weaponeer

Thanks for the info, The whole C17 things sound like political BS, 1000%. There is enough military contract work to spread out across Canada. The Navy for example, can only do work in BC & the maritimes. Very hard to move a warship to Sask. The current C130 DLIR is done in Edmonton @ CAE. For Quebec, Bombardier does the work on the Harvad2's & Hawk trainer jets, as well as the CF18s. Bell Helicotpers in St Hubert maintains DLIR on the 85 Griffon helos. There is also a lagre DND workshop in Montreal that does all 3rd line maint on our trucks, tanks, LAV3, APCs, all small arms, arty guns, basically everything the army uses. Also, the main CF supply depot is in Montreal. Closed the ones in Edmonton & Toronto, moved everything to Montreal. There's a company in Halifax that does DLIR on the CP140 & Seaking fleets. Not sure whose doing the CH149 Cormorant SAR helos. I know Boeing in Arnprior lost their contract when the old Lab SAR helos were retired, perhaps they are doing the Cormorants, not sure. As for the Navy being beached next week, I don't think so. We are supposed to do a large NORAD air/sea ex next week with them & our fighters, it is still a go. It was still on when I left work tonight. These things usually go, especially if other nations are involved. They WILL find $$.

That is totally crap. This is about getting the right equip for the troops, not about Quebec stealing from western Canada. Who does this ass hat think he is. I will not sign. F#^@K HIM!! Canadians being killed overseas, and he won't sign, Ass Clown. sorry!!

The Navy will provide ships for Carnival Cruises if so ordered, but it is not a wise use of those assets. Sending a frigate to chase poluters & over-fishers is a waste. DFO has airplanes for that, the CCG has ships & planes for that as well. Besides, aircraft are much better at patrolling over the vast ocean expanses. The Navy should be concentrating on Naval operations with USN, RN, NATO, including multi-national ex's, NORAD ops, yes they do that. They should be "aid to civil power" by exception. Sortie and entire frigate for fisheries patrol, a waste. Divert them off operational patrol to provide assistance, no prob. What's happened here is that the CF has been tasked with so many non-military roles, that people have forgotten over time what the military is for. They equip it for these non-military roles, then can't figure out why the military needs $$ for A-stan. War, combat, that's our job. Nobody likes war, but we got to be able to deal with it. Nobody like their house to burn down, need a firehall. Firemans job is to fight fire, not get cats out of trees & pose for callenders.... Foucus on the primary task..

I have not yet heard who was getting the C17 DLIR contract. C17 is a Boeing product, makes sense Beoing would do the DLIR. The CF18 thing years ago was crap, I agree. Who will get the Chinook contract, would it not be Beoing in Arnprior ON??? I have a good friend down in Altus right now training on the C17, I will e-mail & ask him.... Catchme, Yes, the C130J's will be made by Lockheed-Matrin, I believe the factory is in a Atlanta, not 100% sure. The C17's are built in Palmdale Calif, and the Chinook helos are manufactured in Philidelphia by Beoing Vertal. The C27J is the US version of the Italian G222 airplane. It is built under licence in the USA by Lockheed-Martin.

It is a tasking given to the navy by the gov't. We have agencies for these jobs as I have listed in my prior post, they are responsible for fisheries. It's not the navies job to monitor fishing, count fish stocks, give out fines for over-fishing or poluting. That's DFO's job, CCG's job and RCMP's job. The navy will always carry out any tasking given by the gov't. My point is fisheries is not a naval job, civil orgs must perform those tasks, navy should be in a supporting role. Again, this comes down to people having no clue what a military is used for. (A Canadian tradition)!! Anyhow, it's late, my shift is over going home, goodnight to all.....

It's not a rascist joke.....

http://www.sfu.ca/casr/ Here's a really good link with some info on the CF & A-stan........

http://www.army.mil/ Here's whose staying & going..... Us Army wise....

Finding out your extending is not fun. Wonder if it is the SC NG brigade...

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/...reut/index.html it's official, Karzai's a dad!!!!

US Army is extending a brigade, may even be sending an additional one I have heard.

This entire issue is about a core fundimental prob within the CF. Simply, the military has to do our job, plus everybody elses. This ship voyage was a FISHERIES PATROL. Patrolling to make sure fisherman don't over fish, & foreign vessels do not enter our waters. This may come as a shock, but that is not the militaries job. Dept Fisheries & Oceans, Canadian Coast Guard, RCMP, this is their job. The Navy is only supposed to be called in to assist these agencies. As well, there are plenty of other assets that monitor our coastlines, radars, CP140 patrol aircraft, satalites etc... CanadaCOM, NORCOM & NORAD know whoses out there & what's going on. I have seen countless examples where the CF has been brought in to do someone elses job. Forest fire patrols, mining & mapping surveys, fisheries patrols, pollution patrols, iceberg patrols, counting Caribou flights etc....

What is the big deal, just a dumb joke. I have heard way worse. It's a good potrayal of the gov't though:) Rascism is a word we throw around way too easily these days. I think we have lost touch with what it really means.

