Esprit de Corps

It would appear that the Conservative government’s stated position to pursue the acquisition of the controversial F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet is one political hot button that shows no signs of cooling off before the next election. With a proposed $9 billion purchase price tag for a fleet of 65 sophisticated, fifth-generation F-35s, and an additional $7 billion guesstimated for their life expectancy maintenance costs, this procurement would be the largest and most expensive military purchase in our nation’s history.

For the past two weeks I have been travelling continuously throughout the United States and France on what could best be described as a professional development tour.

The chockablock itinerary involved an extensive series of defence industry briefings combined with equipment demonstrations and production facility visits. I have reported extensively from war zones during my career, but this was a rare insight into just how the international arms manufacturers are responding to the challenges of the modern battlefield.

In recent years, the arsenals of NATO allies have been fully stocked with the weaponry required to battle the conventional forces of the Soviet Union, but were all were equally ill-prepared to wage a non-linear counterinsurgency in Central Asia. As a result, many of the same obstacles confronting the Canadian military have also been encountered by our coalition partners. These have been either met or overcome with varying degrees of success.

In the immediate aftermath of the disastrous earthquake in Haiti, the Canadian Forces have deservedly earned themselves glowing praise and have helped to inspire a sense of nationwide pride.

When they’ve been in need of it in the past, I’ve been the first one over the boards, dropping the gloves and pounding on their helmets, but in this instance I’m prepared to give credit where credit’s due, to both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Defence Minister Peter MacKay. They were uncharacteristically quick off the draw in pledging large-scale aid and mobilizing a military response effort.

On July 8, the Defence Department pulled out all the stops in staging a press event to announce their $5.2 billion procurement of new armoured vehicles. On hand for the event were Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk, Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Army commander Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie—the latter two voluntarily suspending their summer vacations in order to attend. The national media were advised well in advance, and the massive dollar figure attached to the project was hinted at in the advance promotion.