Naval F-35C for Canada?
This is fascinating (via Chimera at Milnet.ca):
By the way, there is a very interesting comment thread, still active, at this post last November on a separate F-35 for non-American buyers (this is the Douglas F-6D Missileer).
Update:
From Jane's Defence Weekly [text subscriber only]Surely the naval version will be appreciably more expensive than the Air Force F-35A as it will have shorter production run (much smaller USN requirement, RN only foreign likely sale so far) and not need the specialized carrier equipment? But remember about our CF-188s:
Canada considers F-35 carrier variant
Canada may scrap plans to buy some conventional F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft in favour of F-35C carrier variants well suited for cold weather and Arctic operations, according to a defence industry source close to the JSF programme. Prime Minister Stephen Harper told Canadian media on 12 May that Canada would buy 65 JSF aircraft [not quite] instead of the 80 aircraft it was expected to buy under an agreement to provide funds for Production, Sustainment and Follow-on Development (PFSD) of the aircraft...
...many naval features were retained from the F/A-18 including the arrestor hook, the robust landing gear, and the wing-folding mechanisms. These features proved to be advantageous when operating the new CF18s from smaller airfields, especially in the Arctic...Well, presumably having them eliminated would just have added to the cost.
By the way, there is a very interesting comment thread, still active, at this post last November on a separate F-35 for non-American buyers (this is the Douglas F-6D Missileer).
Update:
Israel submits request to buy F-35 jets
posted by Mark, Ottawa at 2:41 p.m.
2 Comments:
I hadn't been paying attention to Canada's announcements re the JSF, but I always guessed that ultimately we would go for the naval variant due to past CF 18 decisions. Not mentioned in buying the naval variant is the capability to participate in exchanges with the USN. A small part no doubt, but still valuable to a country like Canada who can't afford their own carrier. It maintains institutional knowledge of carrier operations and capabilities, albeit on a very small scale.
Don't forget the exchanges with the Marines, as well. There are a good many commonalities between the skill sets required of Marine pilots and CF fighter/CAS pilots.
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