Con: Mate it’s ok, I find it all interesting. I mean if Australia can buy the C-17, then surely Canada can as well. I know you had a very Pesimistic government before but this government seems to be looking at defence in a new light.
We dumped our Echos when the Julliettes came on line, so I can understand how you are feeling.
I like the idea of the mixed transport fleet proposed above, CC-150’s with C-130J’s and C-17’s that would be a very viable option and very similar to what we have here, worth looking into, though I don’t think Canada can wait for the A-400, lets be real here, it’s only a matter of time before something drastic happens and the Armed forces are blamed (as always), yet no one really looks at who is really to blame- the politicians!
Dubya: Yes mate that is a pressing need and our skies will never be the same without the drone of those engines. I couldn’t believe that we canned the replacement a few years ago just as a winner was about to be announced. I am in two minds as to a replacement, both the C-295 and the C-27J are fine planes and I would really like to see all the options on the table before a winner was selected. Given the current expenditure, perhaps a fleet of secondhand S-360’s that are sitting at Brisbane airport might be a good option, or even some C-212/400’s (I’d be happy with both options). The main thing that has to be acknoledged by the RAAF and the ADF is that nothing around today can do what the Caribou can do sadly, but we must move on.
The only problem here in Canada is that most people frown the second you start talking about spending billions of dollars on defense. Many would rather see it spent on heathcare or education system. Unfortunately, little do they realize that their military could be considered as a farce. London hosts a regiment of reservist who was deployed to Afghanistan and had to rely on the US and Russian An-124s to get them there. Not too many Canadians understand that or even really care about it. The feeling about what is going on in the Middle East is that the Americans are responsible for it and they should be the ones to deal with it without assistance from their allies. Dislike for Americans at this time is actually quite widespread. That was Paul Martin’s stance so to speak but with Harper now in office this is going to change and a recent vote in Ottawa authorized Canadian troops to be deployed there for another two years.
However, the ministry of national defense has been struggling for the last few years to get what it wanted and at the pace at which replacement programs are ongoing, I don’t see Canada’s fleet of Hercules being replaced any time soon. Right now, it appears to me that a replacement for Canada’s SAR fleet of older CC-115 Buffalo. In the running are two aircraft, the C-27J Spartan and the C-295 from EADS. The Spartan seems to be the favorite and if selected, we could see up to twenty (including options) enter Canadian service in the next few years. Should this be the case, then I could see the J finding its way into Canadian armed forces services but that still wouldn’t be enough to provide a strategic airlift Canada so desperatly needs. The A400M would be an option but as someone already mentioned, it will take a few years before the aircraft is available for delivery to Canada. And as much as I would like to see the C-17 in Canadian colours, that aircraft is way too expensive. Unless, Air Canada was to buy them and lease them to DND over a period of twenty to thirty years (just a thought).
As for Australia’s C-17s, with four aircraft coming to them, I imagine this will greatly increase their ability to deploy to various regions around the world and with the arrival of the A330 MRTT, Australia’s armed forces will no longer have to rely on allied forces for air refuelling or even to get them there in the first place.
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