I have a big problem with Canada squandering a fortune on a fighter plane we neither can afford nor need.
Let’s face it, we are not capable of defending this country if the Soviets attacked, or the Chinese. And once on the ground, their armies would destroy ours in hours. Our navy is pitiful in size. America is our only hope of serious defence, which is in their interest, of course.
We have had great service from our F18s, a plane well adapted to our needs, well understood by our ground crews, with no “problems,” unlike that nightmare F35. The latter plane could financially drain us, and probably kill pilots.
All we really need is the Super Hornet, in numbers. Better to have more of a reliable plane, than a handful of unreliable ones which will have very costly maintenance – not to mention an outrageous end cost that is still unknown, and an unreliable delivery time.
Stealthy or not, the F35 could not hide from visual sighting and destruction by an enemy. Planes make noise and can be detected by listening devices. Besides, there are satellites overhead that can spot them. They can spot your car.
This F35 is madness, and a con job. End the damned contract now, pay the penalty, and order a good reliable plane which costs much less. The F35 is buying “a pig in a poke.”
This purchase could cost the government the next election. I remember how Diefenbaker scrapped the excellent and advanced Avro Arrow, technically 20 years ahead of its time, in favour of missiles from the U.S., that proved to be no good.
That disaster of a prime minister had all the prototypes destroyed, the plans destroyed, and effectively destroyed Avro, putting thousands out of work. The U.S. wanted that plane at any cost, which would have covered all the development costs, plus a lucrative contract for Canada. France wanted the engines for its Mirage.
Do not make the same mistake by walking into this disaster in the making – the F35. We are not world-class players in the military game. We are a huge nation with a small population of taxpayers maintaining it.
We cannot afford this F35, and to hell with what the United Nations thinks or wants. They are useless anyway, a toothless tiger that sucks the wealth of Western nations to enrich the Third World tyrants. Drop the F35 now.
Dennis Cook
