F-35 Cancelled, then what ?

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

With respect msbbarratt, those arguments aren't necessarily linked.
You can only be sure that deterrent forces have failed when they fail. You can't be sure whether we have had no major powers wars because deterrent forces were sufficient, or because the potential enemy wasn't going to attack anyway. It's the same with Flight Safety, and most of science.
I'm not an expert on US defense plans. The forces used recently by UK, France and Canada, about which I still know something, seem correct. Doubtless the manufacturers' marketing teams will be yelling 'combat-proven!', but I can't find grounds to accuse them of deliberately influencing defence deployments for that reason.
Each nation needs to make its own decision on F-35. I think F-35 is wrong for Canada. It's got one engine, is too expensive vs numbers acquirable, and isn't multi-role enough. I have it from the horse's mouth that most of the Canadian political parties agree with me, and for those reasons. At the moment, we have the other lot in power, but there's an election soon.

p.s. I think a manufacturing capability is v.important, so I would like to see Canada acquire Rafale, as they are offering a licencing deal which would allow Canada to rejuvenate its military aircraft manufacturing base for future drone aircraft (looking 15+ years down the track here).