By Daniel Leblanc
The Conservative publicity machine scrambled into action as a common confrontation between Canadian and Russian military planes turned into a campaign for $16-billion in new fighter jets.
The story started on Wednesday when NORAD officials spotted two incoming planes, identified as Russian TU-95 long-range bombers, heading toward Labrador.
The aircraft never entered Canadian territory, which starts 200 nautical miles outside of the land border, but they were clearly within the 300-nautical-mile “buffer zone,” according to Canadian defence officials.
Two CF-18s scrambled out of CFB Bagotville, Que., and started shadowing the Russian planes about 50 nautical miles outside the Canadian territory, until they headed northeast and out of the “area of interest.”
While similar incidents occur 12 to 18 times a year, a story on the confrontation appeared on Friday morning in the Sun Media chain. Within a few hours, the Conservative Party issued talking points on the matter designed to boost the Harper government’s plan to buy Joint Strike Fighter F-35 fighter jets to start replacing the CF-18s in 2017.
“This incident demonstrates why it is vitally important for the Canadian Armed Forces to have the best technology and equipment available,” the Conservative Party said.
The Conservatives went on to attack the Liberal opposition, which has vowed to put the purchase on hold and re-evaluate the CF-18 replacement program if it comes to power.
Stumble It!
http://nauresistance.org/2010/08/new-f3 ... tegration/
strength. The time it takes from when the Russian bombers break allied radar cover is calculated to see, in this case Canada air defense capability. Usually NATo manages to get some assets up there in about 40 minutes which is not bad and log before the actually get into NATO airspace. It's an expensive cold war tactic.
Read more: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/201 ... z0vspZ5Ayz
Just a few days ago the govenment was touting the Russian threat to Canadian airspace as a justification for buying the F-35:
?Russian bomber flights over the Arctic ? just two days ago ? underscore why our men and women in uniform need modern equipment to do their jobs [actually the flights were off the coast of Labrador; hardly the Arctic but geographical facts are no impediment to the Conservatives' propagandizing]?
Somehow I can?t see the Minister of National Defence drawing attention to Canadian participation in this exercise just announced by NORAD:
NORAD and Russian Air Force plan cooperative air defense exercise
Aug. 2, 2010
PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. ? The Russian Federation Air Force and the North American Aerospace Defense Command will conduct a first-ever cooperative air defense exercise.
The civilian air control agencies of Russia (Federal Air Navigational Service) and the United States (Federal Aviation Administration) will also be involved in the exercise along with the military air operations centers at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, and Khabarovsk, Russia.
The exercise, named VIGILANT EAGLE, will take place on or about Aug. 8-11 and involves Russian, Canadian and U.S. Air Force personnel operating from command centers in Russia and the United States.
This exercise is authorized under a cooperative military agreement signed by the presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States of America. The agreement tasks NORAD, the bi-national U.S. and Canadian command, and the Russian Federation Air Force to conduct a live-fly exercise for up to five day
Read more: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/201 ... z0vsqAqtbf
Why we need new fighter jets.
What we need as replacements is equipment that can operate in the Arctic, and not just sortie into it from the comforts in the south.
http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cf ... diers-Need
"And so it was perfect timing this past week, when every headline was dominated by the humanitarian crisis in Haiti that the government let it slip out very quietly that the purchase of armored vehicles is now on "permanent hold" or what a civilian would call cancelled. Turns out it was just a photo op and perhaps a new low in Canadian politics."
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/11/ ... lance.html
"During the federal election campaign, Harper pledged to defend the Arctic, promising to spend billions to buy new underwater sensors, build an army base in Cambridge Bay, construct a deepwater port near Iqaluit and buy three naval ice-breakers, among other things."
Used to be called colonization.
The funniest part is that they're buying the country with the same monies we're paying them for products made from our own resources.
BRILLIANT !!!!!!!!!
Ed Deak.