with your loud V8, flouting the new reality. You may as well go do some donuts in a strawberry patch and slalom through a litter of kittens." Dan Frio, Automotive Editor, Edmunds
__________________ "The guy in the CR-V meanwhile, he'll give you a haughty glare. He's responsibly trying to lessen his impact, but there you go lumbering past him with your loud V8, flouting the new reality. You may as well go do some donuts in a strawberry patch and slalom through a litter of kittens." Dan Frio, Automotive Editor, Edmunds
So my wife made her "new business" numbers at work last year and we got to go to their big awards bash in Tucson last week... all expenses paid at an all-inclusive resort?? Yes, I think so!
One of the planned activities we signed up for was a visit to the Pima Air & Space Museum, which included a bus tour of AMARG, aka "The Boneyard". Pretty freakin' amazing stuff!
The Boneyard tour follows a set route through Davis-Monthan AFB where you get to see the stacks and stacks of planes stored there, and they have pretty much one-of-everything planes lined up along the roadway, while a retired pilot gives a talk about what each one is, what it is/was used for, and some fascinating history of many of them.
Didn't have nearly enough time to cover all of the Museum that I wanted to, but it was still an amazing time. Will add pics once I get them all uploaded
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Godzira
Does anyone know how many to a signature?
..
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brianrietta
Not a sebberry post goes by where I don't frown and think to myself "so..?"
OTTAWA — The Liberal government is intent on buying Super Hornet fighter jets, according to multiple sources.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet reportedly discussed the issue last week, and while no formal decision was taken, one top-level official said: “They have made up their minds and are working on the right narrative to support it.”
Rather than a full replacement of the air force’s aging CF-18 fighter fleet, it’s believed the purchase will be labelled an interim measure to fill what Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has warned is a pending “gap” in Canada’s military capabilities.
The Liberals promised during the election campaign not to buy the F-35 to replace the CF-18s. But the government has been struggling with how to fulfil that promise for fear any attempt to exclude the stealth fighter from a competition will result in a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit, according to one senior Defence Department official.
There is precedent for purchasing Super Hornets on an interim basis; Australia bought 24 of the aircraft about five years ago for $2.5 billion, to replace that country’s antiquated F-111 jets until newer F-35s were ready.
Sajjan, who recently visited Australia, warned last month that Canada’s CF-18s “need to be replaced now. And the fact they have not been replaced means we are facing a capability gap in the years ahead.” He indicated the government planned to move quickly.
An official in Sajjan’s office reiterated that sense of urgency on Saturday, saying the Royal Canadian Air Force has been “risk-managing” its fighter jet fleet.
“The government is working very hard on this file as it must because today the Canadian Armed Forces are risk-managing a gap between our NATO and NORAD obligations, and the number of planes we can put in the air on any given day,” the official said.
“That capability gap is expected to grow in the years ahead, and that’s an unacceptable situation.”
The official added that the issue is a “very high priority for the government to chart a way forward in the very near future.”
Liberal suggestions that Canada’s CF-18s are on their last legs appear to have come out of nowhere, after the previous Conservative government announced in 2014 that it was upgrading the CF-18s so they could continue to operate through 2025. That $400-million initiative was intended to buy the government time to make the right decision on a replacement.
Defence analyst David Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute noted Canada originally bought 138 CF-18s, and is now down to fewer than 80 — all of which are aging.
“The current fleet size makes it difficult to do everything NORAD and NATO require,” he said.
But Perry noted that has been the case for years, including under the Conservatives.
“This government seems to find the situation a lot more problematic than the last one did,” he said.
Suggesting there is an urgent need to replace the CF-18s, and then describing any purchase of Super Hornets as an interim measure could be one way for the Liberals to make good on its promise not to buy the F-35, without sparking a costly legal battle. The government could maintain that it still plans to hold a full competition to replace the CF-18s at a later, undetermined date.
There have long been suspicions that the Liberals have wanted to buy the Super Hornet. Aside from ruling out the F-35 during the election, officials have indicated that Canada all but has to buy an American-built plane, given the importance of joint continental defence with the U.S.
That leaves the Super Hornet as the only alternative, given that the F-35’s other competitors — the Dassault Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Saab Gripen — are all European.
The official in Sajjan’s office described reports of the government’s intention to buy the Super Hornet as “speculative,” insisting no decision has been made.
