Why Ottawa has little choice but to fly the F-35, despite opposition politics
The debate over weather Canada should join other NATO Countries in the purchase of next generation F-35 fighter jets ramped up ( or down ) again today with the release of a Pentagon report finding more flaws with the stealth fighter. If you are interested, you can read some of the detail here :
To summarize, opposition parties say the Harper government should drop the F-35 from its search to replace Canada’s CF-18 fleet because this report contains critical comments from test pilots that suggest a list of flaws in the F-35 ( including a rear visibility restriction ) put pilots at risk of being gunned down in a dog fight.
The shock and awe news value and political ammunition for the opposition, is: OMG, these warnings actually come out of the mouths of fighter pilots who’ve flown and tested the aircraft! – which in the opposition’s view should be more evidence ( in addition to the cost of buying and servicing the plane) why the Government should turn away from the purchase of F-35’s and seek an alternative.
Well, I happen to have a close relationship with an active F-18 fighter pilot at the Canadian Forces College here in Toronto, so I flipped him a copy of the report for his assesment and this was his response to the findings :
John,
Operational Test & Evaluation reporting is the process whereby combat pilots use the equipment (in this case the F35) and provide feedback on what needs to be improved before it is ‘accepted’ (paid for) by the military. We do this all the time and it is the normal mechanism for the military to ensure the contractor knows the deficiencies and that it needs to make further modifications. The scathing wording is quite normal for reports such as this and can be translated into “Hey Lockheed Martin, you need to fix A, B & C before we buy the jet”.
This whole F35 issue is quite surreal now. It’s pretty simple really:
If a nation decides it’s going to run a fleet of fighters for 30-40 years (as countries like Canada tend to do) then the purchase cost is a relatively small percentage of the overall costs. Operating costs (fuel, wages etc) form the bulk of the cost associated with running a fleet of fighters- I’ve been told it’s between 60-80% of the total cost of the aircraft over it’s life. The bottom line being that regardless of which jet is chosen, the operating costs are going to be roughly the same.
The choice therefore, (in my humble opinion) for Canada comes down to three options:
- Go with the F35 which is likely to be in production until mid 2030’s and offers the only 5th generation, upgradeable, truly US interoperable capability on the market. Ie. Something that will (once they’ve ironed out the problems) be survivable in ‘tomorrows’ environment and minimise risk to Canadian pilots; or
- Go with any of the other options which, while good now, are all currently coming to the end of their design life (E.g. Super hornet production line closes in two years). These aircraft are survivable in ‘todays’ environment but probably not in ‘tomorrows’ environment. A big call when you’re likely to have the aircraft for 30-40 years; or
- Go the way of New Zealand and say “What do we need fighter jets for. Someone else will take care of all that”.
My 2 cents:
National debate about whether or not the country should have a fighter jet capability is totally understandable. In contrast, to argue that a country like Canada can’t afford F35 is garbage. Personally, option 1 or 3 are the only options that make any sense for Canada, which is why I find the argument over which jet it should be too be so strange!
Ps. I do not work for Lockheed Martin, nor am I sold on the F35… Just trying to give you my perspective on the problem which is that in ten years time (If my professional golf career hasn’t taken off and I’m stuck flying fighters) there’s only two aircraft I would be comfortable going to war in: The F22 raptor which is prohibited from export by the US and is no longer in production anyway, or the F35.
What he doesn’t point out is something that I have been told by military Commanders recently is that ” The days of Canada relying Solely on U.S. forces are over “
So, if Canada wants/needs to defend itself or its’ Sovereign territory with an Air force and if the alternatives to the F-35 are going to be out of production, What choice does the nation have?