A former air force colonel questions the purchase.
A former air force colonel questions the purchase.
Retired 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.
Maillet called the F-35 a “serious strategic mismatch” to Canada’s military needs, and suggested the Royal Canadian Air Force would be better off purchasing a fleet of F-18 E/F fighters.
See previously: Why the F-35? and What we do we plan on doing with our fighter jets?