Re: Fighter Jets

by **Hammercore** Sun 25 Nov 2018, 8:57 pm

Thank goodness for Canada’s auditor general, Michael Ferguson.

Sun Nov 25, 2018

Fighter Jets - Page 3 B88469498Z.1_20181125161253_000_G6IDKSVQ.3-0_Super_Portrait

https://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/9049947-editorial-auditor-general-shoots-down-liberal-fighter-jet-plan/

by Ironman Tue 27 Nov 2018, 6:43 pm

Canadian air force short 275 pilots as attrition outpaces recruitment, training

Published on: November 27, 2018

https://www.coldlakesun.com/news/local-news/canadian-air-force-short-275-pilots-as-attrition-outpaces-recruitment-training

by Scorpion Fri 28 Dec 2018, 9:17 am

Criteria for “Boeing clause” in fighter jet competition to be outlined in the new year

DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN December 27, 2018

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/criteria-for-boeing-clause-in-fighter-jet-competition-to-be-outlined-in-the-new-year

by **Trooper** Thu 03 Jan 2019, 6:52 pm

Deal to buy used Australian fighter jets finalized, with Canadian Forces set to be flying them by summer

Eighteen of the Australian F-18 aircraft will eventually be flying for the Canadian Forces, while another seven will be used for testing and spare parts

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January 3, 2019

Canada has finalized a deal to buy 25 used fighter jets from Australia, the first of which are expected to be operating by this summer, says the top procurement official at the Department of National Defence.

“The first two aircraft will be here this spring,” Pat Finn, assistant deputy minister for materiel at DND, told Postmedia in an interview. “I would say it could be by the summer the first couple are on the flight line and painted with the maple leaf.”

A second group of planes would arrive later this year. Eighteen of the Australian F-18 aircraft will eventually be flying for the Canadian Forces, while another seven will be used for testing and spare parts.

Canada is paying Australia $90 million for the aircraft. The federal government originally estimated the purchase of the Australian jets would cost around $500 million, but Finn said that price reflected every aspect of the associated deal, not just the cost of purchasing the jets. Canada is also acquiring extra spare parts, the Australian jets will have to be outfitted with specific Canadian equipment and software and testing will be needed.

The $500-million project estimate also included $50 million in contingency funds to cover any problems and another $35 million for the salaries of all civilian and military personnel involved over the life of the project. An additional $30 million will be spent on new infrastructure needed to accommodate the aircraft.

Those costs add up to $360 million, Finn said. But DND also plans to upgrade its existing fleet of CF-18s with new communications gear and equipment required to meet regulations to operate in civilian airspace, improvements which the Australian jets will also eventually receive at a cost of around $110 million, an amount that brought the original estimate to nearly $500 million.

The Liberal government had planned to buy 18 new Super Hornet fighter jets from U.S. aerospace giant Boeing to augment the Royal Canadian Air Force’s CF-18s until new aircraft can be purchased in the coming years.

But in 2017 Boeing complained to the U.S. Commerce Department that Canadian subsidies for Quebec-based Bombardier allowed it to sell its C-series civilian passenger aircraft in the U.S. at cut-rate prices. As a result, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump enacted a tariff of almost 300 per cent against the Bombardier aircraft sold in the U.S. In retaliation, Canada cancelled the deal to buy the 18 Super Hornets, which would have cost more than US$5 billion.

Instead of buying the new Super Hornets, the Liberals decided to acquire the used Australian jets.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has said the extra jets are needed to deal with a “capability gap,” as Canada does not have enough fighters to handle its commitments to NATO as well as protecting North America.

But Conservative MPs say the capability gap doesn’t exist and was concocted by the government to delay a larger project to buy new jets, a competition that might end up selecting the F-35 stealth fighter that during the 2015 election campaign the Liberals vowed never to purchase.

In the fall of 2016, then-Royal Canadian Air Force commander Lt.-Gen. Mike Hood told senators that the Liberal government brought in a policy change which required the RCAF to be able to meet both its NATO and North American air defence commitments at the same time. That, in turn, created the capability gap, he said. Hood said he was not told about the reasons for the policy change.

In November 2018 Auditor General Michael Ferguson issued a report noting that the purchase of the extra aircraft would not fix the fundamental weaknesses with the CF-18 fleet which is the aircraft’s declining combat capability and a shortage of pilots and maintenance personnel.

