Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuzz
Is buying brand new 4th gen planes going to make them not useful for 40 years though? Lets face it, "stealth" is a fools errand. Various levels of stealth have been defeated over the years. By going 5th gen, you may buy 10 years. So what else is the F35? A bunch of brand new technology that is going through serious growing pains.
The chances of Canada dog fighting or engaging Russia with long range weapons is slim. When was the last time we did something other than dropping bombs? We really need jets to assist NATO, and assert sovereignty over the North. I haven't seen anything to convince me that the F35 is the only way to do this for the next 35 years, or even the best way.
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Simply because it's already a decades old design. I'm not dead set against it, if the price is right, and Dassault seem willing to bend over backwards to get the contract. I'd be all for an open competition, but keep in mind that if Canada back away from the F-35, they won't be allowed back in the program without paying a steep fee. And good luck getting any Lockheed Martin contracts back in Canada for a long time. It'd be nice if they just held open competition from the start but they didn't, and it's almost a lose lose at this point.