Photo of the Day: Dec. 7, 2012 (Canada Kills F-35 Buy?)

Tech. Sgt. Brian West, of the 33rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, marshals in DOD's newest aircraft, the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter to a stop at its new home at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., July 14. West is the crew chief for the first F-35. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

With news that Canada’s F-35 buy may be cancelled, I thought a couple of pictures of the bird in all its glory might be in order.  More details on the conflicting news reports, and pictures after the break:

DoD's newest aircraft, the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter, taxis across the 33rd Fighter Wing flightline at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., July 14. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

The Ottawa Citizen put out a report late last night saying that Canada had cancelled its order of the F-35:

The F-35 jet fighter purchase, the most persistent thorn in the federal government’s side and the subject of a devastating auditor-general’s report last spring, is dead.

Faced with the imminent release of an audit by accountants KPMG that will push the total projected life-cycle costs of the aircraft above $30 billion, the operations committee of the federal Cabinet decided to scrap the controversial sole-source program and go back to the drawing board, a source familiar with the decision said.

This occurred after Chief of the Defence Staff Thomas Lawson, while en route overseas, was called back urgently to appear before the committee, the source said.

The rest of the media industry has been digging around on the topic now, and the reports are mixed.  CBC is reporting that Canada’s Tories say that it hasn’t been killed:

The Conservative government says it has not made a decision on the F-35 as a replacement for Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets, but it now appears to concede that alternative fighter purchase options will be considered.

The Prime Minister’s Office denied a media report Thursday that the F-35 purchase was dead, calling the report “inaccurate on a number of fronts” and promising to update the House of Commons on its seven-point plan to replace the jets before the House rises for the Christmas break at the end of next week.

We’ll see where this breaks, but right now it’s mostly a jumble.  I’ll leave you with one more picture of the F-35.

(USAF Photo)

 

Zachary Fryer-Biggs
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Zachary Fryer-Biggs

Senior Staff Writer at Defense News
Zach is the State Department correspondent, cyberwarfare, research & development and business reporter for Defense News.
Zachary Fryer-Biggs
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