I seem to remember it was 2016 someone else can confirm that.
It wouldn't surprise me if the Canadian Government eliminated the super hornet early and it came down to a two plane bid process.
It was indeed.
We don't need this aircraft.
It's obsolete.
The USN is stuck within the "political procurement process", which exists in the US Congress.
If it's politically expedient to keep the line in St. Louis building "Super-bugs" then they surely will.
If it is seen (not that the latest "bug" is an absolute dud) as a lessor priority on a political scale? It's headed for the draw down cycle.
Sure as God made little green apples, this (F/A-18E) is the last thing we would want to be tying our coat-tails to for the next 40 years.
In service support will be gone inside of 20 years.
Boeing itself is undergoing some serious problems at this point in time...
Some financial analysts are predicting that the entire company may collapse (but we all know that the US Government would never allow this to happen).
That said? Is an updated 4 Gen product from Boeing our best option when we're talking about spending $20B?
I don't think so.
JAS39 is not mission capable either.
Don't even go there. It's another CF-5 solution, and how did that work?
So now we come down to LockMart.
And I'll leave it at that.
Where do we go from here?
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Can you expand on this though? I'm interested in hearing your thoughts.
Sure.
First of all, integration into the revised C&C network (which is being implemented to replace the mid-1990's tech of our "North Warning System") is going to be problematic from a software/avionics perspective. This is why Airbus and and Dassault both bailed on the idea of bidding for the contract.
Secondly? The JAS-39E (while a wholly capable WVR dog fighter, unlike the F-35A) will suffer increasing integration problems with our anticipated mission tasking overseas.
Not initially.
But over the 40 year life-cycle of it's anticipated RCAF service, it is going to be left way behind...and so will we.
To boot?
While neither of these two are "long legged" (by any stretch of the imagination), the F-35A is considerably better if you look at both aircraft in a "clean condition".
The JAS-39 can not really do the NORAD thing (even a "short range" trip from CYOD), without a full set of gas cans. F-35A would be challenged in this regard as well, but it can easily do it in a clean configuration with a dedicated force of (say 4/6) tankers based in YWG, that topped off the internal fuel over Northern Alberta/Quebec. The reason is that once it['s off the ground, this thing gets MPG like you wouldn't believe.
If you tried using the JAS-39 like this, it would still be Bingo fuel before it ever got to the "pointy end" and be looking for a place to roost.
IOW?
The "super cruise" aspect of the F-35A's performance envelope is one that is frequently overlooked.
It is already recognized that we are going to need to replace the CC-150 Polaris fleet concurrent with this new fighter capability, so this should not be seen as something that is yet another costly addition to the CF-188 replacement project. The CC-150's (circa mid-late 1980's) are timed out and are bringing an insufferable maintenance burden as a consequence. (Much like the CF-188 fleet...LOL).
The severe downside to going with the F-35A is going to be the Billions of dollars that we will need to spend in infrastructure upgrades at our two fighter bases (YOD and YBG).
This aircraft requires a set of handling environments that are light years beyond our current capabilities.
In consideration of the fact that we have been kicking this can down the road since the early 1980's?
It's about time we addressed this matter, concurrent with the project.
CYOD got the bulk of the serious infrastructure upgrades in the early 1980's due to it's position as the designated base for conversion training associated with the CF-188 program.
Bagottville (CYBG) is (for all intents and purposes) very much the same as it was back in the middle of the cold war.
Round back hangers built to the 1950's RCAF ADC specification, supplemented with a couple of steel curtain wall shelters slapped up over the course of 40 odd years.
CYOD (with the exception of the "new" 10 FTTU, and the attendant Simulator) has remained very much the same.
I was still living there when McDonald's came to town (Grand Centre).
With respect to the fighter replacement project, the Government of Canada has kicked the can a bit farther down the road (albeit, at the request of Industry) as per the Public Services and Procurement Canada announcement.
At the request of industry, the March 30 deadline for preliminary proposals for the Future Fighter Capability Project has been extended. Eligible suppliers now have until June 30, 2020 to complete and submit their proposals.
This extension supports our commitment to conduct an open, fair, and transparent competition. Procurements of this magnitude are complex, and submission of a good proposal is important for suppliers and for Canada. This extension allows eligible suppliers to address recent feedback on their security offers, ensuring that Canada receives competitive proposals that meet its technical, cost and economic benefits requirements.
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With respect to the fighter replacement project, the Government of Canada has kicked the can a bit farther down the road (albeit, at the request of Industry) as per the Public Services and Procurement Canada announcement.
At the request of industry, the March 30 deadline for preliminary proposals for the Future Fighter Capability Project has been extended. Eligible suppliers now have until June 30, 2020 to complete and submit their proposals.
This extension supports our commitment to conduct an open, fair, and transparent competition. Procurements of this magnitude are complex, and submission of a good proposal is important for suppliers and for Canada. This extension allows eligible suppliers to address recent feedback on their security offers, ensuring that Canada receives competitive proposals that meet its technical, cost and economic benefits requirements.
Yup...
My bet is that this is either on SAAB or Boeing.
Lock-Mart has already won and SAAB and Boeing are just being deliberate bitches and dragging it out to frustrate the system.
