Is the Gripen E a real contender?

[TT1900]

Nobody sitting “in the seat” is foolish enough to post on this topic. They’ve all been told with no uncertainty to steer well clear of this topic. Many have signed NDA’s.

[Mick G]

Single engine fighters have no place in the far north and high arctic. We will lose very expensive aircraft and pilots will die if the Canadian government fails to understand this. There simply are not enough runways and infrastructure in the vast areas of the North to support engine failures. We all know arctic sovereignty missions will continue to escalate as the planet warms.

That's what some said about flying across the ocean in less than 3 engines. Single engine fighters have been around for quite some time and have proven reliable. North or south of 60 isn't going to make much of a difference.

Exactly. I looked through every accident report for the Royal Norwegian Air Force's F-16 fleet and found only two incidences of an engine failure (one was on the ground) from 1986 to 2014.

Pretty good odds to me. Seems they have to worry more about mid-air collisions with each other, wire strikes and the occasional bird strike.

Hardly a good comparison. Norway doesn't even come close to our massive north. Losing an engine that will result in certain death is a poor recipe for our men and women in uniform

[rigpiggy]

I would have preferred license production of the rafale m, however the lobbyists had the specs written specifically to preclude that option

[Mick G]

The Eurofighter should have been short listed

[North Shore]

We'll be lucky to have a CF18 replacement in place by 2030.

That's OK...we'll still be paying off covid then!

[Mach1]

We'll be lucky to have a CF18 replacement in place by 2130.

That's OK...we'll still be paying off covid then!

Fixed that for you.

[Launchpad1]

It's a shame the Boeing F15SE got cancelled. That would probably have been the perfect Fast Jet for Canada. Maybe some interest from Canada would make Boeing reconsider starting the program again.

[schnitzel2k3]

It's a shame the Boeing F15SE got cancelled. That would probably have been the perfect Fast Jet for Canada. Maybe some interest from Canada would make Boeing reconsider starting the program again.

Did that turn into the F15EX?

What a machine those F15s are. I don't know if qualifies for the multirole aspect like the F18s, J39 or I guess the F35.

S.

[Launchpad1]

Did that turn into the F15EX?

Hmm I'm not sure, I think the F15 Silent Eagle was a more stealthy variant designed as a slightly cheaper option to obtain stealth.

If I was the Canadian combat aircraft buyer guy I'd be on the phone to Boeing asking to talk about it. Twin engine, proven abilities, Boeing aircraft, stealthy, perfect.

[tailgunner]

Launchpad1,
The F15EX is basically a F15SE without the canted tails.
It is modeled on the F15 E. it has that the E’s heavy wing, and tandem seating. Except, the EX will be crewed by one pilot, with a hugely improved cockpit.
It actually makes a lot of sense for Canada to look at this variant, if the Libs. fear the political embarrassment of selecting the F35. The USAF has earmarked an order for 144. They will perform the air defence role out of bases like Portland, Bedford, and New Orleans. It will outfly and out range the Super Hornet by a wide margin, and will probably have some air to ground capability added.
Cheers.

[co-joe]

I still think we should just buy 50 or so F-16's. Keep uncle Sam happy, fill the void, maintain Nato preparedness. Then keep 2 squadrons of F-18s operational for arctic mission if 1 engine really scares you that badly. Then if we have the bucks down the road, replace the 12 or so Hornets with F35's.

[SpyPilot]

F**K Uncle Sam and the horse he rode in on.

Canada was capable of building and flying the worlds most advanced interceptor in 1953.

Revive and re-design a multi role platform based on the bones of the CF-105.

Have none of you been listening to the 2020 mantra of "Stay local, support local and buy local" ?

[schnitzel2k3]

F**K Uncle Sam and the horse he rode in on.

Canada was capable of building and flying the worlds most advanced interceptor in 1953.

Revive and re-design a multi role platform based on the bones of the CF-105.

Have none of you been listening to the 2020 mantra of "Stay local, support local and buy local" ?

It's 2021. All that goes out the window.

[dhc#]

Launchpad1,
The F15EX is basically a F15SE without the canted tails.
It is modeled on the F15 E. it has that the E’s heavy wing, and tandem seating. Except, the EX will be crewed by one pilot, with a hugely improved cockpit.
It actually makes a lot of sense for Canada to look at this variant, if the Libs. fear the political embarrassment of selecting the F35. The USAF has earmarked an order for 144. They will perform the air defence role out of bases like Portland, Bedford, and New Orleans. It will outfly and out range the Super Hornet by a wide margin, and will probably have some air to ground capability added.
Cheers.

One can dream.


https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/2 ... nt-fighter

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/3 ... the-f-15ex

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/3 ... ever-built

[frosti]

F**K Uncle Sam and the horse he rode in on.

Canada was capable of building and flying the worlds most advanced interceptor in 1953.

Revive and re-design a multi role platform based on the bones of the CF-105.

Have none of you been listening to the 2020 mantra of "Stay local, support local and buy local" ?

1953 was 70 years ago pops. 70!. Anyone who thinks Canada has the capability to produce world-class fighters is delusional.