C27J is the USAF designation for the Italian G222. It is made in the USA by Lockeed-Martin, same contractor that builds the C130J. The reason the C27J was chosen was commonality between the two fleets....

The C27J (Italian plane) has the same engine, avionics & flight computer system as the 17 new C130J's. The C27 is basically a baby C130J. This will save big $$ on pilot training, maint training, spares inventories etc... As well, when you us the same equip as your allies, you save resources & effort. If a Canadian C130J lands in Khandahar & breaks, USAF maint crew can fix it, they use the same plane. British C130J lands & breaks in Canada, our maint folks will be able to fix.. Make life easier. Again, I do not know why they cannot leave the base. If it was safe, I would be showing them everything I possibly could.

No, the smart $$ is not on Airbus!! Sorry!!!

As for the issue about why this parlimentry group cannot leave the base, I frankly do not understand why?? They should be allowed to "tag along" with Canadian patrols provided they do not get in the way or jepardize soldiersw lives. I have been in theatre when politicians show up, they can be a royal pain. They get in the way, they need to be babysat. However they should be allowed to see what's going on. As for O'Conner as MND, he is awesome. The best we have ever had, & I have been in the CF for 18 years. He know military issues, he knows what equip is best, he listens to us, and responds to our needs. Anyone that know anything about military equip & operations, interoperability knows the best strat airlifter in the world is C17, no need to bid, buy them. Anyone that know anything about military equip & operations, interoperability knows the C130J is the best Tac airlifter in the world, no need for drawn out political BS, BUY THEM!!! There is no need for endless debate & bidding on heavy transport helos, Chinook is the worlds best, BUY THEM!!! O'Conner has cut the political crap, and is taking action. We will save $$ in the long run without bidding, debating & political garbage. C17, Chinook, CF18 mid life up-grade, all by Beoing. C130J, C27J SAR planes, CP140 up-grade, JSF, all Lockheed-Martin. You become a companies big customer, you get benifits. You use the same equip as your allies, you get benifits.

I seriously doubt she was ever in an armoured regt.....

O'Conner, Best MND I have ever worked for. He's ex-military, knows the military, knows what we need & don't need. An ex-soldier running the military, almost as crazy as a doctor running Health department or a ex-cop or lawyer running justice. Lefties do not like him because we in the military do. He knows military capabilities & equip, he knows what equip we need & really do not need, he gets us what we really need. I have met him, great guy. Hope he's around for a long long time....

It's all a moot point anyway, we are not there. Canadas military does not have the capability to tangle with a modern well equipped military. That was a major factor why we did not go. Personelly, I am glad we did not go. Canadas Airforce; our only combat aircraft is the CF18. We only have 80, we bought 138, lost 16 in accidents, mothballed 42. Our CF18 fleet in 2003 did not have secure radios (a prob that pauged NATO in Balkins), does not have secure data links, or modern fire control radars. We also lacked robust PGM capabilities. We had less than 10 targeting pods for the whole fleet. After the 1st upgrade phase was complete, some of these shortfalls were met, the rest will be completed in upgrade phase 2. Helos, we currently have no helos in the CF inventor capable of operating in combat conditions. Proof, we have none in A-stan, and it's a low intensity conflict. This will change with the new Chinooks & Cyclones. Canadian Army; most powerful army weapons system is our 66 Leopard tanks. They are LOE1's, bought in 1976. They are armed with 105mm gun, modern tanks start at 120mm. They are great for a low intensity war like A-stan, talibs have no tanks, only thing that threatens them is RPGs, and very large IED. They would not be able to withstand intense combat against modern tanks. The LAV3 is a great peice of equip, however it is not designed to stand up to tank fire. The are not as heavily armoured as US Bradleys or Brit Warriors. IN 2003 the army lacked modern artillery, with precision ammo, that has now changed with the new m777 & the Excalibor rounds. Our Navy was in the Persian Gulf during the invasion in 2003. One of our ships, cannot remember which was attached to a USN carrier BG. There were many Canadians involved in the invasion, on exchange with Britsih & US units, including myself on USAF AWACS.....

Some people on here should really learn something about the military before they make foolish, amateurish comments. It is really easy to hide behind a computer, in your home, safe & sound and cry about what Canadian soldiers should and should not have done. Some people here have never faced the business end of an AK47, RPG etc... It is really easy to make foolish comments knowing you'll never have to face reality in A-stan, or anywhere for that matter.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/lib...70111-dod05.htm Here's a great link that spells out (very slowly) where US is getting additional troops for Iraq...

I'll believe it if I see it.

The CF is slowly coming back together, the new Chinooks, C17s (OH YEAH!!), new C130s, SAR aircraft, not bad. The new M777 arty guns, awesome. New maritime helos, well done, finally!! We have a new ultra modern Air Defence system, BCS-F, the CF18 fleets is in statge 2 of the upgrade to take them to 2017, then we are getting JSF. Navy is doing great, despite fuel shortage, very modern. there's still more work to be done, new tanks, attack helos would help. We need a capability to operate in the arctic in a big way..... Future looks good.....

CB, OPSEC, all I can say is Air Ops. HQ job....