Successive Conservative and Liberal Governments in Canada have come up short on our NATO spending commitments. The 2020s (or can we now just say twenties?) will be a critical decade for rebuilding the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as our entire fixed wing combat force needs to be replaced. Below are the top 10 most affordable purchases we could make to adequately rearm the RCAF. Please forgive me if it sounds like the 12 days of Christmas for defence procurement lobbyists..120 Saab CF-39 Gripen-E/F Fighter Jets to replace the CF-18.Much has been made of the fighter “capability gap” over recent years, but few truly appreciate how large that gap has become. During the major CF-18 modernization upgrade of the early 2000s, the CF-18 force shrunk from 120 jets to only 80 as 40 aircraft were retired or torn apart for spares as a cost saving measure. The Harper government’s plan to purchase only 65 F-35As meant that Canada could only fly one of three major missions at a time: the NORAD mission, a NATO mission, or a major self defence mission (like defending Vancouver during the Olympics). The Trudeau government plan to purchase to 88 fighters should allow us to just barely fly two of the three major missions at a time. Returning to a fighter fleet of 120, like we had during the Kosovo conflict, would allow us to fully live up to our international commitments and be in three places at once..Limited by reality (sorry CF-23 fans – that’s never going to happen), the Gripen is the obvious choice as it’s one of the most advanced fighters in the world, is the only one that would be made in Canada, and is the only aircraft that’s affordable enough that I can recommend buying 120 of them while leaving enough money for the rest of this list. Canadian CF-39 Gripen-E/F jets would be assembled at a new Saab/Bombardier factory in Mirabel, Quebec while creating the domestic jobs at the lowest cost to taxpayers. With such a large order, Canada could justify selecting the newer, and 18 per cent more powerful, General Electric F414 Enhanced jet engine. This engine would make our fighters truly worthy of the name: “CF-39 Arrow II.”.6 Saab/Bombardier GlobalEye Airborne Radar Jets. Gripen-E and GlobalEye, Copyright Saab AB .Canada lacks any Airborne Radar jets and instead benefits from those of our allies. If we want to pull our weight, then we should purchase our own airborne radar jets. Five Saab/Bombardier GlobalEye jets have been ordered by the UAE (the first 3 are already flying). Based on the Bombardier Global business jet, the “green aircraft” are made in Toronto before being flown to Sweden for militarization. Saab recently quoted a pair of GlobalEye jets to Finland and is working with Bombardier to compete for other European orders. A Canadian order would signal long term NATO support for the GlobalEye, help win more export orders, and create more manufacturing jobs in Toronto..16 Saab/Bombardier Swordfish Jets to replace the CP-140.Canada’s 14 CP-140 Maritime Patrol Aircraft are even older than the CF-18s and need to be replaced before 2030. The only made-in-Canada frontrunner is the Saab/Bombardier Swordfish. The Swordfish is also based on the Bombardier Global business jet. Combining a GlobalEye and Swordfish order would be enough to shift all militarization work to the new Bombardier factory in Toronto..4 Bombardier Global VIP Jets.Canada’s four aging Bombardier Challenger VIP jets are antiquated and desperately in need of replacement. One of the proven ways to save money on military aircraft is to reduce the variety of jets in service and consolidate the spare parts inventory. With a fleet of 22 Global based Swordfish and GlobalEye aircraft, adding four Global jets in the VIP configuration would simplify logistics while upgrading the small VIP jet capacity..1 Airbus A330neo VIP and 2 A330neo Passenger Jets.Canada’s aging CC-150 Polaris fleet (Airbus A310-300) is made up of 1 VIP jet, 2 passenger jets, and 2 tankers. Earlier this year our only VIP version was badly damaged in a hanger accident and is still out-of-service. The spare passenger CC-150 that took Prime Minister Trudeau to London for the NATO summit broke down in London and another jet had to take him back to Canada. It’s becoming an embarrassment and, as is so often the case, taxpayers are spending a small fortune keeping obsolete aircraft flying beyond their best before date. We should emulate Australia and consolidate on the proven and cost-effective Airbus A330 platform..6 Airbus A330neo Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT). Australian A330 MRTT, Super Hornets, Growlers, and American B-1B BomberAustralian A330 MRTT, Super Hornets, Growlers, and American B-1B Bomber .Australia, France, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the UAE, and UK all fly the successful A330 MRTT while Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway financially contribute to NATO shared A330 tankers. Canadian tankers should be built like Australia’s tankers and be equipped with a pair of wing-mounted refueling pods and a flying refueling boom. This would allow Canada to refuel any NATO aircraft..22 Boeing T-7 Red Hawk Trainers for the Snowbirds Air Demonstration Team .The 1960s Era CT-114 Tutors are falling apart and the RCAF plans on replacing them sometime in the early 2020s. The new T-7 won the US Air Force T-38 replacement competition in 2018. The T-7 was developed and built in extensive partnership with Saab to keep upfront and flying costs affordable. A Canadian order would keep President Trump happy because we’d be buying America. Additional T-7s could be purchased when our CT-155 Hawk jet trainers need to be replaced.. Boeing_T-7_Red_Hawk_USAF_publicity_photo .AIM-9X Sidewinder Missiles.During the last major CF-18 upgrade, the CF-18s gained the ability to carry advanced High Off-Boresight (HOBS) within visual range (WVR) missiles including the latest American AIM-9X Sidewinder missile. In typical Canadian fashion, we cheaped out at the last minute and never bought any new missiles. The Auditor General, in a scathing 2018 report, was critical of the lack of planned combat capability upgrades for the CF-18. Finally purchasing these modern missiles is the least expensive way to add combat capability to the CF-18 force. The Gripen can also carry the AIM-9X, so missiles purchased for the CF-18s could be reused on Canada’s future Gripens. .Munitions, Munitions, Munitions!.The RCAF has often relied on begging and borrowing weapons form our allies when we exhaust our limited stores during a major coalition operation. This should be put to an end by purchasing an adequate inventory of weapons..First, we need a good stockpile of NATO standard bombs (500, 1000, and 2000 pounds) and laser/GPS guidance kits. Second is new long-range radar guided missiles: the Gripen supports the new European Meteor missile, widely regarded as one of NATO’s most potent Air to Air weapons and reportedly less expensive than the latest American AIM-120D. Third is a new Anti-Ship missile: the Saab RBS-15 Odin’s Spear is certified for both the Gripen and the Swordfish and has a ground attack mode so it can double as an Air Launched Cruise Missile. Finally, we should invest in some low-collateral damage air-to-ground weapons including the latest Small Diameter Bombs and Brimstone missiles..4 New Twin Otters to replace the 1970’s era Twin Otters.Just because the original design of the Twin Otter was a resounding success for remote operations in the Canadian wilderness doesn’t mean that it makes sense keeping 50-year-old versions flying. In March, one of the RCAF’s old Twin Otters was damaged during a landing near Inuvik. New Twin Otters are being made by Viking in Calgary and are being sold all over the World (even the US Military buys them). Let’s get some of that equalization money flowing back towards Calgary with a much needed RCAF purchase..Alex McColl is the National Defence Columnist for the Western Standard.
