“CAF – Canadian Armed Forces” – Page 8

Richard Shimooka: A mixed F-35/Gripen fleet will fail us in every way

There are few policy areas in Canadian politics as tortured as the CF-18 replacement program, now entering its 16th year and undergoing its fifth evaluation — which is likely to once again recommend continuing with the purchase of F-35s.

Despite this, it was reported last week that “all the signs point to” the government pursuing a mixed fighter jet fleet, with half F-35s and half Saab Gripens. Yet the mixed fleet option comes with serious consequences that should give decision makers reason to pause.

by Blazingcatfur•February 6, 2026February 5, 2026•0•"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces", Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government

Canada shouldn’t rule out acquiring nuclear weapons, former top soldier says

Canada’s former top soldier says this country should keep its options open on the question of acquiring nuclear weapons, broaching a subject that has largely been closed to debate for decades.

Retired general Wayne Eyre was speaking Monday at a forum in Ottawa. The event’s topic was national sovereignty and Canadian military capability in an age of geopolitical turmoil and shifting alliances.

All we need is a crazy leader like Kim and we can be NOKO North!

Party Poopers … McGuinty: Ottawa remains opposed to acquiring nuclear weapons

OTTAWA – Defence Minister David McGuinty says Canada remains opposed to acquiring nuclear weapons, despite a suggestion from a former head of the military that Ottawa should not rule it out.

McGuinty says Canada signed international treaties explicitly opposed to the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

by Blazingcatfur•February 3, 2026February 3, 2026•0•"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces", Canada

Canadian military goes to U.S. for F-35 ceremony despite renewed trade tensions

The Canadian Armed Forces will participate in a ceremony in Texas on Monday to celebrate the imminent arrival of their first F-35 — as Ottawa has still yet to announce how many U.S.-made fighter jets it will ultimately buy.

The event comes as the future of the CF-18 replacement program is under review because of the ongoing trade and political disputes between Canada and the United States.

This is a good way to avoid buying new fighters until the fruition of drone tech replaces the need for them.

by Blazingcatfur•February 3, 2026February 2, 2026•0•"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces", "RCAF", Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government, USA

Trump and Ottawa’s take on TACO will determine Canada’s fighter-jet strategy

In Ottawa, various cabinet ministers are praying that TACO – the “Trump always chickens out” theory – is still valid. Or largely so, or at least somewhat so, for they are on the verge of gambling big on the U.S. President’s rage factor.

TACO is high on their minds because Prime Minister Mark Carney and several of his cabinet ministers, including Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, are thought to be embracing the idea of Canada building the Saab Gripen fighter jet and Saab GlobalEye military surveillance plane. They are both Swedish creations whose construction in Canada would create 12,600 jobs, Saab has said.

by Blazingcatfur•January 31, 2026January 31, 2026•0•"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces", "Canada - USA Tariff Wars", "RCAF", Canada, Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government, USA

German, South Korean firms scramble to outbid each other on benefits of submarine deal

Both companies competing to build Canada’s new fleet of submarines are engaged in a battle of deal-signing this week, looking to convince the federal government and the public they’re serious about creating jobs in this country.

Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) has signed an agreement with Vancouver’s Seaspan Shipyard to establish a maintenance facility for the new submarines should the federal government select its Type-212CD as the replacement for the navy’s aging Victoria-class boats.

by Blazingcatfur•January 30, 2026January 30, 2026•0•"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces", "RCN", Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government

Should the Canadian Coast Guard be armed? The jury is still out, but the navy says no

The commander of the navy says there’s no reason — in circumstances outside of war — to arm Canada’s fleet of coast guard ships.

And Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee tells CBC News that in the event of a conflict, there are potential ways the civilian vessels can be quickly given the equipment they need to defend themselves.

The question of whether the integration of the coast guard into national defence has painted a target on the civilian agency is something that has preoccupied Parliament for months.

by Blazingcatfur•January 29, 2026January 29, 2026•0•"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces", "RCN"

Opting out of F-35 purchase would be ‘three ways from Sunday stupid,’ says retired major general

U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra created the diplomatic equivalent to a sonic boom recently by stating that if Canada doesn’t go ahead with the purchase of 88 F-35 fighter jets, that will mean the United States would have to buy more of the advanced fighter aircraft for its own air force, and fly them more often into Canadian airspace to address threats approaching the U.S.

by Blazingcatfur•January 29, 2026January 28, 2026•0•"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces", "RCAF", Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government

John Ivison: Sources say Ottawa considering Swedish jets over F-35s for half of fleet

The petulance displayed by the U.S. ambassador to Canada is exactly what you might expect from Pete Hoekstra if he had just been informed that Canada intends to spend half the money earmarked for new F-35 fighter jets on the rival Swedish Gripen.

Hoekstra apparently skipped the class on diplomacy being about saying the nastiest thing in the nicest way. Instead, he threatened that there would be consequences for the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD), if Canada did not buy 88 F-35A fighter jets, as the Trudeau government said it would in December 2022 (after initially cancelling the project in 2015).

by Blazingcatfur•January 28, 2026January 28, 2026•0•"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces", "Canada - USA Tariff Wars", WTF?