If we buy anything besides the F-35 then we have our heads up our ass and it will be the end of the RCAF as a viable offensive/defensive entity in the years to come.
Super Hornet is a dated platform and will be out of production by the mid 20's.
Yes, the USN has signed on for another couple of dozen for this year.
The reality of the matter is that the USN eats aircraft (in terms of fatigue life) due to the nature of their operational environment. If they get 6K Hrs. out of a new build F-18E they are doing well in terms of ROI.
This is not what we are looking for. Full stop.
We need an aircraft that is still going to be relevant in 2050 (if this particular procurement process is any indication).
Figure that one out folks?
Who knows where the tech is going to be at that point?
I'll guarantee you one thing?
Nobody will be flying JAS-39 or F-18E/F/G (except third world nations) by 2050.
This is a one time buy, which should be expected to serve us to 2050.
Try to find spares for a Super Hornet in that timeline...
By this point the F-18E aircraft will be out of production for 25 years (I expect that Boeing will be forced to close the the line by 2025). By 2030, the last of the new build USN F-18E's will be entering their last LERP and it will be a dying platform.
If we were so stupid to buy this?
We are on the outside, looking in. This, as soon as 2035.
The JAS-39 is a "tinker-toy", much like the CF-5 was back in the early 1970's.
YMMV? But I am pretty confident about everything that I've posted in this thread.
We need to buy from Lock-Mart. Full Stop.
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t’s been billed as the largest-ever investment in the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Coast Guard during a time of peace.
Over the next decade, the federal government will invest tens of billions of dollars into new science ships, icebreakers, supply vessels and warships.
Yet as they prepare to welcome those new ships with open arms, given the age of their current fleets, top officials at both the navy and coast guard are wrestling with a difficult but critical question: Who will sail the vessels?
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The two American aerospace firms that want the Canadian government to buy their fighter jets say they did not request an extension on the deadline for bids.
At the same time, defence experts say the decision to grant the extension reflects the bigger challenge facing a government that has repeatedly insisted a competition is the only way to move forward with the $19-billion procurement, despite there being a limited pool of options.
“The government believes it needs to run a competition, but there’re many situations where, in reality, there’s only one or two competitors that can actually meet the needs of the Canadian Forces,” said Richard Shimooka, a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and an expert on defence.
Quote:
Because the government is using a process known as phased bids for the fighter jet procurement, bidders get the chance to address any findings of non-compliance with those requirements before submitting their final proposals.
And because of how closely Canada and the U.S. work together on issues ranging from intelligence sharing, continental defence and others, inter-operability – or the ability for jets to work seamlessly across various areas where Canadian and American systems overlap – is considered key to this contest.
“We’ve got to buy aircraft that can be completely and seamlessly inter-operable with the U.S.,” said Dave Perry, vice president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and an expert on defence procurement.
Perry noted that in the past, questions around how aircraft will operate between Canadian and American systems hasn’t been relevant because Canadian fighter jets have always been American.
Now, with foreign bidders like Sweden’s Saab, the onus is on them to demonstrate their jets can actually do the work.
“Saab is the only competitor that is not part of either Five Eyes or Two Eyes and as a result, it would have the greatest amount of work in order to meet the requirements of the Royal Canadian Airforce,” said Shimooka.
“Right off the bat, it requires the greatest amount of work for this.”
While the government wouldn’t say which firm asked for the deadline extension, both Lockheed Martin and Boeing offered statements saying it wasn’t them.
I'd expect that Saab's whole, we'll let you build them in Canada concept won't be enough to overcome that they are behind in terms of key technology requirements to win this bid, and the cost of bringing the JAS-39 to the required interoperability and info sharing will make it not as cost friendly.
At some point, I expect that Saab will follow the other two European competitors.
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A Canadian military helicopter serving with a NATO naval task force has gone missing in the Ionian Sea while participating in a mission in international waters off Greece.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed the news in a tweet Wednesday evening. Trudeau added that a search and rescue operation was underway but said other updates would be provided "as soon as possible."
Local media reports claim the aircraft is a Canadian military helicopter with six people aboard.
A source with the Greek government told CBC News that one body had been recovered.
After scouring a littered seascape with its NATO allies, a Canadian Forces warship formally ended its search for survivors Friday after its maritime helicopter crashed off the coast of Greece.
Quote:
Baines confirmed the search for five Canadians service members had formally turned into "search and recovery efforts" instead of a rescue effort. The body of Sub-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough was previously recovered from the wreckage.
The Forces said it also recovered the remains believed to be those of people aboard the helicopter but they can't yet be identified. Baines said Italian and Turkish ships are remaining at the scene of the accident to assist with recovery operations for at least the next 48 hours.
Costs are expected to drop as production is spooled up, its been estimated that by the time Canada orders it the plane will cost about 80 million per copy, but have a higher per hour cost then the other two 4th Generation Fighters.
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Costs are expected to drop as production is spooled up, its been estimated that by the time Canada orders it the plane will cost about 80 million per copy, but have a higher per hour cost then the other two 4th Generation Fighters.
It would be funny if it wasn't so sad.
Chat a cluster phuck
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