Vanguard Magazine

T E L F E R S C H O O L O F M A N A G E M E N T U N I V E R S I T Y O F O T T A W A P R O J E C T S A R E B E C O M I N G I N C R E A S I N G LY M O R E C O M P L E X We are pleased to announce the launch of the Master of Business in Complex Project Leadership*. Designed to give you the necessary skills to successfully lead: • Complex Capital Procurement Projects • Business Transformation and Organizational Change • Innovation, R&D, and New Product Development • Information Technology and Information Systems *Pending Approval from the Province of Ontario telfer.uOttawa.ca/cpl J JsF Program www.vanguardcanada.com APRIL/MAY 2016 21 In addition to excellent wing loading parameters and range, the Rafale can carry a significant payload of air-to-air or air-to- ground or a combination of both without sacrificing too much in the way of perfor- mance. The Rafale's close coupled canard design, provides low-level flying capabilities, as well as subsonic maneuverability superior to most non-canard aircraft and long-armed canard aircraft like the Eurofighter Typhoon. The configuration increases lift at low and high angles of attack and gives the Rafale excellent instantaneous and sus- tained turn rate. The Rafale also maintains a smaller turning radius than the aircraft it generally competes with. The increased lift generated at low and high angles of attack allows the Rafale to not only turn at high speeds with a force of 9+ G's, it also enables the aircraft to sustain higher speeds through hard turns. This will enable the fighter to evade incoming missiles without losing significant airspeed in addi- tion to out maneuvering enemy aircraft and gaining an advantageous firing position. This is also the reason why the Rafale can perform so well despite having en- gines that are less powerful than some of its competitors. compromises The Saab Gripen E also has decent maneu- verability but it doesn't benefit from the close coupled canard configuration in the same way the Rafale does. Another sticking point is the Gripen's poor performance in the electronic warfare front. The Typhoon has already had a double engine flame-out and suffered issues with its airframe arising from cracks in some of the composite control surfaces. Design- ers of the aircraft had to compromise and go with a long-arm canard configuration to reduce the amount of drag that a close coupled canard layout would create. The Rafale came about after Dassault departed from the original Typhoon pro- gram due to a disagreement with BAE over which engine manufacturer to use. Dassault wanted to use the French Snec- ma and BAE wanted to stay with a manu- facturer closer to home. The other aircraft in the picture is the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet. When I first set out to research the topic of CF-18 replacements, I was heavily in favor of the Super Hornet and heavily op- posed to the F-35. After over 400 hours spread out over just under two years, that view has shifted in fa- vor of the Dassault with the Super Hornet seated at the bottom of the list just above the Saab Gripen E. What the Super Hornet lacks in raw per- formance, it makes up for with its EW ca- pabilities. It also has the benefit of being a proven platform whereas the Gripen E is far from it. Still, I feel both aircraft are too much of a compromise and are better suited to larger air forces that employ various aircraft for different roles. Given Canada's own defense needs and its position in NORAD and NATO, com- promises are not what Canada should be seeking. The Rafale is designed with architecture designed to be consistently upgraded. It has a world class electronic warfare and sensor suite from Thales and it offers the payload and range of the F-15E with the raw per- formance and maneuverability of the F-16. The Rafale has been proven to be more than a match for the F-22 and it is battle proven. The Rafale would also provide the op- portunity for Canada to possibly be part of Dassault's autonomous drone program which will be based on the nEUROn UCAV. This could also mean the possible assembly of drones and even Falcon busi- ness jets on Canadian soil. The F-35 will give us an excellent first strike capability and advanced tracking. But these are capabilities that drones may be able to provide at a much cheaper price. I also feel that the RCAF will be compro- mising on maneuverability if its goes with the F-35. While there are also compromises in- volved in choosing the Typhoon, Super Hornet and Gripen, at least, with the Ty- phoon the RCAF can benefit from some form of technology transfer. The Typhoon is also the closest the RCAF can get to the performance of the Rafale, without buying the Rafale. One more reason the Rafale gets my vote is it's actually cheaper than the Typhoon and it offers more overall capability. The debate goes on, but one thing is certain – the CF-18s have had their time. In order for Canada to be able to meet the threats of the future money has to be spent, but it must be spent in a smart way.

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