...wondered why we needed [SRVL] in comparison to the US Marines who didn't seem to express any interest?...
Think it has a lot to do with the
Wasp class having less space on deck than the
QE class, so not practicable for them.
...There's no need to worry about the single engine over the Arctic, as the Canadian Defence Minister has promised it will never fail...
To which I believe there is is a time-honoured response that goes something along the lines of 'Just as soon as we can get you qualified on type, Minister, we'll let you put your theory to the test'.
Would Canada not be well served by something like F15 Silent Eagle for Artic work? You'd get more of them than you will F35 and a good chance they will work pretty well a lot earlier than F35 too. I hasten to add I am well out of my depth here so just thinking out loud really.
..We should have a poll to see who believes the F-35 will be scrapped or even the carrier program will be sent to that big scrap yard in the sky.
Yes, that would be interesting. My vote is: Carriers dumped SDR 2015; decision on F35 deferred until SDR 2020.