Mr. Wolf, my black ops friend, was on his second cup of coffee..We met this week, at a very public diner for breakfast. Let’s just say, that the diner features a little train running around the ceiling. Very cool. Kids love it. I love it..He was supposed to be on a mission in Pakistan, an urgent request. But it got cancelled because of the North American airline meltdown we are currently experiencing..And so we had a window of opportunity..We chatted over several subjects, including Trudeau’s wacky demand to make all vehicles electric by 2035. We had a good laugh over that..Then the discussion changed to the recent F-35 jet fighter purchase by the Canadian government. A contract to be inked any day now.. F-35F-35 .I told him that I had a joust with a guy on LinkedIn, who questioned why we’re going to spend billions on F-35 fighters, when drones could do the job, much cheaper..I argued with him, but the guy had a point. And so, I asked Mr. Wolf what he thought..“Dave, we won’t admit it, but we are the weak link in the chain … we are no longer needed," he said..“Half of what goes on in a jet fighter is to keep the pilot alive. Think of all the cost, of training a pilot, and keeping him current. Plus all the other associated costs.”.“What if you could take that all away … we are the weak link.”.He had a point. But, I said, what about keeping pace with the US and our NATO allies when it comes to our responsibilities here and abroad..The commonality among these nations, technology wise, is still important..“Yes,” he said, “but look at the recent movie with Tom Cruise, the new Top Gun movie. Everything that needed to be done to hit that target, could’ve been done with drones.".“These drones are huge aircraft, they can stay up for hours, have extended range … they can even refuel in flight. They can carry weapons, or they can offer top-level surveillance, better than a pair of eyes, way better … at any altitude.". An employee checks an Elbit Systems Ltd. Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at the company's drone factory in Rehovot.An employee checks an Elbit Systems Ltd. Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at the company's drone factory in Rehovot. .“And all you need is one guy at a base location sitting in a swivel chair, taking 8-hour shifts, flying it and commanding it, while he eats a 7-Eleven hotdog and Big Gulp.”.This was all true, of course. Canada recently bought two Israeli drones for Arctic surveillance of the ice-cap. The first Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was to be delivered this month in a $36-million deal..It doesn’t need a pilot, it’s cleared by government agencies to fly in commercial airspace, it can communicate with ATC, and it can land by itself, in zero-zero weather..All without a human being on-board.. The Elbit Systems’ Hermes 900 UAV.The Elbit Systems’ Hermes 900 UAV. .Of course, Canada has a great tradition in the RCAF, one that goes back to the First World War. There is a lot of pride at stake..Who hasn’t felt a sting of emotion, watching one of our boys from Cold Lake fly an F-18 at a local airshow. Those lads are good, very good..As good as any other fighter pilot on the planet.. F-35F-35 .Or the mighty Snowbirds demonstration team, who work magic with jet trainers half a century old..For me, a multi-pronged approach, is the way to go. We still need these fighter jets, and we might as well buy the best our weak Canadian dollar can buy. .As my buddy John D. says, it’s fifth-generation, or go home..But we must also look at what is going on in Ukraine. The battlefield has changed, and drones are the future. The Russians are using them to great effect. Terrible effect..Using them, stopping them. It’s all a big game, and it is going on, as I type this on my laptop. People are dying in Ukraine, bombarded by these mostly Iranian high-tech weapons..It’s Hitler’s V-2s, all over again. The ultimate terror weapon. The madness of Putin, unleashing a nightmare on an innocent, civilian population..Make no mistake. This is a wake-up call to every military on the planet..The world has shifted. Big-time..The latest DJI drone from China, which can be bought commercially, weighs just under the legal limit. It can be flown without a licence..It features the latest in AI technology, collision avoidance, high-tech imaging, and more..And, the operator wears a set of goggles. He or she, can see what the drone sees..When money is tough to come by, when Liberal governments and the big banks are socking it to us, every chance they get, we have to look at alternatives..The custom-made helmet alone in an F-35 Strike Fighter, costs more than a Ferrari. An astonishing US$400,000..Should we still go ahead with the F-35 deal? A contract the DND estimates at roughly $9 billion?. F-35 at sunsetF-35 at sunset .Yes, we have no choice. Several nations around the world have bought them. Even Italy bought them. Italy!.We can go in kicking and screaming, all we want, but we have to buy them..And there’s nothing wrong, with being innovative. Just like the owners who installed that train on the roof of the diner where Mr. Wolf and I sat..Sometimes, it’s cool to think out of the box..As I got back in my frosty Nissan Altima after bidding adieu to Mr. Wolf, I seriously had to think: Are we the weakest link? Do we still need heroic pilots? Can machines do the job, cheaper and more efficiently?.Perhaps we still do, but times are a changin’. And there’s not a damn thing we can do about it.. Top GunTop Gun
