- F35's Will Be Double The Purchase Price, Double The Maintenance Costs and Half the Machine - Stephen, Harper, Tell Us It's Not So,

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I think this is my first comment to an article appearing in the Toronto Sun
Read the article it's very enlightening - if you're into truth and reality.

U.S. defence expert tells Canadian MPs: No way to know how much your F-35 program will cost, David Akin, 22 Jan.'11, Toronto Sun
http://www.torontosun.com/blogs/thehill/2011/01/22/16995716.html

Winslow Wheeler, the director of the Straus Military Reform Project at the Center For Defense
Information in Washington, D.C., releases written testimony he was asked to give to the House of
Commons Standing Committee on National Defence:

The final unit cost to Canada to purchase: "I can guarantee to you . . . will be well in excess of $70 million . . .

I do not believe it unreasonable to expect a multiplication factor of two."

Cost of Operating the aircraft: " . . . It would not be unreasonable to expect the flying hour costs to double."

Performance and that eye watering technology that Peter MacKay, in his infinite wisdom, feels is so important:
". . . not a single U.S. stealth aircraft had lived up to its original detectability promises, and the F-35
looks to be no exception."

The F35's weight and smallish wings give sit the maneuverability "roughly equivalent to an American
F-105 fighter-bomber of the Vietnam era".


" We are getting the best aircraft at the best price." (Oh and by the way, did I mention that Mackay's statement is in Hansard)

The VietNam vintage F-105 would be just as good and much cheaper.

I guess what Peter MacKay is says simply can't stand up to rational analysis or even a minimal, somewhat probing examination.

Shouldn't our military leaders be informed of this. Perhaps they will change their minds about spending so much of Canadian tax payers' money.


Air force chief Lt.-Gen. Andre Deschamps told the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence, 28 Oct.'10

"The F-35 Lightning II is not an unnecessary luxury. It is the right tool, at the best value, to properly do the job that Canada and Canadians want their Air Force to carry out on their behalf."

Looks like that is simply not the reflective of the realities.

And,

"We don't want to end up with this costing us $32 billion someday," said Parti Quebecois defence critic Claude Bachand.

Deschamps became testy when Bachand pressed him to provide to MPs, behind closed doors if necessary, classified information about the F-35's technical capabilities.

"You're implying that we don't know what we're doing," Deschamps told him. "Please don't tell us that we don't know what we're doing."

How is it everyone else seems to know.

Someone better tell Deschamps.

Lloyd MacILquham cicblog.com/comments.html