“The Australian F/A-18s will need modifications and upgrades to allow them to fly until 2032,” the report said. “These modifications will bring the F/A-18s to the same level as the CF-18s but will not improve the CF-18’s combat capability.”

“In our opinion, purchasing interim aircraft does not bring National Defence closer to consistently meeting the new operational requirement introduced in 2016,” Ferguson’s report added.

The Canadian Forces says it is bringing in new initiatives to boost the numbers of pilots and maintenance staff.

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/deal-to-buy-used-australian-fighter-jets-finalized-with-canadian-forces-set-to-be-flying-them-by-summer

by **Zoneforce** Thu 03 Jan 2019, 7:31 pm

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January 3, 2019

F-35 vs. the World: Which Of These 5 Planes Will Be Canada's New Fighter?

The Canadian government just released a draft tender seeking information from five companies who will compete for the eighty-eight-jet, $26 billion (USD $20 billion) order. The contenders will likely be the Eurofighter Typhoon, France’s Dassault Rafale, Sweden’s Saab Gripen, and for the United States, Boeing’s F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin’s F-35. The actual bidding is supposed to begin in May 2019, with the aircraft entering service in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) by the mid-2020s.

How to replace Canada’s thirty-five-year-old CF-18s—the Canadian version of the U.S. F/A-18 Hornet—has been a political hot potato juggled between Canada’s political parties, as well as the Trump administration and Canada.

The twists and turns in the saga include Canada nixing a proposed buy of Super Hornet last year after the Trump administration imposed tariffs on Canadian aircraft maker Bombardier. Ottawa now plans to buy twenty-five used F/A-18 Hornets from Australia as a stopgap until a brand-new fighter jet is selected. At the same time, Canada ponied up another C$54 million (US$41 million) to remain a member of the international F-35 consortium, to which Canada has contributed a half-billion dollars over the past twenty years.

As if that wasn’t enough, the current Liberal party government just changed the bidding requirements , put out by the previous Conservative party government and thought to favor the F-35, in favor of new requirements that will make it easier for European companies to win the fighter contract.

The issue “has become extremely politicized as the current government tries to find ways to meet its election campaign promises of holding an open and transparent competition but not buying the F-35,” David Stone, a defense expert at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, told the National Interest. “They now realize that they cannot actually exclude the F-35 if they are to hold an open and transparent competition.”

Stone sees the Canadian government having to grapple with two issues. One involves offsets, or how much the winning aircraft manufacturer will invest in Canada. “This will be complicated on the government side because the MOU [memorandum of understanding] for belonging to the F-35 Consortium indicates nations agree that there will be no offsets. Should the government choose the F-35, it must be able to have a narrative that indicates it is getting more benefit from the opportunity to be part of the supply chain for all F-35s, versus getting benefits for just 88 [Canadian] planes. Should government choose a different aircraft, they will need to have a narrative to deal with the loss of business opportunity to all of those industries now part of the F-35 development supply chain.”

Then there is the fact that 2019 is an election year that will inevitably make the fighter competition a political issue. “It is further complicated for Canadians because former Canadian Forces officers are indicating their support or not for the F-35 on issues like a single engine, interoperability, etc.,” Stone says. “For example, the test pilots for the F-35 and the Super Hornet are both past F-18 Squadron Commanders in the RCAF.”

Missing from all the politicking and economics is a discussion over which aircraft is actually better for Canada, which preferred the original CF-18 in part because it had two engines rather than single-engine planes such as the F-15, F-16 and French Mirage F-1 (the F-35 also has one engine). One consideration is that the RCAF has to patrol and protect a vast swathe of Arctic territory, a region rich in mineral resources and shipping routes that are coveted by multiple nations, including Russia and the United States.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/f-35-vs-world-which-these-5-planes-will-be-canadas-new-fighter-40492

by Stealth Fri 04 Jan 2019, 7:05 pm

Canada finalises $500 million deal to buy old Australian fighter jets

by Martin Dimitrov --- January 4, 2019in Canadian News, Politics

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The Canadian government has just penned the deal to buy 25 used F-18 fighter jets from Australia. It is expected that they will be in use by the Canadian armed forces by the summer of 2019.

The National Post’s David Pugliese reports that 18 of the jets will be flown by the Canadian military, while the remaining seven will be used for testing and spare parts.

