Canada says no guarantee it will buy F-35 fighters

[rock45]

Canada says no guarantee it will buy F-35 fighters


Wed May 14, 2008 1:44pm EDT
OTTAWA, May 14 (Reuters) - There is no guarantee that Canada will buy any F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) despite helping to fund development of the new generation U.S. warplane, a senior military official said on Wednesday.
The message contradicted what officials said last year when they told reporters that Ottawa planned to buy 80 JSFs, which will be made by Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research).
Earlier this week Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada would buy 65 modern fighters. When asked what kind of fighters, a Harper spokeswoman referred to the JSF program.
But the military official said that although the JSF was "a very good aircraft", Canada would be keeping its options open.
"Canada has not made a decision that (it) would procure the Joint Strike Fighter ... When it comes to the actual decision as which aircraft to purchase, it will be on a competitive basis," he told a briefing.
The new fighters are intended to replace Canada's CF-18s, which are scheduled to reach the end of their working lives in 2017-20. Canada bought 138 of them in the 1980s and now has 98, 80 of which are being refurbished.
The Joint Strike Fighter program is being funded by the United States, Canada and seven other countries.
Asked why Canada might not buy an aircraft it had helped develop, the official replied: "We think that the Joint Strike Fighter is a very good aircraft ... we're really looking forward to the decision process and the acquisition process." (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Peter Galloway)




Link
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN1450699420080514

 

[bigcanada813]

oh well, if Canada doesn't buy the JSF, we can always go back to defending ourselfs with our hockey players

 

[factanonverba]

Defence R&D Canada say the future of the fighter aircraft are not sure because right now some nation made small bomber uav with "stealth" technology and target acquission such the Dassault Aviation AVE-D / Dassault nEUROn / Boeing X-45 / X-47 Pegasus / BAE Taranis / EADS Barracuda :

The Dassault Aviation AVE-D drone completed its first fully autonomous demonstration flight on June 30, 2008 near Toul, France. The flight, watched by representatives of France’s Délégation Générale pour l’Armement (DGA) armaments procurement agency, comprised a completely automated sequence: roll from parking spot, runway alignment, takeoff, in-flight maneuvers, landing, braking and rolling back to the parking apron.

This AVE-D flight marks a significant first for Dassault Aviation, confirming the company’s expertise in Uninhabited Air Vehicles, or drones. The demonstration flight is a key development milestone for a
technology essential to the successful pursuit of the European nEUROn Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle Demonstrator program. The AVE (Aéronefs de Validation Expérimentale) series is a family of scale model experimental unmanned aircraft developed by Dassault Aviation. These aircraft enable Dassault Aviation to carry out flight validation tests of technological advances in the field of Uninhabited Air Vehicles, or UAVs, including stealth and autonomous flight.
Achieving maximum stealth is a decisive factor for the success of observation or attack missions in a hostile combat environment. The first AVE aircraft—called AVE-D, for “discretion”—made its maiden flight in July 2000, becoming the first stealth drone to fly in Europe.
The next stage in the validation program consisted in eliminating the aircraft tail to enhance stealth. This aerodynamic configuration makes aircraft unstable, thus rendering control more difficult. This led to the AVE-C (C for “control”), that completed its first flight in June 2003.
Within the framework of a contract with DGA, the AVE family have made several flights since 2004.
Key dates:
• AVE-D 1st flight: July 18, 2000
• AVE-C 1st tail-less flight: June 12, 2003
• AVE-D autonomous flight demonstration for DGA: June 30, 2008

 

[Lunatik]

Nonsense, I'm pretty sure Canada will buy F-35s. Let's come back to this thread in 5 years and see for ourselves. :smil: As for UAVs, unless they're completely autonomous and can operate without signal input from its base, I'll never trust them.

 

[factanonverba]

They have few reason why Canada are not sure to purchase the F-35 for replaced the older fleet, Canadian Air forces had several problem with single engine during cold war for CANCOM-JTFN patrol in Artic region. This is for why we only purchase twin engine aircraft such CF-101 (132x) CF-104 (200x) CF-116 Freedom Fighter (135x), CF-188 (138x). All Canadian fighter after 1950 were all multi-role twin engine fighter...and the F-35 have only one engine and this is for why (one of the reason) canada are not sure about the future of the CF-188.

Future Plans


In 2001, the Canadian Air Force launched an eight-year, two-phase initiative called the Incremental Modernization Project (IMP). By the end of this project, a total of 80 CF-18 Hornets—62 single-seat and 18 dual-seat—will have received significant upgrades to their radio, avionics and weapons systems, as well as to the structural integrity of their fuselage, wings and tail sections.
The modernization program will ensure that Canada has a state-of-the-art CF-18 fighter force that remains effective and operationally viable until at least 2017.
Phase I of the IMP (2002–2006) involved procuring and installing:

• a new on-board radar system
• “Have Quick” jam-resistant radios that are compatible with technology used by NATO-ally air forces
• a combined interrogator/transponder unit to ensure that CF-18s are recognized as “friendlies” when spotted on allied radar scopes during combat operations
• a stores management system for weapon-system and associated-equipment control
• new mission-designation computers
• embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System (GPS/INS) capability

The first completed “Phase I” CF-18 was delivered back to Air Command in May 2003.
Within the same timeframe but separate from the IMP, the following new components were also installed in the aircrafts:

• a new infrared sensor
• a multipurpose instrument-panel display group
• a night vision imaging system
• advanced air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons
• a landing-gear “get well” program to reduce corrosion and improve gear retraction
• an Advanced Distributed Combat Training System

Phase II of the IMP (2006–2009) involves installing:

• a data-link system for information-exchange connectivity with similar systems on other surveillance and air-combat platforms
• a helmet-mounted display
• a crash-survivable flight recorder
• an upgraded electronic warfare (EW) suite to enhance survivability against future surface-to-air threats

Several projects outside the scope of the IMP are also planned to upgrade the CF-18s. They include:

• a fuselage Centre Barrel Replacement Project (for 40 of the upgraded aircraft)
• an Air Combat Manoeuvring Instrumentation System
• an Integrated Electronic Warfare Support Station
• an Electronic Warfare Test Equipment Project

Total costs for the IMP and the additional Hornet fleet enhancements are not yet confirmed, but are estimated at about $2.6 billion (CAD).