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Hi. I'm not a member of the Canadian Forces--more of a slightly informed amateur interested in military affairs. I've gotten interested in the Canadian Forces both due to reading about our military history and the current operations in Afghanistan. I hope the regulars here don't mind a civilian here putting out a couple opinions and asking questions.
One thing that's gotten my interest of late is COIN (counterinsurgency warfare) aircraft. I have an attraction to the oddball or unusual. An F-16 is impressive, but my fascination tends towards weird-looking birds like the A-10 or OV-10 Bronco. Light strike/COIN craft like the latter have become a mild obsession of mine. What I am wondering is if there is a role for such aircraft within the Canadian Forces. To my amateur's eyes, there is room for an inexpensive close-air-support and armed reconnaisance plane like the OV-10 or the Argentine Pucara given our involvement in fighting guerrillas like the Taliban.
I understand why we don't get a dedicated CAS aircraft like the A-10. The F-18's "jack of all trades" capability allows it to perform CAS missions without incurring the extra expense and training of a plane designed specifically for that mission. But the F-18 is a high-performance jet that needs prepared runways and is rather expensive to run. While it can do the job, it costs a lot to do while diverting it away from its intended missions of air-to-air combat and interdiction. Something cheap, armoured, with long loitering times may be usefull. Like, er, this:
[http://worldatwar.net/chandelle/v3...omplications in my reasoning Andrew Weitzman
One thing that's gotten my interest of late is COIN (counterinsurgency warfare) aircraft. I have an attraction to the oddball or unusual. An F-16 is impressive, but my fascination tends towards weird-looking birds like the A-10 or OV-10 Bronco. Light strike/COIN craft like the latter have become a mild obsession of mine. What I am wondering is if there is a role for such aircraft within the Canadian Forces. To my amateur's eyes, there is room for an inexpensive close-air-support and armed reconnaisance plane like the OV-10 or the Argentine Pucara given our involvement in fighting guerrillas like the Taliban.
I understand why we don't get a dedicated CAS aircraft like the A-10. The F-18's "jack of all trades" capability allows it to perform CAS missions without incurring the extra expense and training of a plane designed specifically for that mission. But the F-18 is a high-performance jet that needs prepared runways and is rather expensive to run. While it can do the job, it costs a lot to do while diverting it away from its intended missions of air-to-air combat and interdiction. Something cheap, armoured, with long loitering times may be usefull. Like, er, this:
[http://worldatwar.net/chandelle/v3...omplications in my reasoning Andrew Weitzman