GWiz

OK... Thanks...

Awww, ummm, but, 1. - The EA-18 will perform full-spectrum electronic surveillance and electronic attack of enemy threat radars and communications nets. The EA-18 leverages the U.S. Navy's investment in the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet platform. A derivative of the two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet - a platform which is in production today - the EA-18 is a highly flexible design that enables the warfighter to perform a broad range of tactical missions, operating from either the deck of an aircraft carrier or land-based fields. - Hey, if it's ALL just F/A-18F Super Hornets I can live with that... It's not like Canada is going to war ON IT'S OWN anytime soon...

Well, I like what's happening... Some significant differences about Egypt's Military vs others in the region... Many senior and junior officers have been trained in U.S. Military Schools and have therefore also experienced "Democracy and Freedom"... The Egyptian Military are NOT "favorites" of an administration but a conscript Military meaning that all physically eligible men must serve for a time in the Egyptian Military, a nation of brothers in arms if you will... Kinda like the Military in Switzerland actually... In any and all interviews I heard today, including a spokesman for the MB, the word of the day was Freedom from oppression, of ANY sort, Religious, Military, or any other forms... The Military, being what it is, is 100% dependant on U.S. support for their equipment and their "lifestyle", and they know it... That's just a few of the reasons I'm pretty sure the ultimate outcome from this revolution will turn out favourably for "the West" and even for Israel... Even that spokesman for the MB on CBC newsworld said that all treaties with Israel should remain in force and be honoured by any new DEMOCRATIC Government in Egypt... Sounds GOOD to me so far...

- The E/A-18G is the Navy's replacement for the EA-6B Airborne Electronic Attack aircraft and represents an entirely new way of looking at legacy aircraft replacement. Leveraging existing production capabilities at Boeing and Northrop Grumman, the Navy is using the F/A-18E/F MYC to buy an additional quantity of 'F' Aircraft, and marrying those airframes with Northrop Grumman's in-production Improved Capabilities (ICAP)- III Airborne Electronic Attack (AEA) system to produce the E/A- 18G to replace the aging EA-6B aircraft. This allows for the next generation Airborne Electronic Attack capability to be delivered at reduced cost and in the shortest possible timeframe. The Marine Corps is examining a range of possibilities that will provide the needed capability. - - The E/A-18G is the fourth major variant of the F/A-18 family of aircraft. The EA-18G will serve as the Navy’s replacement for the EA-6B providing a capability to detect, identify, locate, and suppress hostile emitters. The EA-18G will have the capability to operate autonomously or as a major node in a network-centric operation and will provide accurate emitter targeting for employment of onboard suppression weapons such as the High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM). Prime contractors are Boeing Aircraft Corporation of St. Louis, MO for the airframe and General Electric Company, Aircraft Engine Division of Lynn, MA for the engines. Northrop Grumman Corporation, Bethpage, NY is a major subcontractor. The EA-18 will perform full-spectrum electronic surveillance and electronic attack of enemy threat radars and communications nets. The EA-18 leverages the U.S. Navy's investment in the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet platform. A derivative of the two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet - a platform which is in production today - the EA-18 is a highly flexible design that enables the warfighter to perform a broad range of tactical missions, operating from either the deck of an aircraft carrier or land-based fields. The EA-18 is 99 percent common with the Super Hornet and would be expected to significantly reduce support and training costs for the US Navy. -

Right on... Good post...

