There is an old joke, about the F-4 Phantom fighter jet — an aircraft that was prominent during the Vietnam war. So the story goes, they asked a fighter pilot what it was like to fly an F-4..He began by saying, “Well, with enough thrust, anything can fly …”. Technicians prepare to load AIM-9P Sidewinder and AIM-7E Sparrow missiles onto an McDonnell F-4C-23-MC Phantom II at Hickam Air Force Base.Technicians prepare to load AIM-9P Sidewinder and AIM-7E Sparrow missiles onto an McDonnell F-4C-23-MC Phantom II at Hickam Air Force Base. .The Phantom has been called “double ugly,” “rhino,” “Old Smokey,” and monikers even less flattering, according to Air & Space..The design does have its share of ungainly bends and angles. The horizontal stabilizers droop 23.25 degrees. The outer wing sections tilt upward 12 degrees..When an engineer looks it over, the first thing that probably comes to mind is “stability and control problems.”.A brutal example of that weakness occurred during a May 18, 1961 speed record attempt. While Navy test pilot Commander J.L. Felsman flew below 125 feet over a three-mile course, his F-4 experienced pitch damper failure, Air & Space reported..The resulting pilot-induced oscillation generated over 12 Gs. Both engines were ripped from the airframe and Felsman was killed. (A later attempt succeeded.).OK, so it’s not perfect..And speaking of numbers, it downed more adversaries (280 claimed victories) than any other US fighter in the Vietnam War..Nowadays, you’ll find Phantoms sitting in the American desert, or maybe at the bottom of the sea or serving with other countries, including Japan..But the thing is, the F-4 did the job. It could be counted on. The design was perhaps not the greatest, but it worked..Just ask North Vietnamese military veterans..Can the same be said, for the fifth-generation Lockheed-Martin fighter jet, the F-35 Lightning II, which Canada recently ordered, to the tune of US$19 billion for a fleet of 88 aircraft?.Ideally, the first four aircraft to be delivered in 2026, the next six in 2027, the next six in 2028, and the full fleet to arrive in time to enable the phase out of the CF-18s by the end of 2032..This investment includes not just aircraft, but also sustainment set-up and services for the aircraft, associated aircraft equipment and the construction of modern fighter squadron facilities in Bagotville and Cold Lake..But the question must be asked. Did Canada make a mistake? Did we buy the right jet fighter, one that fits our needs and that we can actually afford?.Being that we are such a socialist country, leaning toward even more socialism under the Trudeau government, is this a wise purchase?.What do you want? Free dental, or an expensive hangar queen like the F-35. The custom-made pilot’s helmet alone, costs more than a brand new Ferrari..According to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO,) a bipartisan watchdog group in DC, F-35s are only available for missions about half the time. A whole lot of these expensive jets are sitting in storage because they’re waiting on repair parts..Nicknamed the Pentagon’s $1.5 Trillion Mistake, in some circles, the F-35 is a troubled aircraft that’s been on the GAO’s radar for years..Its new report on the jet, DOD and the Military Services Need to Reassess the Future Sustainment Strategy, drilled down into why the aircraft spent so much time on the tarmac and not in the skies..“The F-35 fleet mission capable rate — the percentage of time the aircraft can perform one of its tasked missions — was about 55 percent in March 2023, far below program goals,” the GAO said..“The program was behind schedule in establishing depot maintenance activities to conduct repairs. As a result, component repair times remained slow with over 10,000 waiting to be repaired.”.Part of the problem is that the care and upkeep of F-35s has been contracted out to third parties. If something breaks on an F-35, it’s usually fixed by a defence contractor and not military engineers..This is part of why the jet is so expensive..And when something breaks on the F-35, it takes the Pentagon an average of 141 days to repair it..How in hell will Canada’s RCAF deal with that? I have no idea..In 2019, there was a backlog of 4,300 parts waiting on repair. In 2023, that number is up to 10,000..In comparison, the US Navy reached the 80% rate for the twin-engine Boeing F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet and the related EA-18G electronic-warfare variant..The jets’ continued high mission-ready rate comes after the USN for several years pursued a concerted effort to improve readiness for an aircraft it describes as the “backbone” of its fighter fleet..It’s also no big secret the F-35 has long been a troubled aircraft..Last week, an F-35B went missing over the skies of South Carolina after a Marine pilot ejected..The Pentagon lost the jet for a few hours before eventually recovering it after it crashed. This is just the latest in a long list of accidents and mishaps that have destroyed F-35s over the past few years..My Av-buddies tell me, it doesn’t matter. It’s fifth-gen, or go home..And everyone else is buying them, including Italy..There is also the compatibility issue — with NATO forces, especially — an important fact now that Russia is involved in its war in Ukraine..Plus all the industrial offsets. That employs people in Canada and that’s a good thing. Can’t downplay that..But … in saying that, would we have been better off, if we just ordered another 50 or so F-18s..The F/A-18 Super Hornet is the newest highly capable, affordable and available tactical aircraft in US Navy inventory..It’s proven. It works. Expensive, yes, but value for the money. Proven in cold Arctic conditions, as well..And by the way, Saab’s Gripen E fighter jet, which also competed in Canada’s Future Fighter Capability Project (FFCP), met and/or exceeded all of the Canadian requirements..And, more importantly, was largely cost-effective..What, my friends, have we gotten ourselves into, with the F-35?.I will tell you. A big, black, dark black hole money pit. And there’s not a thing you and I can do about it..Oh, and about that joke about thrust and those early J79 turbojet engines on the F-4 Phantom?.In a memorable moment landing on the USS Midway, a pilot realized that his tail hook had failed to engage an arresting cable — after he’d already fully idled back both engines (a rookie mistake)..The Midway’s deck camera recorded his Phantom plunging off the end of the carrier. Everyone knew it was over..The pilot slammed the throttles forward..Instead of a large splash, the F-4 reappeared — “going straight up, in full afterburner,” said the pilot — as the J79s delivered just-in-time thrust..It may not have today’s tech, but it sure got it done.
