Check out these tidbits from Canada.com
For one thing, as anyone who has ever bothered to dig just a wee bit past Lockheed-Martin’s branding can attest, the F-35’s vaunted “fifth-generation” stealth capability does after all translate into its being a super-plane, on the order of an X-wing fighter out of Star Wars, with the added feature of a Klingon cloak of invisibility out of Star Trek. And forgive me for mixing universes.&
Rather, it is an advanced multi-role fighter with some stealth capability, which is quickly being eroded by global technological advances in radar, and in this respect is not all that unlike the aircraft that are its two main competitors, the Super Hornet and the Rafale. The difference between the players as regards stealth, contrary to much nonsense that has emanated from F-35 boosters over the years, is one of degree, not of kind.
It has been speculated in defence circles that the ultimate solution would be Solomonic, or so the proponents of this plan would like to think; a small purchase of F-35s to buy a seat at the Pentagon table, and a larger acquisition of less costly, more workaday craft to do the jobs that form the backbone of the RCAF’s functions.Read the whole thing here.
The idea of buying a few F-35's and then buying a second modern jet to fulfill the bulk of the work you would need from a fighter force is precisely what is being proposed for the US Navy.
I hadn't heard it even being floated in Canada.
Things are getting bad for F-35 supporters up there. I personally couldn't be happier.
Sidenote: Why am I filling the blog with F-35 news? Simple. Its the most consequential procurement that our nation has ever made. Want to know why the US Army is shrinking so much? Want to know why the USMC is shedding Infantry Battalions, cutting Tanks, shredding and combining support units? Curious why the USAF is destroying squadrons and the US Navy is laying up serviceable warships? You can point your finger at the F-35. The US Defense Dept is cutting everything to protect the airplane. Its reached a point of where its affecting national security. Mission first, people always. Unless you're talking about the F-35.
