[CaptainCrunch]

The Canadian tactical ground control radars that work in concert with our fighters are falling apart


https://nationalpost.com/news/aging-...aced-documents

Defence industry representatives were briefed in April by Royal Canadian Air Force officers that the tactical control radars, or TCRs, are is a state of disrepair but there is no government approval yet to replace the equipment purchased in 1991. “The new roles and tasks assigned to the radars have resulted in considerable deployment and usage increases, and have caused the TCRs to enter into a never-ending deterioration cycle,” the officials were told, according to the documents.


The radars were supposed to be replaced years ago but the purchase of new equipment, announced with great fanfare by the previous Conservative government, was a dud.


Thales Canada, a subsidiary of the French defence giant, was awarded a contract in 2011 and was supposed to deliver the radars two years later. At the time of the original contract announcement, Thales noted that its award was building on its “40-year track record of providing world-class sensor systems to the Canadian Forces.”

Also the cost of the Australian cast off rusty F-18's is still not known.

Procurement Minister Carla Qualtrough said last week at the CANSEC military equipment trade show in Ottawa that she expects the first two used Australian F-18s to be delivered in 2019. But Qualtrough said she still doesn’t have a final cost for taxpayers for the 18 used aircraft, spares, weapons and other related equipment. The Liberal government has set aside up to $500 million for the purchase.


Qualtrough said negotiations are ongoing.


Pat Finn, the Department of National Defence’s assistant deputy minister of materiel, recently said he expects a deal by the end of the year with deliveries of the Australian planes to begin next summer. The Liberal government originally planned for the arrival of the first used aircraft in January 2019.