During the recent federal election Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau announced that his party would
scrap the F-35 program should they form the government. At that time the
Liberals promised that, if elected, they would launch an "open and
transparent competition" to buy more affordable planes to replace Canada's
CF-18 jets. Trudeau said the money saved by scrapping the F-35 procurement
would go primarily to increasing spending on the Royal Canadian Navy. At the
same time the Liberal leader indicated that he believed that the primary
mission of our fighter aircraft is the defence of North
America.
In the aftermath of the Liberals election triumph, even in
the light of recent events in Paris,
there is no reason to suppose that they will not follow through on these
promises. The decision to try to find a more affordable alternative to the
F-35, and spend any savings on the Navy, is a perfectly reasonable one in that
it implies an attempt to set priorities and spend accordingly.
Richard Aboulafia,
the well regarded Teal group analyst has been quoted as saying that
"It was form fitting function — it's not about if it's
a good fighter, but, rather, if this is a role Canada
should have," Aboulafia noted that "The F-35 is the perfect plane if Canada
is going to be part of coalition warfare. If they just want something that
provides air protection for sovereignty, something else fits just fine”.
The fact is that coalition warfare is important to Canada;
it could even be argued that it is the Canadian way of war. However, it is not
necessary for Canada
to procure the F-35 to be able to be a part of future coalitions. In fact
providing “kinetic” effects, which can be defined as “killing people whose
deaths we believe will advance our goals”, is not the only way in which Canada is currently contributing to the military
intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Operation Impact
is the name of Canada's
contribution to the military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant. Joint Task Force-Iraq currently
consists of approximately 600 CAF personnel who provide planning and liaison
personnel to work with the U.S.
and other coalition partners as well as command and control, logistics and an
air task force. That Air Task Force includes six CF-18 Hornet fighter aircraft,
one CC-150T Polaris aerial refueler to support coalition air operations and two
CP-140M Aurora surveillance aircraft to contribute to coalition intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.
Clearly there are other assets, beyond the provision of
F-35’s, that Canada could
acquire which would be valuable to potential coalition partners as well as
being of use to Canada
in purely national terms.
One way in which Canada can contribute to coalition
engagements with assets that are also appropriate to National defence that does
not involve purchasing F-35s would include the provision of increased ISTAR
capabilities. ISTAR is the ability to link information, surveillance, target
acquisition, and reconnaissance together to assist a combat force in employing
its sensors and managing the information they gather. Some of these attributes
are currently being provided by CP-140M Auroras.
Saab recently announced an order for two Airborne Early
Warning aircraft from the United
Arab Emirates. The Swing Role Surveillance System (SRSR) will incorporate
the company’s Erieye radar and other sensors aboard two Bombardier Global 600
business jet platforms. Saab promises
air-to-air, air-to-ground and air-to-sea modes and functionality on the new
system, which will become part of its product portfolio and will be made
available to other potential customers.
The use of Bombardier platforms could make this system of
particular interest to Canada.
This is not the only use of a nationally produced aircraft used in a
sophisticated sensor role. In the UK the RAF operates the Sentinel, an airborne
battlefield and ground surveillance aircraft based on the Bombardier Global
Express ultra long range business jet.
In RAF service Sentinel can be used for domestic tasks, for
example a Sentinel was used to map the scale of flooding in Southern
England during a national emergency. As a national asset it
supported the British Army in Afghanistan.
For coalition service Sentinel is interoperable with other allied systems such
as JSTARS and the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system. Its role
above Libya
in 2011 was described as "pivotal" by the head of the RAF. Sentinels
were even used to assist in the search for the 223 schoolgirls abducted by the
Islamic militant group, Boko Haram in Nigeria.
Another high value capability perennially found to be
lacking in coalition activities is aerial refueling. Canada currently uses the Airbus CC-150 Polaris as its
primary air-to-air refueling tanker. Two of the five CC-150s have been
converted to air-to-air refueling tankers for the CF-18 fleet as CC-150Ts.
The RCAF also uses converted C-130s, RCAF designation
CC-130H(T), for tactical air-to-air refueling but these platforms are limited when deploying CF-18s overseas which
is better suited by a Strategic air-to-air refueling platform such as the CC-150Ts.
The conversion of the Polaris aircraft was part of a Multi
Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) program, initiated because of a German Air Force
requirement, which provided a cost effective solution for the Canadian Forces.
It would be relatively simple for Canada to take advantage of the
existing technology to convert more, or all, of our aircraft to the same
standard to provide enhanced capabilities for our own forces as well as those
of allies.
It has even been suggested that a purely national solution
is available for at least part of the aerial refueling role. Bombardier CSeries aircraft
could economically form the basis for a Theater Support Tanker/Transport
capability which could support operations of a more regional nature. The
ability to operate all across North America, that is to say having sufficient
range to operate from Canadian airfields to the Arctic, the Caribbean, as well
as from Pacific to Atlantic would insure that it is a capability that could be
used abroad as well as domestically.
The simplest way for Canada to procure cheaper air defence
assets and at the same time retain a useful capability to bring to the
coalition ‘table’ would be to field a force
of E/A-18G Growlers, the
electronic attack variant of the Super Hornet. Growlers would increase
operability and survivability in contested environments and would be compatible
with a purchase of new Super Hornets to meet the continental air defence requirement
This is the route chosen by the Australian Air Force.
At a cost of $1.5 billion the Australian EA-18G Growler purchase
includes the aircraft, required mission and support systems, training, and
ongoing support to effectively develop and operate a Growler capability.
Defence plans to achieve Initial Operational Capability (IOC) in 2018.
The 12 EA-18G Growlers will be based at RAAF Base Amberley
and will operate in conjunction with air, land and sea forces with the
capability to reduce the risk to their forces and improve situational
awareness.
It is true that the Australians plan to operate F-35’s as
well as Growlers, but there is no question that these aircraft will be capable
of providing, by themselves, electronic warfare support by disrupting,
deceiving or denying a broad range of military electronic systems, including
radars and communications. As well, the Australian Forces believe that the
aircraft will be able to support the full spectrum of defence tasks from
peacetime evacuations to major conflicts.
As an interim measure should Super Hornets be acquired to
meet the needs of the new fighter program they could be purchased with Growler
wiring so that they could be converted to the Growler configuration in the
future if Canada
should wish to do so.
The addition of any of these non F-35 capabilities to the Canadian Armed Forces
would not only greatly enhance the ability of the Defence establishment to
deliver domestic security, they would increase the options available to any
Canadian government when confronted with the need to support allies and engage
in coalition warfare.
Justin Trudeau vows to scrap F-35
fighter jet program
Canada's
F-35 Decision Poised To Shake Up Fighter Jet Market
Operation IMPACT
UAE Buys Saab’s Erieye AEW&C Aircraft
Raytheon Sentinel
Airbus CC-150 Polaris
A CSeries Jack of Many Military Roles – the Multi-Role
Theatre Support Tanker/Transport
Big Liberal Win in Canada Is Bad News for the F-35
Joint Strike Fighter
EA-18G Growler
