A former Canadian fighter pilot believes the military’s pending purchase of F-35 stealth fighter jets is an expensive mistake.
Retired Major Stephen Fuhr questions the performance and $75 million price tag per jet, for an estimated $9 billion total price tag to the Canadian Government.
“The people who are supporting it are in love with the idea of the F-35,” says Fuhr, who is making his concerns public.
Before retiring from the Canadian Air Force two years ago, Fuhr was a fighter pilot and instructor who also held important positions with NATO and NORAD. He now resides in Kelowna, B.C.
“The problem with it is that it can’t deliver the capability it promises, on time and on budget,” says Fuhr. “That’s extremely clear to everyone on the planet, except for our current government.”
The highly advanced, multi-role fighter is facing huge cost overruns. Critics say the actual price will be at least as twice as high. The F-35 is also facing developmental problems.
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“Right now, according to Lockheed-Martin’s original plan, they are supposed to be building 170 aircraft a year,” Fuhr asserts. “They are building 30.”
“They are running into airframe problems. They’ve got problems with the helmet mounted sight. The tail hook for the Navy version isn’t working correctly.”
While the CF-18 has two engines, the F-35 only has one. Fuhr thinks two engines are needed to adequately patrol Canada’s vast territories.
“We’ve got a massive air space,” he says. “We need to be up north, for a lot of reasons, and we are up there more and more. If you have an engine failure in a single engine airplane the outcome is catastrophic.”
Fuhr questions how much money the Canadian Government will waste on the F-35 before it realizes the mistake.
“Is it going to be able to land on our runways? Not really. Does it work with our tankers? No, but maybe we’ll buy other tankers. There’s all these unknown things. The fairest thing we say about the cost of these things is we don’t know what they are going to cost.”
Fuhr believes we’d be better off buying brand new F-18 Superhornets. He says they are less expensive, have proven technology, and Canadian pilots are already very familiar with them.
The country’s top air commander said Canadian fighter pilots may have to train in Florida for almost a decade if Canada purchases the F-35, a requirement for all pilots from all nations. In the past, Canadian pilots trained at Cold Lake, Alberta.
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