A Liberal motion going to a vote in Parliament this week calls for the government to cancel the contract with Lockheed-Martin for the 65 jets, and to open competition for the contract.
If elected next election, the Liberal Party promises to cancel the planned F-35 Lightning Strike II fighter jet purchase.
Twenty-four of the 65 jets purchased would be located at 4 Wing.
“I'm certainly not convinced that they are the right ones,” said Liberal candidate for Westlock-St. Paul, Rob Fox, in a phone interview. He said the aircraft would run into fueling problems patrolling the Arctic.
Fox said the Super Hornets or a fleet of unmanned drones would be a better purchase. He also criticised the sole sourcing and downplayed the interoperability of the NATO F-35 fleet.
“If you have a team and every player has the same strengths and the same weaknesses, how good is that team?”
Conservative MPs and the 4 Wing Base Commander say the jet is the right choice.
“It is the only aircraft that is suitable to take out as long as we want to use it for, which is out into 2050-2060,” 4 Wing Base Commander Colonel David Wheeler said, at the Afterburner Cup on Nov. 6. “As far as aircraft goes and the statement of requirements, the F-35 is the aircraft for us.”
Wheeler said the military has looked at fighter jet options and determined that the F-35 is the best available aircraft.
“It is 100 per cent politics,” said Laurie Hawn, parliamentary secretary to the minister of defence, before taking on coaching duties Nov. 6. “It made perfect sense to the Liberals to get involved with the joint strike fighter program in 1997. It made good sense for them to get further involved in 2002. It made perfect sense for us to up the ante in 2006, and now to acquire the airplane in 2010.”
He also said the F-18 “dies” at 6,000 hours. “You cannot fly it one more hour.”
The ultimate fatigue life built into the aircraft is 12,000 hours. The safety factor of two is applied, making 6,000 flying hours the limit. The Air Force has already retired a number of aircraft because of fatigue.
If the F-18s were not replaced by 2020, the U.S. would have to provide sovereignty for Canada's air space, Hawn said.
“This is the next generation of industrial capability for Canada, not just the next generation of fighter,” he said.
“It's an awesome airplane. In the next 30-40 years we're going to be asking Canadian airmen and airwomen to probably do some pretty difficult things. We better have the best equipment out there.”
Experts in 10 countries, including the U.S., Great Britain, Australia, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Italy, Turkey, and Israel, determined the F-35 is the aircraft that meets requirements at the best cost with the best participation of industry, he said.
