There’s appears to be conflicting information coming from the head of the Air Force versus what Assistant Defence Minister Julian Fantino is saying about Canadian pilots training on the F-35.
Murray Brewster of the Canadian Press is reporting that CAS Lt.-Gen. Andre Deschamps told him that Canadian fighter pilots will be training on the F-35 in Florida for almost a decade and the military will have to study how to set up a similar program at home.
The comments by Lt.-Gen. Andre Deschamps stand in contrast to the iron-clad assurances Julian Fantino gave the House of Commons last month when it was first revealed that fighter instruction would take place in the U.S., Brewster reports.
“At some point, we would like to repatriate the training to Canada in whatever shape or form that would be suitable for us,” the chief of air staff said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
But Deschamps said there is a lot of homework to be done before that would happen, including a detailed assessment of how the U.S. and other allies strike a balance between airtime and simulator training on the highly advanced, multi-role fighter, according to the CP article.
The RCAF hopes to have fighter pilot raining at CFB Cold Lake, Alberta but whether that happens will depend on cost and infrastructure. “All of these things we have to learn and then we’ll be able to make a more rational decision on if we want to repatriate that training and how do we keep it within the current affordable boundaries of training expenditures,” Deschamps said in the CP interview.
But go back a little more than a month ago when Fantino was stating in the Commons that the NDP was wrong to suggest Canadian F-35 training would be in the U.S.
Fantino told NDP MP David Christopherson in the Commons that he should get “his facts straight.”
“Long-term training on the F-35s will take place in Canada, just as currently is done with the CF-18s. It is reasonable that Canadians will do initial training with those from whom we purchase the aircraft, which has always been the case.”
Brewster’s article cites DND documents which note that it is possible that no F-35 training is carried out in Canada.
And the F-35 beat goes on………..
Origin
Source: Ottawa Citizen
Murray Brewster of the Canadian Press is reporting that CAS Lt.-Gen. Andre Deschamps told him that Canadian fighter pilots will be training on the F-35 in Florida for almost a decade and the military will have to study how to set up a similar program at home.
The comments by Lt.-Gen. Andre Deschamps stand in contrast to the iron-clad assurances Julian Fantino gave the House of Commons last month when it was first revealed that fighter instruction would take place in the U.S., Brewster reports.
“At some point, we would like to repatriate the training to Canada in whatever shape or form that would be suitable for us,” the chief of air staff said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
But Deschamps said there is a lot of homework to be done before that would happen, including a detailed assessment of how the U.S. and other allies strike a balance between airtime and simulator training on the highly advanced, multi-role fighter, according to the CP article.
The RCAF hopes to have fighter pilot raining at CFB Cold Lake, Alberta but whether that happens will depend on cost and infrastructure. “All of these things we have to learn and then we’ll be able to make a more rational decision on if we want to repatriate that training and how do we keep it within the current affordable boundaries of training expenditures,” Deschamps said in the CP interview.
But go back a little more than a month ago when Fantino was stating in the Commons that the NDP was wrong to suggest Canadian F-35 training would be in the U.S.
Fantino told NDP MP David Christopherson in the Commons that he should get “his facts straight.”
“Long-term training on the F-35s will take place in Canada, just as currently is done with the CF-18s. It is reasonable that Canadians will do initial training with those from whom we purchase the aircraft, which has always been the case.”
Brewster’s article cites DND documents which note that it is possible that no F-35 training is carried out in Canada.
And the F-35 beat goes on………..
Origin
Source: Ottawa Citizen
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