Canadian Military Issues

[Stoker]

I know that building a jet fighter is a little more complicated than building a Civic  but I can't imagine that it takes 11 years to roll one off the assembly line.

No it wouldn't take 11 years for one aircraft, perhaps for a large order though

There are other varibles also, such the size of the production facility(and it's output), the number of orders etc.

For example, say we ordered 100 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters today. The first USAF JSF won't be coming into service untill 2009(IIRC). Now i forget the number ordered by the United States Airforce, but it is a large number, and since it's an American aircraft, the American needs will be addressed first. Then there will be a version STOVL version for the USMC/RN/RAF, those orders will have to be filled. Then a version for the USN etc. Thats to say nothing about any other countries that have perhaps already orderd the aircraft or are in better standing with the United States than us (like Israel, Japan and Australia).

2020 is a realistic timeframe, thats the reason we need an interm fighter instead of "upgrading" {see auditor generals report} our current twenty year old Hornets.

What they should be doing is to order the Super Hornet, to replace our current fleet and to fill the gap untill the next generation of fighters. Now I read somewhere that Boeing (current builder of Super Hornet) could increase it manufaturing capacity by twelve+ aircraft a year (they are currently building a large USN order).

Now we are currently uprgrading 80 of our Hornets, so using my fingers and toes:

12 Super Hornets could be built a year by Boeing without too much headaches.

We need 80 aircraft (I'm sure we probably need more, but thats a different debate).

80/12= 6.7

6.7 years to aquire 80 modern aircraft (at current production levels), at about 50-60 million dollars a pop..........or about 4.5 billion CDN

Thats to say nothing about a possable increase in production on Boeing's part and a reduced pricetag by buying in volume. Perhaps we could tag our order onto the USN's order, thus reducing the pricetag for both of our aircrafts.

Now fast forward to the 2020 timeframe: We decide we want the JSF, but we since we have the Super Hornet (instead of our almost forty year relics) we have the luxury of not being rushed by any potentail delays or bugs with the program, or increased orders (which put us down the list) by the principle partners.

IOW, it gives us time, to sayt nothing about safety for our pilots and a increased capabiltiy for the armed forces in the meantime.

It's also worth noting that I've read the current Hornet upgrade we are doing is going to cost well over 2 billion dollars..........

Here's some intresting links concerning this issue

Auditing the Upgrades to the CF-18 Fighter Aircraft

Super Hornet

Joint Strike Fighter