My issues with this idiot:
Dosanjh is a typical Liberal when it comes to defence. He wants to keep everything in Canada, or at best NOT make a deal that leaves Canadian industry out of the loop. The sad fact is ladies and gentlemen, that the Canadian Defence Industry is minimal at best. We produce a FEW good items from our General Motors of Canada Defence plant in Ontario, and some small arms, but that's really it. We rely heavily on foreign development to arm ourselves. In the mid-90's the Liberals began to adopt this "Canadian made" policy. In that a certain percentage of a piece of equipment MUST be made in Canada. While the intetions were honourable, it led to inferior products. A great example is the Armys Light Support Vehicle Wheeled (LSVW). Anyone that has driven one of these know it's a piece of shit. This vehicle has a top ROAD SPEED of 80km/hr, and has a tendancy to SHED PARTS. This piece of crap even sometimes requires a boost in +20 weather. This sad excuse for an Army vehicle was made in Canada by Western Star. It's based on an Italian design, loosely. In fact, when the LSVW underwent field trials pre-production at CFB Aldershot, it was deemed "utterly unfit for military service". Therefore the minimum standards were slashed, and the vehicle heavily modified in order to keep the contract in Canada. The end result, a slow, lumbering beast, that utterly fails to perform. All in the name of keeping the contract in Canada. It should be pointed out that at the time Canada was trying to procure a new light vehicle, the U.S. Army offered to sell us the plans for the Hmmwv Mk 1 at a heavily reduced cost. We turned it down. Even though the Hummer is by far a better vehicle than the LS is. The primary use of the LS in the Canadian Forces is as a radio detachment. A Hummer could easily be retrofitted to facilitate the TCCCS Radio Suite, and would also offer a radio det better mobility and armor protection. That all said, the LS project is just ONE of the numerous projects given the thumbs up for the sake of promoting national manufacture.
Another great example is the Victoria Class submarines. For those that do not know, the Victoria Class are former Royal Navy Upholder Class diesel/electric coastal patrol submarines. The Royal Navy retired them in the 90's and let them sit at bearth for almost a decade. Canada, after retiring the Oberon Class, needed new subs, so we bought the Upholders, rechristened them, and sailed them back to Canada. Why? Because it'd give work to the Canadian economy. Buy the subs, sail them across the Atlantic and in to Canadian drydocks. Have them utterly refitted to Canadian specs here, and voila, stimulate the economy. The problem was that the Upholders were junk, near rust-out state. In fact one, the Chicoutimi caught on fire during it's Atlantic crossing and killed one sailor. The cause? Poor electrical wiring. Another sub, the Victoria, was doing a test dive last fall when her main ballast tank cracked and began to leak. What's really interesting is this. Whilst Canada was inquiring about the Upholders, the Royal Ministry of Defence offered to sell Canada 4 Trafalgar Class nuclear attack submarines. The catch, they'd be built in The UK. The Trafalgars, for those who do not know, were, up until recently, the Royal Navys premier nuclear attack submarines. They're often deemed the little brothers of the United States' Los Angeles Class. Another interesting thing to point out is the fact that while at first the cost to purchase Trafalgars from the Royal Navy would have been more expensive than buying and retro-fitting the Upholders, we would have saved MILLIONS in diesel costs to operate the Upholders seeing as the Trafalgars are nuclear vessels. However once again the Government stepped in and utterly rejected anything that wasn't going to interact directly with the Canadian economy.
Lastly, with direct regard to the purchase of aircraft. You'd think a "defence critic" would want the best deal for the Canadian Air Force, regardless of whether or not the deal was offered to one company or up for bids. The simple fact ladies and gents is that the C-17A3 Globemaster is by far a better tactical lift aircraft than the A400M Airbus. Some quick Specs:
C-17A3:
Max Payload - 77 Tons (A Canadian Leopard tank is around 55 tons)
Max Range (loaded) - 5,185km (77 tons)
Service Ceiling - 45,000 Ft (normal operations)
Max Speed - 450 knots
Cost - $202.3 million
A400M Airbus:
Max Payload - 37 Tons (A Canadian Leopard tank is around 55 tons)
Max Range (loaded) - 3,148km (37 tons)
Service Ceiling - 37,000 Ft (normal operations)
Max Speed - 300 knots
Cost - $128.6 million
Just a quick frame up (feel free to google it all beaver as I didn't post links just to piss you off). As you can see, the only thing the Airbus beats the Globemaster on is cost. However look at what the cost is costing us (no pun intended). With the airbus we have limited airlift (still can't move our tanks by air), way shorter range, ceiling is lower (but not a big deal), and the airspeed is significantly slower. Should we even be considering the Airbus when there is simply a better aircraft being built and flown by our closest ally? Ujjal Dosanjh thinks so, but I think he's a fool. My 78 cents.
