Canada to issue RFI for F-35 alternative

[SajeevJino]

Canada to issue RFI for F-35 alternative​

It's being reported that the Canadian government will "look at all possible options" and send an RFI (Request For Information) to Boeing, Eurofighter, and possibly Dassault for an alternative to the F-35. It's believed that they will look at the F/A-18 Super Hornet, possibly F-15 variants (but not likely), the Typhoon, the Rafael, and the Saab Gripen.

One of the complaints is about the single engine on the F-35, which US pilots say doesn't matter. They point to the F-16, which has been flying out of Alaska for years without any problem.

The Conservative government will signal it is serious about buying an alternative to the F-35 fighter jet by asking rival manufacturers about the cost and availability of their planes, according to defence industry sources.

The formal request for information will be issued to rivals like Boeing, which produces the Superhornet, and the consortium that makes the Eurofighter Typhoon, asking them what jets are available, and at what cost, if the Canadian government decides to ditch the trouble-plagued F-35 purchase.

The pricing and availability information request falls short of a formal tender but government sources said the "market analysis" will send a signal to voters and industry that it is taking seriously the Auditor-General's spring report that was heavily critical of the F-35 procurement process.



Conservatives seeking alternatives to troubled F-35 fighter jet: sources | Canadian Politics | Canada | News | National Post
Canada might be issuing RFIs for F-35 alternative soon - The DEW Line

 

[p2prada]

Get the Rafale and be done with it. But, as a partner, you got no chance to do it.

 

[Damian]

Menawhile despite some problems, the F-35 programs go forward well, problems are solved out, and in the end it will be interesting to observe all these reactions of F-35 haters, when the program will end as a success, and everything points out it rather will be a success.

I suspect that experiences with F-22 gave enough to think ahead during later R&D phases of F-35.

 

[p2prada]

Yeah. The F-35 will be a success compared to the F-22. No idea if it will be as successful as the F-16 (because there is so much competition now), regardless it will be among the best in its weight class.

F-35's criticism is mainly to do with delays since a lot of the maneuverability and payload issues are being addressed by LM and USAF. Once the program takes of by the end of the decade, this will be a F-16 part 2.

 

[Damian]

The F-35 will be a success compared to the F-22.

Problems with F-22 is mainly made by politicians who instead of keeping production, ceased it. It is much easier for engineers to solve problems with new production version and then eventually upgrade older ones to the new standard, than trying to do this with planes allready in service.

 

[p2prada]

The problem with F-22 is that it is expensive to maintain. USAF and LM failed to explain to the Senate how they are planning on reducing that to a large extent when they had promised it would actually be cheaper than the F-15 instead of being twice as much as the F-15. Apart from that the F-22 also turned out to cost a lot more than anticipated. It is not like there are any real problems with the F-22. It is simply far too expensive even for USAF to buy and maintain, at least that's what Robert Gates decided.

But the times are also not as good as they would have hoped for. Had the Cold War continued we would have seen hundreds of F-22s. Now the govt has other priorities like containing the Dragon economically and getting friendly or finding peaceful resolutions with ex-enemy or rogue states like India, Myanmar, Iran, N Korea etc. The F-22 does not fit in that equation anymore like it would have against the Soviets. So, the less capable F-35 is more than enough for the job. By the time any real military threat arises, like China or India, by then technology would have progressed to the next generation rendering both F-22 and F-35 useless for the time.

The only military aspects of Cold war left for them to counter is the vast Russian nuclear arsenal and that's why you see them prioritizing the ABM system in Europe, and later in parts of Asia, over everything else. This will counter any other future great power's nuclear arsenal as well.

 

[datguy79]

Get the Rafale and be done with it. But, as a partner, you got no chance to do it.

How does the Rafale perform in the Arctic? This is the most important question.

 

[p2prada]

It must have cleared the Leh cold trials in India for it to be selected. It doesn't get any better than that.

Normally, performance in different weather conditions will not be a problem for any modern aircraft today.