Ottawa seeking alternatives to troubled F-35 fighter jet:

Locutus

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Jun 18, 2007
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OTTAWA – The Conservative government will signal it is serious about buying an alternative to the F-35 fighter jet by asking rival manufacturers about the cost and availability of their planes, according to defence industry sources.

The formal request for information will be issued to rivals like Boeing, which produces the Superhornet, and the consortium that makes the Eurofighter Typhoon, asking them what jets are available, and at what cost, if the Canadian government decides to ditch the trouble-plagued F-35 purchase.

The pricing and availability information request falls short of a formal tender but government sources said the “market analysis” will send a signal to voters and industry that it is taking seriously the Auditor-General’s spring report that was heavily critical of the F-35 procurement process.


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Conservatives seeking alternatives to troubled F-35 fighter jet: sources | Canadian Politics | Canada | News | National Post
 

damngrumpy

Executive Branch Member
Mar 16, 2005
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Wait a minute they are responding to a Spring report of the Auditor General. Anyone tell them
its nearly December? This was a bad deal in the first place. The first response should be to
fire those who approved the move and fire the Defence Minister for asking more questions sooner.
It should also be asked, how committed to the deal are we and how much will it cost to bail out as
it were. What will the additional costs be to buy something else and what do we need.
 

darkbeaver

the universe is electric
Jan 26, 2006
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We can never buy enough aircraft to protect Canada why don't we get one of them Iron domes or even two or three? Isn't something like that a better defense option? I know I'm probably just a conspiracy nut but I think attack aircraft might be used to attack some other country who would be legally permitted to attack us who haven't yet got Iron Domes. What the frack kind of defense policy has this traitorass government got? None whatever.
 

Liberalman

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Mar 18, 2007
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coldstream

on dbl secret probation
Oct 19, 2005
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CBC ran a piece on the French Dassault Fighter jet a couple of days ago.. a sophisticated 5th Generation Fighter (Rafale B).. which offers much more generous conditions in terms of technology transfer and job creation than the F35 and has an important consideration that the latter does not. It is twin engined as ALL Canada's jets have been since the start of the jet age.. to accomodate its huge land mass. And it is a LOT cheaper to buy and maintain.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/f-35-s-french-rival-pitches-canadianized-fighter-jet-1.2577234

If anything it seems more flexible than the F35, which is highly specialized and compromised to meet U.S. needs for stealth and VTOL capabilities for Navy and Marine Corps uses. And might have gone one step beyond a reasonable level of complexity to achieve all of its aims.
 
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coldstream

on dbl secret probation
Oct 19, 2005
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The Euro fighter is a Air Supremacy fighter, probably as expensive as the F35. The Rafale B is a tactical, multipurpose weapons platform that meets the RCAF functional specs.
 

Goober

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Jan 23, 2009
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Considering the US AF General who stated the F 35 needs to be used in concert with the F22, which was another surprise to many, including the people who are selling the F 35.