Good, and I'm glad you looked and I also hope you went to the links on the posts there... They signed up to be one of the countries involved in the Joint Strike Fighter program, what became the X-35 program which resulted in the F-35... Nothing more... Would you have preferred that Canada had been left out of this program? I would absolutely lose the money if it meant saving billions of dollars and getting more bang for the buck... My pick NOW is the F/A-18E/F "Super Hornet" in combo with the F/A-18G "Growler"... In essence mirroring the purchase by the U.S. Navy - - On September 28, 2010, Boeing C announced it had been awarded a new multi-year procurement contract valued at $5.297 billion from the U.S. Navy for 124 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft. Under the terms of the agreement, Boeing is to deliver 66 Super Hornets and 58 Growlers to the Navy from 2012 through 2015. - Depending on what penalties not proceeding with the F-35 Canada would need to pay, adjustments in the number and configurations would easily cover them... For example 100 planes in a 65-35 split would be the ideal for Canada's needs well into the future... Any arguement made about "30 year old planes or technology" is simply untrue as these are TODAY still NEW front line Fighter Planes and will remain so for quite some time to come... As simple proof the purchase of these planes by the U.S. Navy as well as other countries like Australia... The advantages for Canada, considering they are the NEWEST varient of Canada's current Fighter fleet, with all essential service infrastructure already in place throughout Canada should be obvious to everyone... The $10 to $20 BILLION dollars in savings could be directly applied to Canada's debt thereby reducing interest costs to Canada with a further advantage of if/when our economy recovers sufficiently in the future to procure state of the art Military equipment for Canada's armed forces... The main advantage of "STEALTH" is in a "first strike" scenario, ie - taking out radar and missile defence sites as was done in the attack on Iraq... Canada will never be in that position... In airial combat situations Canada will NOT be tasked to fly against superior aircraft with stealth capability but rather aircraft very inferior to the Super Hornet / Growler package... Playing "what if" scenarios is totally counter productive as well as being totally unrealistic... Total BS... What I'm saying here has 0, nada, nothing, to do with any party or politics it has to do with what, in my considered opinion, is BEST for Canada... I'd be every bit as much against an untendered, uncompetative, ultra expensive, purchase like this if it were the Liberals or anyone else doing it... As I was TOTALLY AGAINST buying 4 used non-nuclear submarines... How did THAT turn out? Your entitled to your opinion... My opinion of the Canadian Military is "never in Military history have so few done so much with so little"... It's TIME to give our Military what it NEEDS not what some politico or desk jockey wants to look "sexy" and show off a new toy...

In Winnipeg garbage and recycling programs are already in the hands of private corporations... There have been and are some major problems that have arisen because of it, but it's "acceptable", at best... As well the promised reduced costs of privatising them never materialized and now exceed the costs of when it was public with inferior service... I'd have a bigger problem if "water works" was privatised because then profitability and GREED would trump health, safety and the environment in decision making by a corporation... Our water/sewer rates and costs are the highest in the country and great expenditures to infrastructure are needed and overdue...

Point of order... If I want real news that isn't "misleading and/or false" I turn to the "most trusted" source for NEWS in the U.S., The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.. And in fact, IT IS, although presented in the most entertaining manner of all, comedy...

Works for me, and I agree... But let's face it, it ain't ever gonna be that way... Why you say? It's because of the electorate, an electorate that can easily be BOUGHT by just the sort of thing we are talking about, purely GREED and self interest and to hell with anyone else... And/or an electorate that's beyond caring or believing they as individuals can make a difference in influencing Government decisions... By 40-50% of citizens not even bothering to vote and simply accepting anything the Gov. of the day, at every level, does...

I'm trying to understand what you are advocating... If not Fascism (which I still think comes closest to your ideal based on your posts) then what are you in favour of? By small or even "smaller" government do you mean the people that are elected, the actual Goverment? Do you mean the beaurocracy any Government needs to apply/implement it's policies? Do you mean the actual on site aspects of Government, the Military, the infrastructure, the relationships in trade and commerce within and without the country, internal administration functions like hiring - doing the reporting - oversite of productivity and the like - the Departments within a Goverment to make a Government function - etc.? In short what part of Government would you like to cut to make Government smaller? How would the Government you advocate fund itself? Let's say a Government needed $1000.00 to do something, in simple terms, to function, how would you want the Government to get that $1000.00? Taxes, if so what kind of taxes and who from? Any other means of funding like borrowing it from another Government or selling something to another Government? No rhetoric please (like socialist, communist, fascist, corporatist, etc.,) just an explanation of what you want in a Government and what that Government should be and do to function... Thanks...

Hmmmm, Interesting alright...

Investigations are starting to look into that very thing, the Mubarak Billions, he may be lucky to get out with his skin intact... Egyptians are NOT happy right now...

Ahh, but it is, it's a very small Government since it only concerns itself with it's own function and not infrastructure, quality of life, any social benefits, etc., anything designed for the benefit of it's population, and the Military-Industrial complex it favours pay no Taxes at all... Was that all you were concerned with regarding my post? I'm glad we could agree...

