Rationale aside, Fed Super Hornet deal makes sense

I wish I had someone to bet with, as I would have put money on the Liberal government announcing a decision to acquire 20 F-18 Super Hornets.

Whatever the rationale or political motivation of the decision, Canada is still better off with 18 pseudo-modern fighter planes on order rather than nil.  Appreciating that columnist John Ivison makes some valid points, there was a definite risk that the government would log roll on the decision;  which would essentially ensure no purchase would ever come to pass.  With a CF-18 fleet that has been reduced to almost half the original 138 planes, the Royal Canadian Air Force needed a capital equipment replenishment.  Although there is no contract, at least the government has put a procurement stake in the ground.

Supporters of the Canadian military should look at these 18 orders as merely replacing some of the 1980-era CF-18 airframes that have gone out of service over the years, whether due to crashes or cannibalization.  For those who hoped for an F-35 announcement, they can take solace from the fact that the Emir of Kuwait recently agreed to pay $337.5 million per Super Hornet (including training, spares, engines, weapons, etc.).  That’s about double the $175 million the Conservative’s expected to pay for each F-35 aircraft, with all of its 2010-era technology.

Like all government defence procurements, should Treasury Board bureaucrats tie the Super Hornet contract up in knots over the next three years — as they’ve done with the Gordie Howe Bridge (see representative prior post “It’s Now or Never for the Gordie Howe International Bridge” June 8-16) — Canadians will have the opportunity to debate the topic once again during the upcoming Federal election.  By then, the F-35 should be out of its testing phase and successfully flying missions.  In the unlikely event that negotiations with Boeing go smoothly, the Super Hornets might wind up in our air defence arsenal by 2020.  The RCAF will be glad to have them I’m sure.

Should a future government choose to acquire the F-35 nonetheless, Canada can always sell the 18 Super Hornets at that point; there’s a liquid global market for military jets among our allies and friends around the world.  As the only certainty is that we need something now, there’s no harm done if this Super Hornet order is truly “interim.”

The only mistake at this point would be to have done nothing.

MRM

(disclosure — this post like all blogs, represents a personal view)