Talk About a Waste of Tax Payers’ Money

Now if he’d flown down in the back seat of one of these, that would have been bitchin’!
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CANADA – Excuse us, but Eff Yes!

Baz , I know you didn’t just try to imply that the Spitfire was a lemon.
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In the first place, it is not a “Stealth” fighter. It incorporates elements of stealth technology that minimizes it’s radar signature making it less vulnerable. This is the way of the future. All combat aircraft coming off the assembly lines and on the drawing boards are going to make use of stealth characteristics. The F-35 is a “Joint Strike Fighter” which means that it can engage in aerial combat OR drop precision guided munitions either in support of ground operations or to degrade another power’s war-making capability. Exactly like what Canadian soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan are able to call upon NATO air forces to do. Exactly like what we, along with other NATO air forces did to Serbia when they wanted to turn Kosovo into another Bosnia and are currently doing in Libya. Swamp Donkey made the point that it doesn’t do any of them well, which at this stage in the game is supposition since the aircraft has not yet been deployed operationally.
So, why do we need a plane that can shoot down other aircraft. Well, even though we signed a treaty with the United States in 1942 in Plattsburg, New York which gave them primary responsibility for defending the North American landmass we did not , at that time, or at any time since absolve ourselves of the responsibility to carry some of the burden. So even though the “nasty old war-mongering Americans” are going to defend their nation against any potential attack from any quarter, it only makes sense that we not deal ourselves out of the picture, right?

Canada is not a neutral country, it never has been a neutral country and as long as the concept of the nation-state remains a reality it will never be a neutral country. Do you want to know why that is? With our population , land mass, airspace and coastlines there is no feasible way for us to be a neutral country, since most neutral countries like Switzerland and Sweden have a credible enough military to prevent their territory from being used by one neighbor to launch an attack on another .So, Mr. More, how much equipment and manpower do you think would be sufficient to defend Canada from a hypothetical ground attack from the only nation that borders us?
Why would we need ice-capable warships for the Arctic, unless we wanted to maintain sovereignty over it in the face of some threat? Ditto long range reconnaissance aircraft, like the superb but overworked and aging Auroras. Why would we need long range transportation aircraft, if we were not anticipating some need to deploy our soldiers to either a permissive or a non-permissive environment and couldn’t just assume that those “nasty old war-mongering ‘muricans” wouldn’t gladly let us just tag along for the ride.
Why would we need transport or attack helicopters unless we saw some possible need of being able to maneuver, resupply and defend our troops on some mission that we felt was either vital to our national interests, or part of our international commitments. And it is those two things, national interest and international obligations that require us to not merely have a military, but one capable of performing the tasks that they encompass.

Now, I may be psyched about buying the CF-35s. I think it is a smart move to get in on a new piece of equipment while before our current fighter aircraft are obsolete, not 20 years after that point. I do have questions about the suitability of a single engine aircraft for patrolling our airspace. But, since the government of this proud country has frequently given our soldiers, sailors and airmen inadequate equipment for the tasks that they are expected to carry out (Ross rifle – WW1, M-113 APCs – Yugoslavia) and even canceled equipment that the military desperately needed (EH-101 – Jean Poutine). I’m not getting too exercised over that. There are 2 things that I am certain about. 1)The meek are still a fuck of a long way from inheriting the Earth & 2)We’re getting the CF-35 and there ain’t fuck all you can do about it.

Thanks Tim. Me Old Dad used to hate, i mean HATE, that asinine “I Am Canadian” commercial, especially the line about us being a nation of Peacekeepers. Like you said, less than 2% of the CF involved in peacekeeping and what miniscule fraction of the populace have ever worn the uniform since Korea? I’m glad that our soldiers can intervene in natural or man-made disasters on either Canadian soil or in some 3rd world failed state. But that is not their primary or sole purpose, nor should it be. If the last 10 years have demonstrated anything, it is that our military, God love ’em, are still very good at what a military is supposed to be. Despite the fact that politicians and far too many civilians are either incapable of, or unwilling to, acknowledge what that is.

Yeah, I’m a Chicken Hawk. A 50 year old Tom Clancy wannabe. I stand behind our soldiers, 3000 miles behind them as a matter of fact, safe and secure, facing nothing more dangerous than high blood pressure and a spirited bus ride through some of Dartmouth’s livelier neighborhoods. I fully admit to having an idealized and sentimental view of our military but I’ll also state that my Dad’s 37 years of service and the men he served with have never given me reason to doubt that view. 20 years after his retirement, it remains unchanged

Never happen Painey. >: )As long as I get to be High Constable in charge of the 20 handpicked longbowmen, I’ll be perfectly happy. And we don’t need any expensive stealth crossbows, either. Who are we planing to attack, anyhow. (Oh, right – the Americans)