In an interview, Pat Finn, the assistant deputy minister for material at the Department of National Defence, spoke to Postmedia about when the jets are expected to be in action “the first two aircraft will be here this spring… I would say it could be by the summer the first couple are on the flight line and painted with the maple leaf.”

The Costs
While the jets themselves cost about $90 million, the Trudeau government estimates that the total purchase would cost around $500 million. Finn said that this number included all of the additional expenses necessary for operation of the aircraft.

According to the National Post, the extra costs cover such things as spare parts, outfitting with special Canadian equipment and software and testing.

In addition, $50 million has to be allocated toward contingency funds for fixing any problems with the jets, $35 million for salaries for military and civilian personnel, and $30 million for new infrastructure to house and maintain the jets.

Finally, the jets will receive communications gear necessary for them to operate in civilian airspace at the cost of $110 million.

Meeting Canada’s Obligation to Protect its Allies and North American
The aircraft are being bought in order to deal with what Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan calls a “capability gap.” He says that Canada does not have enough fighter jets to fulfil its commitments to NATO and NORAD.

Conservative MPs have criticised the government, arguing that Canada has more than enough resources to fulfil its obligations to its allies. Some argue that this deal was made to delay the purchase of new fighter jets.

Why is Canada buying old fighter jets?
Initially, the Trudeau government had planned to buy 18 brand new Super Hornet fighter jets from the US aerospace company Boeing.

However, in 2017 Boeing told the US Department of Commerce that Canada was giving subsidies to Bombardier, allowing it to undercut Boeing by selling its C-series passenger planes in the US at low prices.

In response, US president Donald Trump imposed a 300 percent tariff on Bombardier planes, to which Canada responded by cancelling its $5 billion planned project to buy the Super Hornets.

Auditor General says the new purchase does nothing to fix fundamental weaknesses in airforce
In November of 2018, Auditor General Michael Ferguson released a report arguing that the purchasing of the Australian jets would not fix structural weaknesses with Canada’s current CF-18 fleet, which include its decreasing combat capability and shortage of pilots and maintenance workers.

“The Australian F/A-18s will need modifications and upgrades to allow them to fly until 2032… These modifications will bring the F/A-18s to the same level as the CF-18s but will not improve the CF-18’s combat capability,” he wrote.

“In our opinion, purchasing interim aircraft does not bring National Defence closer to consistently meeting the new operational requirement introduced in 2016.”

https://www.thepostmillennial.com/canada-finalises-500-million-deal-to-buy-old-australian-fighter-jets/

by **Alpha** Thu 10 Jan 2019, 4:18 pm

Used Australian F-18s heading to Canada will be a mix of single and dual seat aircraft

DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN January 10, 2019

The Canadian Forces is preparing to take possession by the spring of the first of 25 used Australian F-18 fighter jets. Eighteen of the Australian aircraft will be flying while another seven will be used for testing and spare parts.

The Department of National Defence has provided more details on the types of aircraft Canada is acquiring. “The requested mix is 12 A-model (single seat) and 6 B-model (dual seat) aircraft; however, this is subject to adjustment,” said Department of National Defence spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier. The final mix will be dependent on a number of considerations, including the condition and availability of aircraft, he added.

The dual seat aircraft will be used for training, Le Bouthillier noted.

The additional fighter jets will be used to augment operations and training.

One of the first things that will be done to the used Australian F-18s that Canada is purchasing is that the aircraft will be outfitted with different ejection seats and software.

The first two F-18s that Canada is buying from Australia will arrive sometime in the spring and will be sent to Cold Lake, Alta, Pat Finn, assistant deputy minister for materiel at the Department of National Defence said.

“They land, they (the Australians) will remove their software and we’ll install our software,” Finn explained in an interview. Also to be installed are ejection seats and a lighting system that is used on the CF-18s.

“Ultimately the intent is the 18 aircraft are indistinguishable from our 76 aircraft,” Finn said.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/used-australian-f-18s-heading-to-canada-will-be-a-mix-of-single-and-dual-seat-aircraft

by **Lincoln** Wed 30 Jan 2019, 3:03 pm

Plan to buy more fighter jets puts Canada on hook for bigger share of F-35 costs

In this Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, file photo, an F-35 jet arrives at its new operational base at Hill Air Force Base, in northern Utah. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Rick Bowmer)

The Canadian Press
Published Wednesday, January 30, 2019

OTTAWA - Canada is being forced to shoulder a bigger share of the costs of developing F-35 fighter jets even though it has not decided whether it will actually buy any.

