The Type 26 likely is the better ship. One if the big issues surrounding all if these warship purchases is that everything is concentrated in two shipyards with one in Scott Bryson's territory getting almost all of it. Davie is a very capable yard as well and, so far,is the only one to deliver a ship on time and on budget in decades (Asterix). An Admiral lost his job over that but it seems that he got it right. It boggles the mind that we didn't get another one built for the half billion that Davie wanted, instead of shelling out two billion plus per unit to Seaspan for what is essentially the equivalent. The fix appears to be in. You can't pave an alley in Canada without some sort of back-scratching shenanigans going on.
No, but a nice picture of you went straight to PLA headquarters when you did the start-up routine for it, Round Eyes.
The Canadian government has completed a deal to purchase Australia's old F-18 fighter jets and the first of the 25 used jets should arrive this spring, the Department of National Defence confirms.
The Trudeau government announced back in 2017 that it would buy 18 used Australian F-18s as an interim measure to bolster the air force until the entire Canadian fleet of CF-18s is replaced, beginning in the mid-2020s.
The other seven Australian jets it bought will be used for testing and spare parts.
The Australians had to get permission from the U.S. to sell the planes because they were manufactured in the States, but officials with Defence said the deal between Canada and Australia was finalized in November.
News of the official agreement was first reported by the National Post Thursday.
Pat Finn, in charge of the materiel branch at National Defence, told CBC News back in February that he didn't expect the first wave of jets to arrive until summer 2019.
Officials with DND now say the first two planes will arrive this spring.
The department said the first arrivals could be operational by the summer, while a second group of planes could arrive later this year.
The Australian aircraft cost about $90 million, but the total cost of the acquisition project (including upgrades, salaries and a contingency plan) will be closer to $500 million.
When Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced plans to buy Australia's used jets more than a year ago, he also launched a competition to replace the CF-18s, which were originally purchased in the 1980s but have received significant upgrades in the decades since.
Canada had wanted to buy brand new Boeing Super Hornets, the more advanced version of the FA-18 and CF-18, but that proposal went down in flames when the manufacturer, Chicago-based Boeing, filed a trade complaint against Canadian aerospace giant Bombardier.
Sajjan has said the used jets are needed to address Canada's "urgent capability gap" and that Canada doesn't have enough planes to meet its NATO and North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) commitments at the same time.
Sort of like Israel flicking their aid package for fun and profit.Canada could be flying Australia's used F-18 fighters this summer
Australia had to ask for US permission to sell their mothball planes to Canada too funny
Palestine Liberatrion Authority?No, but a nice picture of you went straight to PLA headquarters when you did the start-up routine for it, Round Eyes.
Canada could be flying Australia's used F-18 fighters this summer
Australia had to ask for US permission to sell their mothball planes to Canada too funny
Well, you know that our aluminum smelters that date back to WWII are now officially a strategic threat to the USA ...
How 'bout you shut the **** up until you grow the balls to put on a uniform yourself, Jody?US, Canadian fighter planes scramble to escort Russian jets
I wonder how much the F-22's had to throttle back to let the Canadian's keep up
How 'bout you shut the **** up until you grow the balls to put on a uniform yourself, Jody?
Someone else can do the hauling, driving, fighting and dying for you, eh?It's not about "balls"! Some people are lovers and some are fighters. I for one am NOT a fighter unless as an absolute last resort. I don't want to kill any strangers and I don't want them killing me! It takes more "balls" to walk away from a fight than to engage in one...……………….. more brains too!
If you get rid of NORAD, the USAF then patrols ALL of our air space without our knowledge, permission and possibly against our strategic interests, from time-to-time.NORAD desperate to justify their existence.
Yeah, it is.It's not about "balls"!