Industry sources say they have been waiting for the government to provide some type of indication where it plans to go in terms of replacing the CF-18s. The Defence Department has also been working on a new statement of requirements for what Canada needs in a next-generation fighter.
Meanwhile, the Liberals have also refused to publicly rule out buying the F-35 since winning the election. It’s believed that’s because they have realized that the U.S. aerospace giant responsible for building the stealth fighter, Lockheed Martin, could hit the government with a massive lawsuit.
There is reason for such a worry. Last month, a federal trade tribunal sided with an American company that felt it was treated unfairly during a competition to provide new trucks for the army. The tribunal called for the company’s design to be retested, and if it would have won, for the government to pay compensation.
In that competition, the winning company was paid $834 million, and the loser stands to gain tens of millions of dollars, if not hundreds of millions, in compensation following the tribunal’s ruling. In the case of the F-35, that figure could easily reach the billions — all of which would be covered by taxpayers.
Industry representatives warned there could be a fight if the government does move to purchase the Super Hornet, even if it’s labelled an interim measure. But one Defence Department officials said the government might be able to sidestep legal questions by citing urgent national security needs.
The previous Conservative government announced in 2010 that Canada would be buying 65 F-35s, with the first to be delivered in 2015. But it pushed the reset button in 2012 after the auditor general raised questions about the program, and National Defence revealed the jets would cost $46 billion over their lifetimes.
__________________ "The guy in the CR-V meanwhile, he'll give you a haughty glare. He's responsibly trying to lessen his impact, but there you go lumbering past him with your loud V8, flouting the new reality. You may as well go do some donuts in a strawberry patch and slalom through a litter of kittens." Dan Frio, Automotive Editor, Edmunds
What's everyone's opinion on this Liberal claimed "capability gap"? The articles state that the previous Conservative government ordered a life-extending upgrade program for the CF-18 fleet to operate well into the 2020's. The Liberals are now saying the jets will require replacement much sooner than that.
What's everyone's opinion on this Liberal claimed "capability gap"? The articles state that the previous Conservative government ordered a life-extending upgrade program for the CF-18 fleet to operate well into the 2020's. The Liberals are now saying the jets will require replacement much sooner than that.
Which theory is more correct at this point?
Yes, there is a growing capability gap. It's not insurmountable at this point but it will only continue to grow. Everything from the airframe's ability to perform under load, to the ability to continuously upgrade the avionics to accept newer and more sophisticated weapons. I won't even get started on the fact that we still use a radar from the 90's. We're down to 77 operational aircraft (from 138 originally) and some of those are ops restricted due to wear and tear ie. they still fly but can't fight / won't be deployed.
If Canada wants to continue flying the CF-18 then yes, it needs another upgrade. Do they need replacing sooner? Yes. Both parties are right, but both parties are to blame for the fuck up of procuring its replacement. A Super Hornet purchase as a stop-gap is 5-10 years late. The E/F/G would be a significant addition in capability for Canada, but to get everything spooled up to get full use out of those platforms will take years and big budget spending. Training WSO's and EW guru's is a big investment. Simply buying the aircraft as a bandaid for the current fleet without using their additional capabilities would be grossly illogical and a massive waste of money. The government has to commit to a Super fleet if that's the way they want to go, and if they do I hope it's a mixed fleet of E/F, Growlers, and ASH's. But if it's only a stop-gap, when is the 'real' purchase? The government can't procure for shit and now they're saying they want to buy two generations of fighters in relatively close succession? Right....
I'll believe it all when I see it. At this point they can't even keep up with training pilots to fly what we have. Our military, as a whole, has atrophied to a scary level that every citizen should be concerned about.
For a good read on what your CF-18's did in Iraq and Syria I encourage you to have a look at this article: http://skiesnews.reisinformations.ne.../files/28.html
Also, if you missed it, this is a great interview with the former CO of 409 TFS who led the first six months of the mission in Iraq.
the absurd thing here is the conservatives tried to push the f35 program thru and the NDP and Liberals were strongly opposed to it and insisted that new jets werent needed, which led to the order being canceled/put on hold. so the conservatives were sort of forced into the upgrade for the cf18s.
now the liberals are saying they need new jets asap and the conservative planned upgrade is a waste.
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!
The banners on the left side and below do not show for registered users!