Canada is one of nine partner countries in the F-35 project, all of which are required to cover a portion of the stealth fighter's development costs to stay at the table.

Each country pays based on the number of F-35s it's expecting to buy, and Canada's pitched in more than half-a-billion dollars over the last 20 years, including $54 million last year.

But that amount was based on the Stephen Harper government's plan to buy 65 new fighter jets to replace Canada's aging CF-18s, which the Trudeau government has since officially increased to 88.

Even though Canada has not committed that those 88 jets will be F-35s, Defence Department officials say that change means it will have to pay more to remain a partner -- including about $72 million this year.

The government has said it plans to keep Canada in the F-35 development effort until a replacement for the CF-18s is selected, which won't happen for two or three more

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/plan-to-buy-more-fighter-jets-puts-canada-on-hook-for-bigger-share-of-f-35-costs-1.4275372

by **Apollo** Fri 15 Feb 2019, 11:56 am

First two used Australian fighter jets arrive in Canada on Sunday

DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN February 15, 2019

The Royal Canadian Air Force will be showing off its first two used Australian fighter jets on Sunday at 4 Wing Cold Lake in Alberta.

Representatives from the Royal Australian Air Force and the RCAF will mark the arrival of the F-18 jets that morning. Only local media have been invited to cover the event.

The aircraft will be used to bolster the RCAF’s CF-18 fleet.

Pat Finn, assistant deputy minister for materiel at the Department of National Defence, told Postmedia in a recent interview that he expected the first two jets in the spring but there was hope they could arrive earlier. The two aircraft will be prepared for flying as quickly as possible.

“I would say it could be by the summer the first couple are on the flight line and painted with the maple leaf,” Finn said.

A second group of planes would arrive later this year. Eighteen of the Australian F-18 aircraft will eventually be flying for the Canadian Forces, while another seven will be used for testing and spare parts.

Canada is paying Australia $90 million for the aircraft. The federal government originally estimated the purchase of the Australian jets would cost around $500 million, but Finn said that price reflected every aspect of the associated deal, not just the cost of purchasing the jets. Canada is also acquiring extra spare parts, the Australian jets will have to be outfitted with specific Canadian equipment and software and testing will be needed.

The $500-million project estimate also included $50 million in contingency funds to cover any problems and another $35 million for the salaries of all civilian and military personnel involved over the life of the project. An additional $30 million will be spent on new infrastructure needed to accommodate the aircraft.

Those costs add up to $360 million, Finn said. But DND also plans to upgrade its existing fleet of CF-18s with new communications gear and equipment required to meet regulations to operate in civilian airspace, improvements which the Australian jets will also eventually receive at a cost of around $110 million, an amount that brought the original estimate to nearly $500 million.

The Liberal government had planned to buy 18 new Super Hornet fighter jets from U.S. aerospace giant Boeing to augment the Royal Canadian Air Force’s CF-18s until new aircraft can be purchased in the coming years.

But in 2017 Boeing complained to the U.S. Commerce Department that Canadian subsidies for Quebec-based Bombardier allowed it to sell its C-series civilian passenger aircraft in the U.S. at cut-rate prices. As a result, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump enacted a tariff of almost 300 per cent against the Bombardier aircraft sold in the U.S. In retaliation, Canada cancelled the deal to buy the 18 Super Hornets, which would have cost more than US$5 billion.

Instead of buying the new Super Hornets, the Liberals decided to acquire the used Australian jets.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has said the extra jets are needed to deal with a “capability gap,” as Canada does not have enough fighters to handle its commitments to NATO as well as protecting North America.

But Conservative MPs say the capability gap doesn’t exist and was concocted by the government to delay a larger project to buy new jets, a competition that might end up selecting the F-35 stealth fighter that during the 2015 election campaign the Liberals vowed never to purchase.

In the fall of 2016, then-Royal Canadian Air Force commander Lt.-Gen. Mike Hood told senators that the Liberal government brought in a policy change which required the RCAF to be able to meet both its NATO and North American air defence commitments at the same time. That, in turn, created the capability gap, he said. Hood said he was not told about the reasons for the policy change.

In November 2018 Auditor General Michael Ferguson issued a report noting that the purchase of the extra aircraft would not fix the fundamental weaknesses with the CF-18 fleet which is the aircraft’s declining combat capability and a shortage of pilots and maintenance personnel.

