where are the aircraft going to come from? USN stocks? Boeing-owned airframes?

It would be quite funny if Australia took the opportunity to be an all F-35 force now that the F-35 is near Block 3F and the prices have stabilized.

Maybe the CPU card… maybe.

Unless the build a but-ton of them the money is just not there for a wholesale redo of the avionics.

If they did, the best approach is to piggyback on the F-35 avionics, especially the EOTS.

Look at every recent export order of a comparable modern fighter… they are all more expensive than the F-35 which was $195 each in the South Korea deal.

Probably although the press release also uses the term acquisition which carries the connotation of ownership against lease.

In governmental terms anytime you get something, be it through a buy, rent, lease,etc… it’s all covered under “acquisition”.

Right, so the Canadians are replacing the less expensive F-35A by more expensive Super Hornet as an interim solution, you say..

Funny that until summer 2016 Canadians seemed perfectly informed and very objective for you..

Like I said… political decision that had little to do with the realities of the day.

It’s clear as hell that the Korean/Saudi/Kuwaiti deals are not even remotely comparable.. but don’t get disturbed by the facts and continue your rant..

You would think that one, ANY one of the Rafale, EF, F-18, or F-15 deals would be cheaper than either of the F-35 FMS deals… but they are not. You can’t blame it on exchange rates since there are US deals on both sides of the fence. You can’t blame it on platform since there were 4 to choose from that are all more expensive.

There is simply no hard number you can point to (apples to apples) that shows that the F-35 is more expensive than the Rafale, EF, F-18SH, for F-15E+ when dealing with an export customer. The closest that anyone came was Boeing and the SK deal where they got to hide the details (no FMS docs) and did not have to include a whole host of items (support, training, tooling, etc) since SK already had advanced F-15Ks.

Canada having a open competition would have been a first where the Rafale might compete and we can finally do a definitive Apples to Apples comparison, but they will likely chicken out like they did before.

Here is a cost breakdown of recent export sales.

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/feature/5/178870/us-fighter-prices-explode-as-production-end-nears.html

Keep in mind that the price of an F-35A has dropped significantly since the South Korean deal that even then was ~$195 per (with weapons).

Oh, what happened to your “those with access to real F-35 data know better than fanboys on the forum” rhetoric?

Canada is not making an informed decision.. there has not been a competition or even a detailed RFP. It’s purely political.