Canada wargames a US invasion — and it doesn’t end well

Mujahideen-style insurgency tactics? I guess they’re factoring in Canada’s replacement population.

Military chiefs have modelled the response to an attack and the Mujahideen-style insurgency tactics they would need to use against American invaders

Canadian military chiefs have wargamed a potential US invasion and concluded that they would be overpowered in only two days.

Canada’s resistance would rely upon insurgency tactics similar to those deployed by the Mujahideen in Afghanistan in the fight against the Soviet Union, according to reports.

According to the plans, which officials stressed were precautionary and hypothetical, forces would use asymmetric tactics whereby a weaker army attempts to counter a dominant force. Canada would rely on drone warfare and would also request assistance from European allies, namely the former imperial powers Britain and France.

Mujahideen-style insurgency tactics? I guess they’re factoring in Canada’s replacement population.

by Blazingcatfur•January 21, 2026January 21, 2026•0•"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces", Canada, USA

Special forces first to get new military helicopters expected to start arriving in 2033

Canadian special forces will receive the first of a new fleet of helicopters starting in 2033, followed by other rotary aircraft to be ordered later for army units.

The federal government will start consultations with defence firms in the coming months on the new project, the Department of National Defence confirmed to the Ottawa Citizen.

2033? That’s not a typo.

by Blazingcatfur•January 17, 2026January 17, 2026•0•"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces", WTF?

Saab wants Canada to buy 72 Gripens and 6 GlobalEyes to fulfil promise of 12,600 jobs

The Canadian Armed Forces would need to buy 72 Gripen fighter jets and six GlobalEye surveillance aircraft for Swedish manufacturer Saab to deliver on its pledge of creating 12,600 jobs in Canada, CBC News has learned.

Government and industry sources said Saab’s proposals for both aircraft are currently being studied by experts in defence matters and economic benefits in Ottawa.

Top officials from Saab said late last year that they could create about 10,000 jobs in Canada, but the exact size of the aircraft orders required to reach that number had not yet been made public.

Wait a week and Carney will order Fighters from Xi.

by Blazingcatfur•January 14, 2026January 14, 2026•0•"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces", "RCAF"

RCAF wants more than 1,200 security personnel to protect F-35s, other planes

OTTAWA — The Royal Canadian Air Force wants to hire more than a thousand new security personnel over the next five years at bases across the country — just as it brings its new F-35 stealth fighter jets into service.

Internal documents from spring 2025, obtained by The Canadian Press through the Access-to-Information law, show the Air Force drafted a plan to first hire 199 new security personnel by 2028, then expand that security force to 747 in 2029 and 1,227 by 2030.

The information comes from a presentation on the RCAF’s submission to the future structure plan — basically the Canadian Armed Forces’ personnel planning document — and outlines a scenario for staff growth that was drafted when Lt.-Gen. Eric Kenny commanded the Air Force.

by Blazingcatfur•January 11, 2026January 11, 2026•0•"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces"

RCAF commander reports progress on filling recruitment, retention gaps

OTTAWA – A substantial entry level pay hike for pilots and the acquisition of new and advanced aircraft are “absolutely” helping to shore up Royal Canadian Air Force pilot retention and morale, says the force’s commander.

In a wide-ranging recent interview with The Canadian Press, Commander Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet said she is seeing signs of progress despite the protracted personnel crisis gripping the air force, which remains short of roughly 2,000 trained personnel.

New wish dream aircraft for the imaginary armed forces.

by Blazingcatfur•January 8, 2026January 8, 2026•0•"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces", "RCAF"

Canada’s armed forces are planning for threats from America

Canada never had an equivalent of Uncle Sam, sternly exhorting its citizens to sign up to fight for their country. That is changing. Jennie Carignan, Canada’s top soldier, is looking for Canadians—whether they are 16 or 65—who will come to their country’s aid in the event of a military attack or calamitous natural disaster. “We’re going to need heavy-equipment operators,” says General Carignan. “We’re going to need drone operators. We’re going to potentially need cyber operators as well.” Call her Aunt Jennie.

There is no direct line between her plan for a 400,000-strong civilian-defence force and Donald Trump plucking Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro, from his safe house in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, on January 3rd. But nor is the timing entirely coincidental. In the past year Mr Trump has repeatedly asserted that it would be in Canada’s interest to become America’s 51st state. No one in a position of responsibility really believes the United States would ever invade. Even Mr Trump himself, when asked whether he would use military force to annex Canada, has said “no”, or that it is “very unlikely”.

by Blazingcatfur•January 8, 2026January 7, 2026•0•"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces", Canada, USA

Navy ponders concept of Canadian-built amphibious landing ship for Arctic operations

Arctic Helicopter Patrol Barge – Almost on time and only a billion over budget

The commander of the Royal Canadian Navy is floating the idea of an ice-capable amphibious landing ship to move troops and equipment around the country’s Arctic — and perhaps elsewhere.

But Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee is quick not to get his hopes up — and has even, occasionally, taken pains to downplay it.

by Blazingcatfur•December 27, 2025December 27, 2025•0•"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces", "RCN"