John Fedup
The Bunker Group
Yep, hope the pilots have extra sweaters and gloves.
Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF] News, Discussions and Updates
Yep. Seemed a bit counter intuitive to me, but the first two are A21-53 and A21-55. Presumably the cost of flying them to North America is coming out of our pockets and worth saving by doing double duty.
oldsig
John Newman
The Bunker Group
John Newman
The Bunker Group
I hope those planes enjoy the next 30 years in Canada.
John Newman
The Bunker Group
Thirty years of RCAF service? Well with the speed (not!) of the Canadian procurement system anything is possible, I wouldn't bet against you! Ha Ha!!
But talking of '30 years', it's interesting to think that the Classic Hornets, that are in the process of being replaced by F-35A, are going onto a second life and the aircraft that they replaced 30 years ago, the Mirage III, went onto a second life too and are still in service with the PAF all these years later.
ADF Serials - Mirage III
Anyway, anything is possible!!!!
Thanks John
Thirty years of service and still more to come.
An impressive aircraft that has being the workhorse for many nations over the years.
When are we looking at the last classic Hornet finishing up in RAAF service.
Is it around 2023?
Regards S
My heart broke listening to that Canadian officer doing the introduction. I suppose they have a few more aircraft to play with now, but surely Canada deserves better that what their political establishment is delivering.
John Fedup
The Bunker Group
Loser citizens here have been electing pollies that cater to their whining on social freebies and a host of other BS programs. There is virtually zero interest in defence matters so, no, Canada does not deserve better.
The last squadron to convert will be No:75 from 2021 so the classic Hornet might not last too long after that.
King Wally
Active Member
What happens the day a 30+ year old Canadian Jet has a mechanical issue flying a mission over somewhere like Syria and the Pilot has to eject?
I'm not saying the jets aren't mechanically sound, what I'm saying is that it LOOKS really bad. God forbid you had to face a situation similar to that poor Jordanian pilot a few years ago.
If I was a politician I would want to be able to say I'd done ALL I could to give our Pilots the best chance they had.
I have to give credit to the Australian pollies... we have this area covered pretty well. Losses will happen, but at least RAAF equipment is funded and modernised in par with leading global standards.
I imagine Canada doesn't intend to participate or deploy in any active operation beyond their borders. Not in a meaningful way.
The ADF is looking like one of the best equipped forces. I give credit to the Australian population giving a dam, and defence issues becoming election issues. Its not like we have had no attempts to cut spending and projects. We had more defence ministers than prime ministers. IMO it keeps coming back to being relevant in international affairs, and with things like Timor, and more recently the SCS (and Pacific security and our activity globally), Australia is highly relevant to the solution.
This buys Canada a short space of time, best case scenario.
The ADF is looking like one of the best equipped forces. I give credit to the Australian population giving a dam, and defence issues becoming election issues. Its not like we have had no attempts to cut spending and projects. We had more defence ministers than prime ministers. IMO it keeps coming back to being relevant in international affairs, and with things like Timor, and more recently the SCS (and Pacific security and our activity globally), Australia is highly relevant to the solution.
This buys Canada a short space of time, best case scenario.
John Fedup
The Bunker Group
It is because Australians take defence matters seriously that keeps your pollies on the path. Just as important your pollies don’t play political games with defence and parties seem to be able to get on the same page, too bad that isn’t the case in Canada.
Australia hasn’t always been well prepared. My grandfather was at Tobruk and El Alamein. At that time the AIF was poorly equipped and had to beg, borrow or steal what they needed. After being threaten with invasion, Australia took defence more seriously until after the Vietnam war. The 70s through to the dreaded ‘fitted for by not with’ 90s saw a gradual decline. E Timor turned that around by waking up the political establishment to the realities of security issues and also gained the ADF support from the left as well as the mainstream. I think the fact that aiding the Americans wins politicians plenty of prestige in Washington might also have become a factor. Howard set the trend there.
At least our country will have a reasonable start on readiness when the next crisis hits. Equipment is improving, training seems good and there is now an established body of experience. Canada, on the other hand, might be in a spot of bother if a crisis sneaks up on them. I really feel sorry for committed Canadians such as the officer in the video. To my mind they are being let down, much as my grandfather and his fellows in the militia were let down in the years leading up to WWII, only to be promoted to NCOs due to a shortage of trained personnel and sent to war without adequate quality and quantity of material.
Pilots will be at incrased flying weary aircraft over the Arctic. If Russia positions a S400 system in the vicinity either on land or aboardship then the RCAF will wish it had F-35s
Which is the point, until the competition currently ongoing (see graphic below) delivers the first airframes around 2025.
@Calculus can you please provide a source for this graphic.
Ngatimozart.
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John Fedup
The Bunker Group
Two problems with this timeline IMO. First, it looks like the Oct election could well be a minority Liberal government which could delay things, especially if the NDP support is needed. If it is a Conservative minority, hard to say, especially if the review process says no to the F-35. The other problem is the same old problem, no decision within 6 months of the next election cycle causing yet another postponement, think FWSAR or Maritime helicopter replacement. It would cause a $hitstorm but less face it, the history is there.
t68
Well-Known Member
RAAF in low fuel mayday call to Brisbane, crikey didn't have enough for the distance from Brisbane to Amberly. Talk about running on fumes, I was under the impression they held a fuel reserve in pre-planning
Jet fighter forced to make emergency landing at Brisbane Airport
Jet fighter forced to make emergency landing at Brisbane Airport