[TheStig]

Launchpad1,
The F15EX is basically a F15SE without the canted tails.
It is modeled on the F15 E. it has that the E’s heavy wing, and tandem seating. Except, the EX will be crewed by one pilot, with a hugely improved cockpit.
It actually makes a lot of sense for Canada to look at this variant, if the Libs. fear the political embarrassment of selecting the F35. The USAF has earmarked an order for 144. They will perform the air defence role out of bases like Portland, Bedford, and New Orleans. It will outfly and out range the Super Hornet by a wide margin, and will probably have some air to ground capability added.
Cheers.

The F-15EX is being purchased by the USAF because their existing F-15C airframes are reaching the end of their lifespan. The ANG forces in Oregon, Massachusetts and Louisiana all currently fly F-15's and the new aircraft will be added easily. The F-15EX is a carbon copy of the F-15QA and it's development has been funded by the Qatari's. I agree that this aircraft will offer tremendous range and firepower in the self-defence roles, but it doesn't have a future in the RCAF as it's St. Louis sibling, the F-18 Super Hornet, offers very similar capabilities and has a solid base of supporters in Canada (in the Military and Parliament).

The US Navy's renewed faith in the Block III F/A-18 will provide it a boost in the RCAF competition but so far their appears to be limited interest in any other foreign sales competitions, which could be telling. The US Navy 'wears out' its equipment at a much quicker rate and Boeing is likely to stop producing Hornet spares much earlier than the F-35 program.

Canadians need to realize two things; 1) that we require capable frontline military equipment as we have an important role to play in global stability alongside our allies. 2) We got out of the fighter jet business a long time ago, both in development and production. The United States (who have made a point of ensuring three manufacturers stay in the game), Sweden and France have made a point of funding indigenous projects and the EU consolidated projects (although the UK appears to be ready to go at it alone again).

If you don't build on technological progress your talent goes elsewhere. Ours for the most part has, although we still have a number of companies producing parts for both the F/A-18 and F-35. The problem seems to be that the 'Industrial Benefits' touted in military acquisitions amount to nothing more than political points and come at the cost of not only higher acquisition and support prices passed along to tax payers but also, long over due, potentially inferior outdated equipment for our military.

I think most of us would like to see military acquisitions removed from the political theatre but unfortunately voters have proven otherwise time and time again. It's unlikely we'll hear any announcement before the next election anyways.

[Launchpad1]

Launchpad1,
The F15EX is basically a F15SE without the canted tails.
It is modeled on the F15 E. it has that the E’s heavy wing, and tandem seating. Except, the EX will be crewed by one pilot, with a hugely improved cockpit.
It actually makes a lot of sense for Canada to look at this variant, if the Libs. fear the political embarrassment of selecting the F35. The USAF has earmarked an order for 144. They will perform the air defence role out of bases like Portland, Bedford, and New Orleans. It will outfly and out range the Super Hornet by a wide margin, and will probably have some air to ground capability added.
Cheers.

Ah right that's good to know, thanks for the info!

Sooo basically the best way forward for Canada IMO would be to buy some F15EX, get all the benefits from buying another Boeing product, reduced economies of scale etc then get in now on the UK's Team Tempest and have a world class 6th gen fighter by about 2040. Canada is already working with BAE on the type 26 frigate so that would be a good learning curve for working with them on the Tempest. Disclaimer I'm originally from the UK and would like the UK and Canada to work together.

[Mach1]

The F-15EX is being purchased by the USAF because their existing F-15C airframes are reaching the end of their lifespan.

And... because the US cancelled the F-22 program after ~125 airframes and not the 400+ they originally ordered.

I thought this was an interesting idea. You buy a nice fleet of F-35's with all their integrated battlefield technology and flying behind them, a very fast fighter carrying a rather large missile supply that gets tasked and fired by the stealthy fighters up on the front line. https://www.popularmechanics.com/milita ... new-f-15x/

It's a dream concept for Canada but it has merits.

[2R]

F**K Uncle Sam and the horse he rode in on.

Canada was capable of building and flying the worlds most advanced interceptor in 1953.

Revive and re-design a multi role platform based on the bones of the CF-105.

Have none of you been listening to the 2020 mantra of "Stay local, support local and buy local" ?

1953 was 70 years ago pops. 70!. Anyone who thinks Canada has the capability to produce world-class fighters is delusional.

You might be right, as Canada used to discover and manufacture Vaccines . Why that all got shipped out of country is a mystery .
A lot of really important stuff has been given low priority over the last few decades .

We used to build refineries as well . I hear more refineries being closed than being opened . Refineries make more money than the raw oil out of the ground fetches . One of the most profitable companies in the world ; Aramco made 110 billion dollars refining oil while Alberta was getting five bucks a barrel for the raw oil .
Some airlines own refineries . Delta made more money from it refinery division than its Airline most years .

[co-joe]

F**K Uncle Sam and the horse he rode in on.

Canada was capable of building and flying the worlds most advanced interceptor in 1953.

Revive and re-design a multi role platform based on the bones of the CF-105.

Have none of you been listening to the 2020 mantra of "Stay local, support local and buy local" ?

1953 was 70 years ago pops. 70!. Anyone who thinks Canada has the capability to produce world-class fighters is delusional.

It's been proven over and over that when Uncle Sam wants to squash a Canadian industry like a bug, there's nothing we can do about it. Softwood lumber, steel exports to the US, the C series tarrifs, none of them legal and all of them were devastating to Canada. Buy American, don't be stupid.