“The Australian F/A-18s will need modifications and upgrades to allow them to fly until 2032,” the report said. “These modifications will bring the F/A-18s to the same level as the CF-18s but will not improve the CF-18’s combat capability.”

“In our opinion, purchasing interim aircraft does not bring National Defence closer to consistently meeting the new operational requirement introduced in 2016,” the report added.

The Canadian Forces says it is bringing in new initiatives to boost the numbers of pilots and maintenance staff.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/first-two-used-australian-fighter-jets-arrive-in-canada-on-sunday

by Viper Sun 17 Feb 2019, 7:20 pm

First two Australian F-18s for the RCAF arrive in Cold Lake – here are the photos

DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN February 17, 2019

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The Royal Canadian Air Force has received its first two used Australian fighter jets at 4 Wing Cold Lake in Alberta.

The aircraft will be used to bolster the RCAF’s CF-18 fleet.

The first two aircraft are the F/A-18A model, which means they are single seat aircraft. The aircraft were flown to Cold Lake, Alberta, from Nellis, Nevada, where they were participating in Exercise RED FLAG. The aircraft will be employed at 3 Wing Bagotville and 4 Wing Cold Lake.

The jets arrived on Saturday and an official welcome ceremony was held Sunday.

Deliveries of the Australian jets will continue at regular intervals for the next three years, and aircraft will be integrated into the CF-18 fleet as modifications are completed, according to the RCAF. The final aircraft are expected to arrive by the end of 2021.

A second group of planes are expected to arrive later this year. Eighteen of the Australian F-18 aircraft will eventually be flying for the Canadian Forces, while another seven will be used for testing and spare parts.

Here are the photos from the Canadian Forces via Combat Camera:

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Fighter Jets - Page 3 Screen-shot-2019-02-17-at-9.35.01-am

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Fighter Jets - Page 3 Screen-shot-2019-02-17-at-9.35.47-am

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https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/first-two-australian-f-18s-for-the-rcaf-arrive-in-cold-lake-here-are-the-photos

cheers

by **Forcell** Mon 18 Feb 2019, 9:13 am

RCAF receives first two used F-18s from Australia Feb 17, 2018

by **Powergunner** Tue 26 Feb 2019, 5:09 pm

Budget Officer’s analysis of used Australian F-18 deal to be released Thursday

DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN February 26, 2019

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https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/budget-officers-analysis-of-used-australian-f-18-deal-to-be-released-thursday

by **Diesel** Thu 28 Feb 2019, 1:18 pm

National Defence lowballing cost of used Aussie fighters: budget officer

Canadian Press
Published: Feb 28, 2019

OTTAWA — The parliamentary budget officer is poking holes in the Defence Department's cost estimates for buying and operating second-hand fighter jets from Australia, saying its own figures put the cost 22 per cent higher than reported.

Budget watchdog Yves Giroux says the federal government will pay nearly $1.1 billion to buy, upgrade and fly the 18 aircraft alongside Canada's existing CF-18s over the next decade.

Giroux says that's $200 million more than the Defence Department's own estimate because he believes it will cost more to extend the lives of the 30-year-old Australian planes than officials have said.

Giroux's study comes less than two weeks after the Royal Canadian Air Force officially received the first of two Australian planes at Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake in Alberta.

The Trudeau government is buying the 18 Australian planes and up to seven spares to bolster Canada's aging CF-18s until the entire fleet can be replaced with brand-new jets in the coming decade.

The purchase is going ahead despite the federal auditor general last fall saying the air force did not have enough pilots and mechanics to operate the 76 CF-18s it has now.

The Canadian Press

https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/canada/national-defence-lowballing-cost-of-used-aussie-fighters-budget-officer-288270/

by Phrampton Thu 28 Feb 2019, 7:53 pm

Budget officer says used Australian fighter jets will cost Canada over $1 billion — far more than DND claimed

Fighter Jets - Page 3 0922_na_jets-e1551378111980

David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen
February 28, 2019

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/budget-officer-says-used-australian-fighter-jets-will-cost-canada-over-1-billion-far-more-than-dnd-claimed

by **Apollo** Fri 01 Mar 2019, 3:47 pm

PBO reports cost of Canada purchasing used F-18 aircraft

cpac
Published on Mar 1, 2019

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