this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2023
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F-35 fighter jet to cost Canada $74 billion, says PBO (ottawacitizen.com)
submitted 1 year ago by NightOwl@lemm.ee to c/canada@lemmy.ca
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During the 2015 election campaign, Justin Trudeau vowed that his government would never purchase the F-35.

As prime minister, Trudeau continued to point out the Canadian military had no need for the F-35. “Canadians know full well that, for 10 years, the Conservatives completely missed the boat when it came to delivering to Canadians and their armed forces the equipment they needed,” Trudeau said in June 2016. “They clung to an aircraft (the F-35) that does not work and is far from working.”

The Liberal government also noted the F-35’s “stealth first-strike capability” was not needed to defend Canada.

But Trudeau flipped on his election promise, not only committing to the purchase but increasing the number of jets from the 65 the Conservatives had wanted to buy to 88.

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[–] zephyreks@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago

There's already been a confirmed F-35 damaged by a "bird strike" over Syria... The F-35 was certified against bird strikes to a higher standard than most other American jets. Given the amount of lies coming out of the IDF in the Gaza conflict, I wouldn't be surprised if the F-35 was targettable by Russian S-200/S-300 systems and the IDF is covering it up to avoid absolutely destroying the international reputation of the F-35.

The problem is, Canadian F-35 operations in the Arctic (really, the only area we have to defend against Russia) would almost certainly require drop tanks. In that scenario, the F-35 is fucked. This is even as F-35 maintenance requires the use of American military contractors that can be weeks or even months away, particularly if we do decide to operate F-35s out of Arctic bases.