Vanguard Magazine

I InnovatIon www.vanguardcanada.com FEBRUARY/MARCH 2016 33 Not only would we get our CF-188 re- placement, we would also get an assembly line that builds business jets, drones and the Rafale. This increases the amount of potential offsets we can negotiate and cre- ates a wealth of job opportunities in the manufacturing sector. The technology sharing means we can build Rafales from the ground up but it also gives the ability to learn quite a bit about modern fighter design and apply it as we see fit to our own ideas. Another possibility would be purchasing the Eurofighter Typhoon, which would have a near identical offer, including tech sharing. From what this writer under- stands the builds would be done through Bombardier and Canada would be provid- ed with the training and funding assistance to create a facility. While we wouldn't get the kind of offsets Dassault would offer we could benefit handsomely from the tech sharing. The Typhoon makes use of advanced composites which represent cutting-edge use of the materials in ways that many aerospace designers don't yet grasp. In- formation that would undoubtedly be in- valuable to Bombardier as it would open a whole new range of possibilities for future C-Series aircraft. It could save billions of dollars in re- search and development. It could also be an opportunity to get involved with BAE Systems as they built the Taranis which is a similar design to the nEUROn UCAV of Dassault. BAE and Dassault are both currently working on a joint design study which will conclude in 2018 which is based off of the Taranis and nEUROn and is being used to determine if a joint project into a fully au- tonomous stealth UCAV is feasible. If we choose to go the F-35 route, we continue a tradition of depending on U.S. aerospace solutions and while we will get a very capable fifth-gen stealth fighter out of the deal we will not get a single bit of tech- nology sharing as U.S. law makes that im- possible. The only reason Israel gets those kind of benefits is due to how tied into the United States' power structure they are. Drones are the future We do certainly benefit from current build work but with the Canadian dollar at its current value, the likelihood of Canada losing that work is very slim, contrary to the belief of many who warn of economic penalties if the F-35 deal is backed out of entirely. While our present economic situ- ation is indeed grim, it does offer a certain amount of leverage that we can use to bet- ter ourselves on multiple fronts. Drones will be the future in this writer's opinion because of everything they of- fer. Removing the pilot from the cockpit enables fewer systems to be used and re- moves the need for on-board displays and life support systems and even the ejec- tion seat. This translates to less weight and heat. There is no raised cockpit to compromise radar cross section or ther- mal signature (caused by heat inside the cockpit). The reduction is size also allows for a reduction in RCS and all of the above combined makes for more effective jam- ming. The extra space in the airframe means engines can be mounted internally to aid thermal signature reduction further and degrade the effectiveness of Infrared Search and Track (IRST) systems which use thermal imaging to track and fire on targets at range. No pilot also means that the only G limits will be those of the air- frame. This opens the door for more ex- treme manoeuvres to be used and thus im- proves flight characteristics versus manned aircraft. The only reason Canada should avoid drones as a solution to bank on ahead of the CF-18 procurement is there are several limitations at present which would make them ineffective. Input lag is one issue and this is the slight delay at increased broadcasting rang- es between the drone pilot's inputs and the drone's responses to them. This makes the precision-timing pilots rely on for missile evasion and other split-second decisions unreliable. Spatial awareness is another is- sue as even with 360 degree cameras there are elements of human vision and percep- tion that can't yet be replicated by elec- tronic systems and this provides another significant hurdle. As far as radar systems and all-aspect jamming, as one can clearly see from the Boeing E/A-18G Growler or even the Lockheed Martin F-35, the hardware is anything but small and the reduced air frame size of the drones makes fitting cur- rent generation high-powered radars and jamming systems virtually impossible with- out degrading performance. As it is becoming more and more ap- parent, missile systems are growing at an

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