weaponeer

Could not agree more. This is Canada, fit in or go back to where you came from. That is not racism, it is fact. We are always bending over to accommodate people; we never have the balls to say NO!! We are always caving in to this weak kneed liberal crap about how we have to be tolerant, accommodating. I say NO!! Canada is an awesome country, and I welcome all people, but this is Canada, and you become Canadian or you leave!!!

For the record, I am no Dion fan but I have done two tours over there, and the issue of Pakistan and their "tribal areas" has to be dealt with. Afghanistan, even Pakistan itself will not be stable & normal until it is dealt with. Bhutto even knew that. There is no democracy, no stability if you allow an area, no matter how small, to be lawless and out of control. I believe that it is time to turn up the heat of Pakistan, "they are with us or the terrorists". NATO has to let them know that they will pursure talibs into the tribal areas.... If NATO is serious about winning, it has to be done. I am a Canadian soldiers fan, I don't give a crap who says it but it has to be said. Dions problem is he wants Canada to be there in a non combat role. He is stupid on that point. You cannot send our troops there without tanks, arty and all the war fighting equipment, you leave them at the mercy of the enemy. That is criminal. Dion wants NATO to go into Pakistan, but without Canadians in a combat role, DUMB!!!!

There is no doubt that Dion has no idea what the hell is going on at the best of times. I am no great fan of the Libs, but even they deserve better than him, he is useless. Pakistan is the problem, the 700 lbs gorilla in the room nobody wants to talk about. We (NATO) have spent far too long kissing their asses with regards to Afghanistan, trying not to offend them. Canadians are getting killed over there, our government needs to start hammering Pakistan on the diplomatic front as well as in the media. We need to either embarass them into action, or do it ourselves. Mackay cannot really say to much himself, it has to be a coordinated effort with all the NATO allies. Our government should be pushing for more NATO troops, and for NATO to start pressing Pakistan for serious action.

Well said....

What time are we meeting to start rebuilding the Berlin wall comrade?? The colonialist can only be stopped by the socialist freedom fighters. Fighting to free you from free thought, free speach, free will and anything else the commies don't like or do not want to hear. Long live chairman Mao, long live the revolution!!!!

Agreed!!! 1000% agreed!!!

Hi Jdobb, Going to be home in the Peg next week for a course, can't wait:) On point being missed here is the whole combat/non combat issue. We are in a combat role, IMHO should be in no other!! To send Canadians to a place like Afghanistan and tie their hands behind them and say NO COMBAT is a crime. Your leaving them to the mercy of the talibs, and if you have ever seen what the they do, they have no mercy!!! The effort should be the total destruction of the talibs, no escape to Pakistan!! Trainin g the ANA is a combat role, you are taking the ANA out on operations, training their soldiers, their leadership to fight, it is combat!! Canadians are in combat, have been in combat and the talibs will not make that distinction in the future. A Canadian will be just as dead but without the aid and security of the tanks, our own artillery etc... A non combat role will be a disaster...... Pakistan is the key to leaving Afghanistan stable & secure. We need to get the talibs there, we need to do it soon.

Russia & China are NOT going to fight a war over Iran. Get over it, they could care less about them. They are not going to destroy planet earth to protect some Islamic nut who gets his assed bombed by the USA for being an idiot!!! Russia & China would fight a war over Russia & China being attacked, and rightly so.

Yes, it is much wiser to defend your country while your in it. Fight the war in our country, maskes sense. So when the invading force comes you will wait until they enter our waters before you strike??? Yes, lets protect our goalie while the other teams in our end. Lets not start playing for real until we are down 5 - 0. You mentioned you were a fireman at some point. Lets wait til the place is on fire before we act, great!!!!

They will most likely replace the TO in Yellowknife with new ones. There's talk about beefing up the arctic presents, perhaps a bigger unit, more planes. As for the old DND TO's & Buffs, people are lining up to buy them, so they are still good planes. Comox SAR is a little diff than the other units, they need to operate over the ocean as well as the mountains. Very differnet equipment requirments with that terrain mix, as well, Comoox is the SAR training unit. They train all AF SAR crew because they have the different terrain in the area. I have a close friend whose a SAR Tech in Winnipeg, he told me that they actually like the CL415 waterbomber. The SAR folks would love to see that airframe converted for SAR use. The second choice of the SAR world is the V-22 Osprey as it is both helo & plane....

http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/site/index_e.asp Here's a link with some good info ref AF issues we were talking about....

I do NOT want a war, but dealing with Iran now will be much easier than dealing with a nuclear armed Iran. That is reality. Those that are soft on Iran today will regert there position in years to come, and the world will have a monster that only the USA will be able to deal with.....

So we should repel an invader by nuking our own country. Are you for real. I bet you a blast to have a a game of Risk:)

Tie you to a tank as a human shield comes to mind....

NO!! I said I can't wait for them to get hit, to be put down so they do not get nukes and "wipe Israel off the map". I will explain it to you as soon as I find my sock puppets!!! You see, it is people like you that cause wars, cause these problems. You don't have the balls to stand up to the Hitler's, Mao's and Amedeenijahad's of the world, you enbolden them and they strike. The the USA and the west has to clean up the mess and get blamed for the whole thing. Keep denying evil, denyimg that there's anything wrong, it is all GW's fault, all the USA's fault........

