Monday, November 7, 2011  Canada still has a lot of work to do
in order to validate a proper CF-18 replacement  Canada still
seems to be confused on the topic of what should replace its
CF-18 fighter fleet.  There is a lot of talk about 65 aircraft
not being enough to meet its requirements for home defence and
deployment needs.  In order to do this properly one has to
decide if the F-35 will make it into service. If so, training
can be done in the United States and thus free more airframes
for operational taskings. If not then Canada will either have to
increase their final number of CF-18 replacement aircraft or
just deal with the shortfall.  If the F-35 does not become the
way forward, Canada needs to consider the following for “combat-
coded” fighter aircraft.  1. How many will be dedicated to
training? 2. What percentage will be going through periodic
maintenance? 3. How many aircraft will be pulled for overseas
deployments? 4. When there are overseas deployments will there
be enough combat-coded aircraft