Let's put this turkey to bed once and for all... The Harper Government wants to buy a totally UNPROVEN airframe for the Air arm of the Canadian Military for a cost that may be as high (or even higher) than $21 BILLION because the current fleet of CF-18 Fighter Aircraft are reaching or have reached the end of their proscribed service life... The former Liberal Government, to ensure "prefered" status in buying new Fighter Aircraft for the Canadian Forces became involved financially with the U.S. Government and Lockheed-Martin in the developement of the F-35 Stealth Fighter... This was prior to the resession and was not a contractuaral commitment to buy a specific number or type of aircraft... The Harper Government has now made a commitment to buy 65 of said F-35 Fighter Aircraft without any bidding process, suitability studies, or looking at any other competing possible airframes to replace the CF-18s Canada currently needs to replace... The first delivery of the first F-35s, since they are not yet in production, would be some 8 years down the road... It is my contention that there are much more viable and much less expensive options to replace Canada's current fleet of CF-18s... Prior to purchasing Canada's current Fighter, for the first time, a "needs" test was developed by Canada for what a Figher Aircraft should be to meet Canada's unique requirements in a Fighter Aircraft... Numerous aircraft were considered, from the U.S. alone, the F-15, the F-16, and the F-18 were matched against each other... The F-18 was chosen because it came closest to meeting all of Canada's criteria and offered the most benefits to Canada in maintenance and participatory contracts... One of the primary criteria that the F-18 offered was a twin engine design as a primary safety consideration when flying over Canada's vast northern areas... This was what eliminated the single engine F-16 even though the F-16 was considerably less expensive and more than met most of the other criteria Canada had... The F-16 was in fact my pick at the time... The F-35 is a single engine Fighter... - The United States intends to buy a total of 2,443 aircraft for an estimated US$323 billion, making it the most expensive defense program ever.[10] The United States Air Force (USAF) budget data in 2010, along with other sources, projects the F-35 to have a flyaway cost that ranges between US$89 million and US$200 million over the planned production of F-35s, depending on the variant.[11][12][13][14] Cost estimates have risen to $382 billion for 2,443 aircraft, at an average of $92 million each.[15] However, rising program cost estimates have cast doubt on the actual number to be produced for the U.S.[15] In January 2011 Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed the Pentagon's frustration with the skyrocketing costs of the F-35 program when he said "The culture of endless money that has taken hold must be replaced by a culture of restraint." [15] Focusing his attention on the troubled VTOL F-35B Gates ordered "a two-year probation", saying it "should be canceled" if corrections are unsuccessful.[15] Private analysts say the whole F-35 program is becoming a money pit. "The incredibly unfortunate phrase 'too big to fail' applies to this aircraft more than any other defense program", said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace industry analyst with the Teal Group.[15] - I have already posted my thoughts on what Canada should do in this thread, check it out...

It's totally NEW spending... It hasn't been allocated which is different than a "budget proposal" by a country mile...

This will make about the 3rd-4th time the CIA has called it wrong... Not including missing the whole situation and conditions in Egypt off the bat...

In this case the CIA are being made into a laughing stock by Mubarak... They haven't gotten anything right yet...

So you mean BEFORE the resession hit, gottcha... Surplus money vs borrowed money, quite the change if you ask me...

Thanks... http://www.mapleleafweb.com/forums//index.php?showtopic=17363&view=findpost&p=621061 http://www.mapleleafweb.com/forums//index.php?showtopic=17363&view=findpost&p=621074

Try again Bill Now - http://www.mapleleafweb.com/forums//index.php?showtopic=17363&view=findpost&p=621061 Future - http://www.mapleleafweb.com/forums//index.php?showtopic=17363&view=findpost&p=621074

EXACTLY!

Tis so I'm afraid... Even an Alien must play the hand one is dealt...

Yeah...

Wow, I didn't think there was anybody left that didn't have a TV or Radio... Guess there is... Anyway, they got it wrong, oh well, on to plan B, C, or whatever stage this brings us to... It ain't gonna be pretty...

Why?