Would not work, most of the weed and hair shirts folks do not work, never heard of work. They have no $$ so we could not collect.

First, they are not toys, it is serious equipment that the people in the CF need to do our jobs, you see our very lives depend on our equipment working. But you do not care about the lives of soldiers.... I forgot!!

Comox has the only 6 Buffalos left in the CF, with 442 Sqn for SAR. The pressurization is not too much of an issue with them as they open the cargo door to drop SAR Techs by parachute. The issue I understand is the engines. The Twin Otter is an excellent plane for SAR duties and the CF fleet of 4 in Yellowknife is getting old. They could be an option, I know the SAR Tech like them. They are slow, that is their main problem. Hercs are currently used in Trenton, Greenwood & Winnipeg for SAR, and one option the AF looked at is retaining soem for the SAR role. We are buying 17 C130J to replace 32 C130E & H models. Of the 32 we have, 13 are C130H and the option was to retain them in a SAR role only, no more heavy lift. That could buy them several more years of life. The issue then becomes the mountains, C130's are fast, good for SAR over the ocean, arcitc, wide open spaces, not so good in mountains...

The F22 will replace the F15C air to air fighter in active duty units. The USAF will retain the F15E bomber for the next few years. The older F16 & F18C and Harriers will be replace by the F35 JSF. The USN recently purchase a fleet of new F18E Super Hornets to replace their Tomcats. I have worked with the F22's, they are awesome in their capabilities. They have a very good CAS & BAI capability, their EW suite is unreal. They are the King Kong of the sky. With that in mind, planes like the Super Hornet, Eurofighter & Gripon are still very good at what they do.

I have no doubt that western forces have crossed the border into Pakistan. Spec Ops types. If we are serious about Afghanistan we have to do something about Pakistan. Enough goofing around is enough, it is costing good NATO solidiers their lives to piss around with Musharuff. Why not enlist India's help in this, they have an interest in a stable, democratic Pakistan on their border...

Currently we have 77 CF18's. Three squadrons, two in Cold Lake AB, and 1 in Bagotville QB. We are lucky to have 20 of the 77 servicable each day Canada wide. Those are the facts. We have some on NORAD alert and some for training with the army, navy and the USA. All that out of 20 a day avail. You have to remember, with 12 F22, you would have 6 flying each day at best. Not enough. If we were serious then you would have a F22 sqadron in Cold Lake & another in Bagotville for air defence, and an F35 squadron at each locations for CAS, BAI & TASMO. You would then stand up a third fighter wing with the same equipment/roles somewhere in Ontario, North Bay, Trenton etc... but that will not happen. A single airframe fleet is more cost effective. Only one plane to train pilots & ground crews for, one plane to hold spare parts for etc... Not too many NATO countries operate more than one fighter type anymore. The future of the CF, have a look at the Australian military modernization. It is the model we are following.....

As far as I know they are still involved with the C-27. things may have changed, I will have to get on my aviation sites. The AF recently discussed re-engining the Buffalo. Apparently the main issue with them is their engines. The airframes themselves are not too bad off. We hosted the AF general here at the base in NB a few weeks before Xmas. He discussed the future of the AF, several issues were talked about. They are looking at helo gunships to work with the Chinooks, as well as a SAR plane, Aurora replacement, UAVs etc...

The F22 would be the ideal jet for Canada. It has the speed and range to cover the country, has the EW equipment and can provide CAS, however it's pricetag is impossible to overlook. We would not be able to afford many, that would not be good. As it stands now with the CF18 we have trouble in NORAD with continental defence. You cannot move them anywhere, do any air defence with an F18 unless they are dragging a tanker around with them. The Super Hornet would be good as it has the range and two engines to operate in the arctic, it can provide CAS, EW etc. I reserve judgment on the F35 JSF as I do not know its range. The Eurofighter is another option, I like the Swedish Gripon too, we could afford more of them.

Never went to BS. Of course you were there and would know, of course the article writer would know?? Those ships were at BS of their Captain should be fired. The problem with Iranian boats swarming is not new, it happened to the Brits, it has even happened to Canadian warships. Iran is playing a dangerousd game, and sooner or later enough will be enough and they are going to get hit. Personally I can't wait to see them get hit, they have had it coming for a long time....

As an AME I am sure you are aware of commonality of parts, logistical support. Russian planes are a no go for Canada. We have to have the same equipment, compatable with out allies. This is not a civilian organization. We have common aircraft to our allies for a reason, we share spare parts manit crew etc on operations. Canda shows up with an plane no one else uses we have to provide 100% support, our spares inventory has to go all the way back to Canada, perhaps Russia. As well, there is not way that US companies will allow their comms & data link equipment in a Russian plane, will not happen. We get our planes for the most part from the USA. It is the only choice we have. Despite what people precieve, we get a great deal, good support and can train effectively with the US militray. People who do not like the USA thimk we get a raw deal. We will be purchasing the C130J, and I can predict we will also purchase about the same number of C27J's for the SAR role. They have a huge % commonality of parts, menas cheaper to fly, maint, and train with. We might be purchasing some new maritime patrol planes, we are looking at the Bioeing P8. If we buy soem of those we may get a few wedgetail AWACS type plane to go along as they are the same airframes. canada will need a new fighter fleet here in about 10 years, we are looking hard at the F35 JSF. Other options are the F18 Super Hornet. We work daily with the USAF in NORAD, we need common planes....