Bourdeau Industries Insists Resurrected CF-105 Avro Arrow Will be Part of Defence Review

The Ottawa based firm, Bourdeau Industries insisted today on its "Official" facebook page, that it will put forward a proposal to Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan for the resurrection of the CF-105 Avro Arrow; an updated 5th &6th  Generation model for consideration to replace the RCAF's CF-18s.

The CF-105 Avro Arrow was a cutting-edge military aircraft developed in the 1950s, but the project was cancelled in 1959 before production.

Artists rendition, from Bourdeau Industries of 5th Generation CF-105 Avro Arrow

In 2012, Bourdeau Industries were supposed to meet with the Official Oppiosition NDP and request a $50 Million federal Grant.

Bourdeau Industries was asking the federal government for a one-year, $50-million federal grant to help finalize the updated design and manufacturing plan. If the government accepted the proposal at that point, the company says it would haven been able to deliver jets for military use by 2020, when the government planed to retire the current fleet of CF-18s.

Now the RCAF is extending the life of the CF-18 fleet to an estimated 2025.

In 2012, General Mackenzie (Ret.) was interviewed on CTVNews and supported the idea of a resurrected Avro over the F-35. "The federal government was too fast to write off a proposal to build a made-in-Canada military aircraft that would be cheaper, faster and more efficient than the F-35." said retired major-general Lewis MacKenzie. While he initially thought the revival plan was "a joke," the more closely he examined it, the more he saw its potential merits for Canada's missions at home and abroad.

All the talk of a resurrected Avro Arrow led to the National Post publishing this comparison in 2012.

This comparison did not take into consideration the unknown capabilities of the Avro Arrow with the Iroquois Engine which never made it into the aircraft.

Bourdeau has the following promotional video for its aircraft proposal. 

According to Matt Gurney;

"If Canada went with Arrows, we’d be taking on all the costs — design, start-up, production, testing and, eventually, maintenance — and as important, all the risks. Given our need for only several dozen planes, it is difficult to see how sufficient economies of scale could ever be achieved to make this a good idea. As romantic as the notion of bringing back the Arrow may seem, it’s no surprise that the government said no a second time."

It is an interesting argument - who knows if it will get any serious consideration from the Liberal Government. The previous government did not even give it a minute of thought.