F-35 JSF: Can It Meet Canada's Needs?

The ongoing controversy in Canada over the bureaucratic decision to procure the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, in preference to conducting an open competition to select a replacement aircraft for Canada's fleet of obsolete and worn out CF-18A Hornets, bears careful scrutiny.

The parallels between the bureaucratic behaviours observed in Canada surrounding the F-35, and like behaviours in the Canberra DoD bureaucracy, are remarkable.

The mismatch between the F-35 and Canada's strategic needs is fundamentally no different from the mismatch between the F-35 and Australia's strategic needs.

Both nations are gravitating into a black hole which will see their respective air forces emasculated and unable to perform their primary mission of protecting national airspace from foreign air forces.

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