Ottawa looking at retiring some older military equipment — including the Snowbird jets
Ottawa looking at retiring some older military equipment — including the Snowbird jets
The Department of National Defence is actively considering whether to retire some older ships, planes and other items of equipment that have become difficult and costly to maintain — including the aircraft belonging to the iconic Snowbird demonstration squadron.
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As a former RCAF maintainer, with procurement experience, these vague statements of ‘concern’ lead me to believe that the Snowbirds won’t last 3 more years. The end of an era is coming.
The Minister just wants to “get them a better plane”. But F18s don’t really make sense to operate just for airshows when F35s are coming. I feel that jets are so costly, and so few, that the days of dedicating more than one airframe to demonstration of just not gonna fly.
Not sure you need the experience to judge based on the article, but I hear you. I cannot imagine the time and effort to keep those birds in the air, and it is indeed the end of an era. The snowbirds were a staple of every air show I ever went to.
To your point about what comes next, I don't see any reason to purchase manned air craft in the current climate. Air superiority is obviously important, but the landscape is drastically changing with drones being more and more invested in. I think we should pivot our Air force to unmanned and work on something that could actually guard our arctic regions, considering Drones aren't a fan of the cold, over getting some shiny new jets.