Salute!
Some grumbling about tankers. Well.... considering the F-35 has batter range than the VooDoo that Canada used for years without refueling, I am not worried. The Hornet was a gas guzzler, and used as much or more than the F-15 cruising, even in the A2A role. Hang some iron on the pylons and it needed lottsa refueling support. .
I flew the USAF VooDoo from Grand Forks and the Canadian CF-101 VooDoos flew way up north. Our normal profile was about 200 miles north and the CF-101 guys went another 200 miles north. We cruised at a decent speed and then "held" until the threat showed up.
The good news is the "A" has the refueling port whether Canada wants to use it or not for air defense of the homeland as we trained for back in the 60's. But when employed in joint force scenarios nowadays, it will fit right in with other country assets.
Gums sends...