Teh One Who Knocks
09-10-2012, 11:15 AM
The Canadian Press
http://i.imgur.com/vvRnH.jpg
OTTAWA—A consortium of Canadian manufacturers sought to go back in time to help move Canada’s air force into the future.
Documents obtained by Global News indicate the storied CF-105 Avro Arrow was put forward as an alternative to the purchase of F-35 stealth fighter jets.
And among the project’s champions is one of Canada’s top soldiers, retired Maj.Gen. Lewis MacKenzie.
The Arrow was an advanced, all-weather supersonic interceptor jet developed in the 1950s but the project was scrapped before a single plane could be built.
But MacKenzie told the Global TV show “The West Block” that the Arrow’s basic design and platform still exceed any current fighter jet and it’s perfect for Canada’s needs.
A plan to build an updated Arrow in Canada instead of buying into an international deal for a fleet of F-35s was put before the Harper Conservatives in 2010.
The proposal suggested the plane could fly 20,000 feet higher than the F-35, soar twice as fast and would cost less.
But in June, the government rejected the plan, saying the funds and time required to execute it were too much.
Meanwhile, the plans for the F-35s remain on hold.
Last spring the auditor general tore a strip off the government, accusing the Department of National Defence of hiding $10 billion in continuing costs for the fighter and the Public Works department of not doing enough homework to justify the purchase.
Conservatives responded with a seven-point action plan that took responsibility for the plane away from defence, giving it to a secretariat at Public Works.
Last week the government announced it has hired the accounting firm KPMG to crunch the numbers on the program.
http://i.imgur.com/vvRnH.jpg
OTTAWA—A consortium of Canadian manufacturers sought to go back in time to help move Canada’s air force into the future.
Documents obtained by Global News indicate the storied CF-105 Avro Arrow was put forward as an alternative to the purchase of F-35 stealth fighter jets.
And among the project’s champions is one of Canada’s top soldiers, retired Maj.Gen. Lewis MacKenzie.
The Arrow was an advanced, all-weather supersonic interceptor jet developed in the 1950s but the project was scrapped before a single plane could be built.
But MacKenzie told the Global TV show “The West Block” that the Arrow’s basic design and platform still exceed any current fighter jet and it’s perfect for Canada’s needs.
A plan to build an updated Arrow in Canada instead of buying into an international deal for a fleet of F-35s was put before the Harper Conservatives in 2010.
The proposal suggested the plane could fly 20,000 feet higher than the F-35, soar twice as fast and would cost less.
But in June, the government rejected the plan, saying the funds and time required to execute it were too much.
Meanwhile, the plans for the F-35s remain on hold.
Last spring the auditor general tore a strip off the government, accusing the Department of National Defence of hiding $10 billion in continuing costs for the fighter and the Public Works department of not doing enough homework to justify the purchase.
Conservatives responded with a seven-point action plan that took responsibility for the plane away from defence, giving it to a secretariat at Public Works.
Last week the government announced it has hired the accounting firm KPMG to crunch the numbers on the program.