Leon Panetta admitted today that the proposed $488 billion in US defence cuts might mean major delays or a complete walk-away from the most advanced and expensive warplane of all time, the F-35 strike fighter.
The main problem with the F-35 is that it doesn't work. Its development is years behind schedule and hundreds of billions of dollars over budget.
Sometimes progress isn't.
This has not deterred the Canadian buyers. They've committed to about 65 of the non-functioning aircraft, at a cost estimated between 30 to 60 billion. That's about 400 to 900 million dollars per plane.
Meanwhile, Turkey just signed a deal to buy a bunch of Russian Yak 130 fighters for 15 million apiece. They're slower, prettier, and more versatile than the F-35, but they have one major advantage; they work.
For the price of one American F-35 that doesn't work, we'd have 20 Russian jets that do. For the price of 65 F-35's, we'd have well over a thousand fighter jets!
Think about it, Mr. Harper. 65 planes that don't work or an air force of over a thousand fighter jets.
Canada could be a world power again!
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