FROLITICKS

The answer is clearly a resounding “NO”. As a result of the current Canadian federal election underway, the governing Conservative Party is still defending its involvement in a plan to purchase F-35s to replace the current aging fleet of CF-18s. The problem is, Canada can’t afford it and there are several practical reasons why the F-35s don’t make any sense in the Canadian context. Both the New Democratic and Liberal parties have indicated that they would scrap F-35 purchases should they form the next government, and will look at cheaper and more suitable alternative aircraft.

The following are detailed concerns expressed by insiders and recorded by several media outlets in Canada, the U.S. and other countries:*

• Right from the start, Pentagon officials were warned of the dangers of beginning to produce an aircraft before it was fully tested. (New York Times, 2012)
• In 2010, Pentagon officials estimated that the planes could cost as much as $5 billion more than previously estimated. That comes on top of a $2.8 billion increase, which brought the total for development alone to $50 billion. (New York Times, 2010)
• In 2011, S. defence specialist Winslow Wheeler estimated the planes would cost around $148 million apiece or more. (Ottawa Citizen, 2011)
• The Canadian military does not have the ability to conduct aerial refuelling of the F-35, a must for longer flights in our North. The Defence Department had listed air-to-air refuelling as a mandatory capability for any new fighter aircraft Canada (Ottawa Citizen, 2011)
• F-35 would not be able to safely land on runways in Canada’s North as those are too short for the fighter. (Ottawa Citizen, 2011)
• The Pentagon official in charge of the F-35 project said major cracks and “hot spots” had been discovered in the stealth fighter’s airframe, causing further delays and testing. (Postmedia News, 2011)
• F-35s don’t have the satellite capabilities necessary for communicating in the Arctic. (Postmedia News, 2011)
• The Pentagon grounded all of its F-35s after a routine inspection found a crack in one of the stealth fighter’s engines. (Postmedia News, 2013)
• Lockheed needs more foreign orders to realize volume savings. In 2012, Italy cut its planned order 30 percent. Britain and Australia delayed decisions on how many F-35s to buy. Lawmakers in Canada and the Netherlands were questioning the costs. (New York Times, 2012)
• Several countries, including Britain and Japan, have stated that they may have to cancel their F-35 order in view of the cost overruns, technical problems and delays. (Postmedia News, 2012)
• Retired Canadian colonel Paul Maillet, an aerospace engineer and former CF-18 fleet manager, said the F-35 does not meet the needs of the government’s Canada First Defence Strategy, a key pillar of which is Arctic sovereignty. “How do you get a single-engine, low-range, low-payload, low-manoeuvrability aircraft that is being optimized for close air support . . . to operate effectively in the North?” he asked. (Postmedia News, 2012)
• In 2012, Auditor General Michael Ferguson delivered a report highly critical of the Defence Department’s handling of the F-35 project. The auditor general’s report indicated Defence Department officials twisted government rules, withheld information from ministers and Parliament, and whitewashed cost overruns and delays afflicting the F-35 program. (Postmedia News, 2012)
• The first F-35s were supposed to be delivered to Canada in 2015. The federal government quietly decided in the fall of 2015 to spend $400 million to extend the life of Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets past 2020. (Ottawa Citizen, 2015)
• With all the delays — full F-35 production is not expected until 2019 — the U.S. military has spent billions to extend the lives of older fighters and buy more of them to fill the gap. (New York Times, 2013)
• Mark Gunzinger, a retired American Air Force colonel who is now an analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, noted that the F-35 could be too sophisticated for minor conflicts, and its relatively short flight range could be a problem as the Pentagon changes its view of possible threats. (New York Times, 2012)
• S. air force data demonstrates that single-engine jets have crashed more often. The manufacturer and the government have argued that improvements in technology have made the F-35’s engine more reliable and safer than its predecessors. A report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Rideau Institute noted: “The single-engine versus twin-engine issue has not been resolved by improvements in the reliability of jet engines”. “Engine failures will still occur, and when they do so away from an airport, a second engine is the only thing that can prevent a crash.” (Canadian Press, 2014)
• A 2014 government-commissioned report on the F-35 and its competitors shows little difference between the four warplanes when it comes to the vast majority of missions they will be required to perform. The only major exception is fighting against another country, though the report says such an event is “highly unlikely” to occur in the future, and even then, “the government is not obliged to undertake such a mission.” (Ottawa Citizen, 2014)
• An Industry Canada report said that the four aircraft companies reviewed had all laid out plans for bolstering the Canadian economy with jobs and other benefits should their aircraft be chosen to replace the CF-18. (Ottawa Citizen, 2014)
• In 2015, the U.S. Government Accountability Office stated that progress had been made on some of the problems that have plagued the controversial jet fighter’s development for years. These include designing a new pilot’s helmet and fixing an issue that resulted in cracks in the aircraft’s frame. But the GAO, which serves as Congress’s independent auditor, said “key gaps” persist that threaten to increase costs and put development even further behind schedule. Problems with the aircraft’s engine have delayed aircraft deliveries and testing. (Ottawa Citizen, 2015)

*In addition to Canada and the U.S., the original F-35 project included Britain, Australia, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Turkey, Israel, Singapore and Japan.