Buying old F-18 jets is a decidedly bad idea

Purchasing used F-18 Hornets cannot close Canada’s fighter capability gap. It’s simply more of the same problem. Replacing an old aircraft with more old aircraft is not the answer.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau initially took the right steps to protect our borders and defend North America. One of those steps was announcing plans to augment the fighter fleet. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan agreed, saying that 18 new F/A-18 “Super Hornets” would help ensure that Canada remains a credible and dependable ally.

In the past, Canadian CF18s have performed admirably on countless operational missions. They protected Canada from Soviet Union intrusion during the Cold War and flew 2,700 combat missions during the first Gulf War. They have flown NATO missions in Kosovo and Libya, and targeted ISIL terrorists in Iraq. They remain on continuous alert to serve NORAD in the defence of North America.

But purchasing used F-18s from legacy Hornet operating countries is a decidedly bad idea. These older series aircraft — a generation behind the enhanced Super Hornet — cannot carry current electronically scanned radar (which is effective at a much greater range than older models) or more advanced, long-range air-to-air munitions. But they will be faced with adversaries who have such long-range capabilities. They would start any engagement at a decided disadvantage.

Also, any upgrade to older Hornet aircraft would not address the RCAF’s capability gap. The mission computers of existing legacy Hornets are tapped out — not to mention concomitant limitations in power and cooling — thereby restricting the ability to introduce new sensors and other capabilities. Russian bombers able to launch advanced long-range cruise missiles against NORAD pose serious challenges to existing legacy Hornet capabilities.

The cost to keep such older aircraft flying continues to grow. The operating costs of an old Hornet are approximately double those of a new Super Hornet. It is increasingly hard to find spare parts for legacy Hornets. Military maintainers have been forced to cannibalize some jets to keep others in the air.

Furthermore, airframes have a finite lifespan. The longer we operate old aircraft, the higher the “fatigue levels” become, and the incident and accident rates escalate. Australia’s defence materiel group produced a detailed report 2012 noting that the country’s FA-18s were rapidly running out of airframe life and becoming increasingly expensive to maintain. Continuing to fly the old Hornets, regardless of their origin, will not only put the safety of our pilots and aircrews at risk, but more importantly, put them into combat theatres against a superior adversary.

The availability and serviceability rate of old aircraft is unpredictable and would dictate the need to acquire more than 18 aircraft in order to ensure sufficient number of operational sorties. The availability rate of Canada’s aged CF-18 fleet is already at an historic low of approximately 50 per cent. Since our current CF-18s were procured 35 years ago, just 76 of the original 138 jets are still flying. Of those 76, only 50 per cent are serviceable for flight on a day-to-day basis.

While some have called for simply modernizing the current CF-18s, the reality is that the current CF-18s have flown far past their original 2006 retirement date. Further