Seeing how Canada flies under the umbrella of US protection anyway probably 2-3 Piper Cubs would be sufficient....OK canada bashing aside...they're actually very nice folks...probably the best bet is to Lease F-18 E's from the US Navy as they start accepting F-35's until canada starts receiving F-35's. Commonality with their current fleet and not a long term purchase. The Canucks are good neighbors and the US should accomodate them in keeping their Air Defense operational.

I think that we have sunk too much cash and effort into the F 35 to give it up now. It'll come in time. Besides the Army and (what we call a..) Navy have been given some hard cash lately as well. It'll be interesting to see if the current gov't can survive long enough to spend it. 

 

 

 

 

 

Canada has obligations under NORAD to protect North American air space so I don't think 2-3 Piper Cubs would cut it.  Leasing F-18Es sounds like a good idea but will there be any to lend since the F-35s will initially be replacing older F-18Cs? 

 

Good Question...I don't know....I'm sure something can be worked out. Maybe just Give Canada some low hours F-18C's to tide them over until they get F-35's...they're already paid for and we'll just retire them to a boneyard anyways...Lets just give them to Canada as a gesture of goodwill.

If we're leaving A'stan in 2011 that should free up some funds for the F35.  `We have certainly more than carried our burden in terms of casualties.  But I wonder what impact our withdrawl will have on the Close Combat Vehicle.  If we have a fleet of Leopard 2s it would make sense to have a tracked IFV to complement them.   

 

As for the navy, we are a generation behind compared to our peers who have in recent years upgraded to Aegis or APAR on their latest frigates and destroyers.  I have doubts about our ships being able to operate independently in a high threat environment. 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe just Give Canada some low hours F-18C's to tide them over until they get F-35's...they're already paid for and we'll just retire them to a boneyard anyways...

Besides air defense what other roles and missions are in the Canadian requirements?  Assuming the main mission is air defense with everything else a distant second then Canada should get the longest range fighters possible with the lowest life cycle cost.  That is probably the F-35.  Fly the CF-18's till they can replaced with the new aircraft.

 

If you are only getting 65 F-35's, say 3 squadrons plus an OCU. Then you may as well start disbanding F-18 squadrons so some of the aircraft can go into storage to prolong the life of the remaining aircraft.

they don't have enough operational spares to deal with their own centre barrel issues