I'm not a fan of the Rafale or the Super hornet or the Saab. The Rafale isn't a great all purpose fighter and carries a relatively light load compared to something like the F-18 super hornet. It think its about half the capacity. From everything I've seen it doesn't match up with Nato Ordinance.
Because of Canada's procurement curve and expected lifespan of fighters, the F-18 is behind the curve of what they need to buy.
The Saab is a really nice fighter but it doesn't have the bomb capability of the Superhornet and Canada needs that considering that the size of our airforce is going to shrink with this purchase.
We need the best possible fighter with the best advantages in the fewest numbers.
Right now the Super hornet is about 66 million bucks per copy, the Rafale is about 60 million bucks per copy and the Saab is close to 60 million bucks per copy.
If the F-35 comes in at 46 to 60 million and they solve the avionics issues which in the last report I read in October talked about 719 problems and a lot of them already being solved then you buy the F-35.
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