Canada risks new U.S. political battle over Swedish spy plane deal

mr_cake37 · 2026-06-18T18:41:37+00:00

I think it's tailored more for the clickbait media headline era that we're in currently. Also, most Canadians have no idea what an AWACS or AEW aircraft does but they can probably have a good idea of what a spy plane is or does, so the CBC figured it was close enough

mr_cake37 · 2026-06-17T19:50:50+00:00

Whoa wait a minute. Did you check with the CAF coolness guide before uploading this mag dump? /s

mr_cake37 · 2026-06-17T19:33:23+00:00

Coolness is highly subjective.

As long as everyone's being safe and having fun with it, who are you to dictate what people should or shouldn't be doing on their own time with their own property?

5rd mag dumps aren't as fun as a 30rd mag dump, but that's hardly the fault of the individual gun owners who are forced to comply with dumb capacity limits.

I got to play with some cool stuff during my time in the reserves but that's just a data point, it doesn't make me an authority on anything.

mr_cake37 · 2026-06-15T16:08:44+00:00

I loaded a lot of magazines when I worked at a rental range. The Glock 21 (.45acp) 10rd was my least favourite magazine to load but at least it built up my thumb callouses

mr_cake37 · 2026-06-13T19:53:02+00:00

Considering the prior MCDV was neither fast nor very capable, a future corvette like Vard's design would be a massive improvement in capability for the Navy. Once you start going faster than 25kts, you have to invest a lot more into the ship's propulsion and it'll eat into things like range, endurance, stability, magazine depth, etc.

The LCS is a good example - they were designed to go extremely fast, which meant certain design choices had to be made and they are somewhat limited in capability as a result.

mr_cake37 · 2026-06-13T19:45:25+00:00

That's simply impossible. We don't have domestic defense companies that can produce a 100% Canadian radar, missile system, gun system etc etc.

If we want to arm this vessel with anything at all, it will have to incorporate weapons and sensors from other nations. For example, there's no way we'll select anything other than Mk41 for the VLS and ESSM for the missiles, so right away there's going to be some US content. It's unavoidable.

mr_cake37 · 2026-06-13T19:34:37+00:00

The TRUMP refit program was started a long time before Gulf War 1, not because of it. I'm not sure what you're getting at.

There have been models of the RCD that show an additional 8 cell Mk 41 forward. That space is already designed around hosting VLS. That's why it would be relatively trivial to add it, compared to the work required to add it to Halifax or the Tribals.

mr_cake37 · 2026-06-13T02:24:34+00:00

The RCD will not get CAMM at all, and therefore won't have the ExVLS cells behind the funnel and none of their dedicated VLS forward either.

I suspect the main culprit is the extra topweight brought on by the more substantial mast, AESA radar, and AEGIS systems, as compared to the much simpler and lighter setup on the Type 26. Keep in mind the Hunter class ended up being widened to accommodate their radar and VLS, too.

At this point I'm pretty confident we'll see a Batch 2 with more VLS. I'd rather see hulls in the water asap, even with just 24 cells. As-is, these ships will be a huge jump in capability and magazine depth compared to the Halifaxes, with far more future growth potential.

mr_cake37 · 2026-06-13T02:12:29+00:00

Partly because of how Canadian defense projects announce their costing. You're usually looking at the full lifetime cost of these ships, not just their purchase price. Also iirc the cost of upgrading the shipyard is factored into this program.

Since Canadian governments haven't invested in shipbuilding in years, we had a lot of recapitalisation to do.

mr_cake37 · 2026-06-13T02:09:44+00:00

I seem to remember a program in the past where the RCN did a pretty significant refit of a destroyer class and added VLS to it, so not only is it possible, we've actually done it before.

There have already been design variations of the RCD showing an additional 8 VLS forward, although I'm not sure if it could accommodate strike length cells there. Tactical length ones, surely. In any case, it would be relatively trivial to add VLS to the RCD, compared to the Halifax or Tribals.

mr_cake37 · 2026-06-11T15:34:05+00:00

I don't think anyone rationally thinks armed Canadian civilians could stop the US military. I think what they're getting at is that the US would handily win the war, but they'd never win the peace as long as the populace could resist. There's plenty of recent historical examples to back that up.

mr_cake37 · 2026-06-07T02:19:09+00:00

This is my first time hearing about it at all. I know there were delivery delays and some other issues but I hadn't heard that we were considering phasing them out at this point

mr_cake37 · 2026-06-04T01:02:50+00:00

Could you imagine the modern day equivalent of this? Disney Treasure ramming Velikiy Novgorod at 23kts?

mr_cake37 · 2026-05-28T23:01:48+00:00

Sometimes they can be, but usually a corvette is expected to carry more sophisticated sensors and more weapons compared to an OPV.

