Thanks for the article Doug.
via The NationalPost.
If you're a believer in hardware over people then the F-35 is your baby.
If you believe that its not the tech but the people then the F-35 is costing too much.
This is turning into a cost battle. The member nations will try to slice the baby and the cost will increase. That will mean others will be able to afford fewer of the planes. One thing is certain.
Whether you're a supporter or critic, it should be obvious that projected buys will never come to pass.
via The NationalPost.
As Rob Nicholson, the new defence minister, settles in at National Defence headquarters, he will have been briefed on the war of the Two Towers — one run by DND bureaucrats who control the purse strings; the other by the uniforms of the Canadian Forces.The F-35 is costing capability.
The on-going hostilities are likely to flare up as the new minister is forced to make some unpalatable decisions on resource allocation, including the possibility of reducing the size of Canada’s 68,000 regular forces by chopping one or more of its nine infantry battalions.
Earlier this month, U.S. defence secretary Chuck Hagel indicated the Pentagon might have to decide between a “much smaller force” or a decade-long “holiday” from modernizing weapons systems and technology. Word leaked that the cancellation of the $392-billion F-35 joint strike fighter program was being contemplated — a rumour defence officials later tried to quash.
Canada has its own cash crisis — by 2014/15, nearly $2.5-billion will have been cut from DND’s budget.
If you're a believer in hardware over people then the F-35 is your baby.
If you believe that its not the tech but the people then the F-35 is costing too much.
This is turning into a cost battle. The member nations will try to slice the baby and the cost will increase. That will mean others will be able to afford fewer of the planes. One thing is certain.
Whether you're a supporter or critic, it should be obvious that projected buys will never come to pass.
John Ivison: F-35 purchase may force Conservatives to chop infantry battalion from cash-strapped military
ReplyDeletestory by John Ivison.
He then mentions Canadian cuts, and the only time the F-35 comes up is when he mentions Hagel and the US defense issues. There is no connection other than the headline the author made up.
and isn't this the same F-35 that Canada has not officially picked after the famous reset?
Where in the article does it say that the F-35 canada hasn't yet selected is costing it infantry?
really? is this really how you want to argue the point? by trying to parse an article so thinly that only a Lockheed Martin Public Affairs Officer would agree with you?
Deleteare you really that silly?
This comment has been removed by the author.
Deletethe article you referenced simply restated what mine does. that the F-35 is in a sticky spot in Canada and that the Canadians MIGHT have to pull out of the program.
Deletethe author of the above article simply states what the Canadians will have to cut if they proceed in buying the F-35.
its pretty much the same problem that the USMC has. it buys the F-35 or it loses a bunch of other stuff that many (myself included) consider more valuable.
this article and others like it spike my interests because i got lambasted for saying that the MPC was canceled to buy the F-35. i was told that i was idiotic for thinking that.
only later did we hear from the SecDef himself that we either modernize WITH the F-35 or we get the other stuff we need.
Winslow Wheeler was right.
the F-35 is gobbling up the Pentagon.
Sol Canada hasn't even officially reselected the F-35, to replace their fighters.
DeleteHow can the F-35 be costing Canada an infantry battalion before its even been selected? How can I be so silly to ask how a fighter Canada hasn't committed to is costing it personnel?
Did Canada select the F-35 again or are they still in a reset? last I checked they were still in selection and up to 2 years away from decision:
http://o.canada.com/2013/08/15/0816-col-dentandt/
So if Canada ends up buying Eurofighters, is the Eurofighter causing Canada to cut infantry?
i'll respond to the blurb about eurofighters since the comment you removed is the same and i replied to it with only the EF being new.
Deleteno. but then again the Eurofighter won't cost as much as the F-35 especially since they'll more than likely be used and already have a well established maintenance plan. additionally they're not stealth airframes so the upkeep on that part of it should make them cheaper as well. but the EF isn't the real threat to the F-35 in Canada, its the Super Hornet and you know it.
in many ways its a natural evolution of their airforce and keeps it in line with at least a segment of the US force, the navy.
I highly doubt that an EF will be cheaper to operate than an F-35.
Delete1. Economy of Scale (EOS) means that parts for the F-35 will be cheaper over the lifetime of the part.
2. ALIS will keep track of parts and maintenance better due to it being based on actual usage and live data gathering. ALIS is the single largest piece of software in the F-35.
3. The EF has two engines and the F-35 has one.
4. The F-35 requires less supporting assets to get any one job done than the EF.
5. Future development for the F-35 is assures, budgeted, and ongoing as we speak. It’s costs are spread out over more airframes which leads to a greater return per R&D dollar than for the EF.