Ukraine proved that long-range firepower needs more than precision. It needs mass production, cheap strike drones, and the ability to adapt faster than the enemy
The unreliability/unpredictability of the current US administration is moving Canada toward ITAR-free defense sovereignty. Ukraine and Iran are teaching basic economics to anybody still in love with exquisite weapons systems.
David, while I agree that Canada should move towards ITAR free weapons we have a long way to go. As Wes mentioned, we just spent billions on HIMARS. The RCAF is shows no inclination to move away from the F35. We just had an RFP for night vision binoculars where there was a last minute change so that only American suppliers qualified. The mentality of the CAF working as a subsidiary of the Americans is deeply imbedded in military culture. We constantly hear that military to military relationships are great which is fine until the White House moves from taking aggressive action against our economy to taking action against our military in whatever form. The military seems to take a “no need to worry I’m ok” approach.
FirePoint is not an entirely Ukrainian enterprise. It has been largely western funded, and worked extensively with Western engineering, aerospace and defense firms as well as militaries developing its weapons So “Ukraine” is a bot misleading. Like all other contractors, they also want to become totally indigenous. But that takes time. Ukriane has a five year head start.
One more 'can it do this?' question Wes and maybe it depends on the prevailing winds between Russia and Canada - can the long-range strike option handle being lofted 60000 feet up on a weather balloon that could significantly extend its range? Or if the wind generally blows Russia-to Canada do they have anything cheap that can see and shoot down weather balloons? Because you can bet the soviets are dying to use that sneaky trick on somebody.
The unreliability/unpredictability of the current US administration is moving Canada toward ITAR-free defense sovereignty. Ukraine and Iran are teaching basic economics to anybody still in love with exquisite weapons systems.
David, while I agree that Canada should move towards ITAR free weapons we have a long way to go. As Wes mentioned, we just spent billions on HIMARS. The RCAF is shows no inclination to move away from the F35. We just had an RFP for night vision binoculars where there was a last minute change so that only American suppliers qualified. The mentality of the CAF working as a subsidiary of the Americans is deeply imbedded in military culture. We constantly hear that military to military relationships are great which is fine until the White House moves from taking aggressive action against our economy to taking action against our military in whatever form. The military seems to take a “no need to worry I’m ok” approach.
FirePoint is not an entirely Ukrainian enterprise. It has been largely western funded, and worked extensively with Western engineering, aerospace and defense firms as well as militaries developing its weapons So “Ukraine” is a bot misleading. Like all other contractors, they also want to become totally indigenous. But that takes time. Ukriane has a five year head start.
One more 'can it do this?' question Wes and maybe it depends on the prevailing winds between Russia and Canada - can the long-range strike option handle being lofted 60000 feet up on a weather balloon that could significantly extend its range? Or if the wind generally blows Russia-to Canada do they have anything cheap that can see and shoot down weather balloons? Because you can bet the soviets are dying to use that sneaky trick on somebody.