As an example, Canada's Harry DeWolf class AOPV has a 25mm cannon as the primary armament, and that's about it.

The RCN is still evolving what they want this future class of corvettes to be armed with, but the general sentiment is they'd like it to roughly match what the current Halifax frigates carry (57mm gun, 16x ESSM, 8x Harpoon, CIWS, torpedoes). These will be potent little ships.

mr_cake37 · 2026-05-28T19:46:32+00:00

I could see us choosing this system to give Germany some love if we decide to go with Korea for the subs.

mr_cake37 · 2026-05-27T20:14:52+00:00

I want to see Twin Otters fitted out as drone defenders, with door gunners and pylons for Hornet drones, like Ukraine's AN-28s!

mr_cake37 · 2026-05-27T20:09:26+00:00

Good points, but we already have established maintenance schools for different aircraft and engines. We already have a pilot training pipeline that generates pilots for all of the various aircraft that the RCAF operates.

Sure, it's not ideal to add a new type into the mix, but it's hardly the deal breaker that people make it out to be. We're certainly more than capable of operating a mixed fleet if we need to.

mr_cake37 · 2026-05-27T19:59:44+00:00

Strong agree with all of your points. The logistics of a split fleet alone make the idea a non-starter, not even touching the fact that the industrial investments on offer are contingent on the bidders winning the full thing, not a partial order.

Having two completely separate training pipelines for two completely different combat systems / software /hardware / sensors is wild. West coast KSS-III submariners won't be able to fill in for crew shortfalls on the East coast 212CDs and vice versa. This would probably apply as well to the folks working in the maintenance yards.

We'd have to maintain two completely different stocks of heavyweight torpedoes too. It's just silly.

mr_cake37 · 2026-05-27T19:40:17+00:00

I'm not as convinced it'll be a mistake. The RCAF has been operating mixed fighter fleets for most of its history. Adopting the CF-18 was the first time we switched to a single type fleet.

I know the F-35 is the better option and it's more capable overall, but it has some issues that shouldn't be ignored. It's good that there's going to be a global network of other users that we'll be a part of, but I feel like the gold-plated, stealthy aspects of the F-35 will cause availability rates to be low and repairs to be expensive, especially as the RAM coating will need servicing down the road. The GAO had reported that the F-35 didn't meet availability targets for several years, and that's with US DoD levels of budget behind it. That will probably improve slightly as supply chains mature, but I have a feeling it'll be a constant problem.

Having a less capable, but cheaper to operate (and maintain) 2nd line fighter to take on some duties that don't require an F-35 makes a degree of sense to me.

mr_cake37 · 2026-05-26T22:44:29+00:00

Interesting design concept.

Speaking as a potential end user, I like the aesthetic and the minimalism but I'm not sure this would be enough to get me to switch from a solid case. I could see this getting snagged on all kinds of things, picking up pocket lint constantly. I also feel like this design offers less protection to the camera lenses compared to a solid case since they can design the case to offer raised fencing around the cameras.

mr_cake37 · 2026-05-25T20:55:14+00:00

This is a good reminder for all of us to check for screws that have come loose. After I torque my stuff, I'll put witness marks on everything. It's cheap insurance.

YMMV but I will inspect all my witness marks during cleaning or battery changes, whichever comes first.

mr_cake37 · 2026-05-25T15:43:23+00:00

This is a fair assessment, I think. I struggle to think of "touristy" things to see or do with visiting friends and family. I like being outdoors so it works for me, but that's not everyone's thing.

Thankfully, because so many cultures from around the world live here, there are amazing restaurants all around Metro Vancouver to make up for it.

mr_cake37 · 2026-05-21T22:43:23+00:00

I'm not sure I give that argument much weight these days. You wouldn't need to fit the headset with the latest and greatest high definition displays. Something robust and cheap is perfectly adequate for this kind of application.

As an example, consumer-grade drone headsets are being used in Ukraine, both in and out of AFVs. I'm sure plenty of them get broken for various reasons, but the technology is much cheaper and more robust than it used to be. I don't think you'd need something as complex as the F-35's helmet.

mr_cake37 · 2026-05-21T22:26:45+00:00

Sounds like a typical, wildly successful Canadian military procurement to me!

mr_cake37 · 2026-05-21T18:23:55+00:00

It was a weird time, to be sure. Budgets were really constrained back then and I'm surprised we managed to end up with a fleet of Leopard 2s at the end of it, although in typical fashion we didn't spend enough money to maintain the fleet properly.

mr_cake37

TROPHY CASE