Lawson fears Liberals Fighter Jet plan too Pricey

By: Laura Payton, CTV News 

The former head of Canada's military says the Liberal government’s plan to buy an interim fighter jet fleet will be expensive and difficult to carry out.

Retired general Tom Lawson, who served as chief of the defence staff from 2012 to 2015, says he believes Canada will end up buying Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jet to replace the current fleet of CF-18 Hornets despite the government choosing Boeing's Super Hornet to beef up the current air craft.

"There are hundreds of these things flying now and they've been declared combat-capable in the United States," Lawson said in an interview with Evan Solomon, host of CTV's Question Period.

Retired general Tom Lawson appears on CTV's Question Period on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2016.

"And they'll be getting better and better for years to come. The F-35 is the way forward, not only for the United States but all the members and the partners who have bought into that program."

Lawson, a long-time supporter of the F-35, is now retired from the Canadian Forces. In an email to CTVNews.ca, he said he has done several days of work for Lockheed Martin as a strategic adviser, but noted his support for the F-35 dates back to his time as assistant chief of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

The F-35 was the source of considerable controversy during Lawson's time as Canada's top soldier, after the auditor general and parliamentary budget officer found a range of problems with a planned purchase of the Lockheed Martin jets. The problems included national defence not telling the government about the aircraft's potential drawbacks or the full costs of the program, as well as not having documents to support some of the decisions defence officials made.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised, during the 2015 election campaign, to hold an open competition to choose the CF-18 replacement, but pledged at the same time not to buy the F-35.

Last November, the government announced it was working on buying 18 Boeing Super Hornets as an interim measure while holding a five-year competition to choose a long-term replacement for the CF-18s.

Lawson, a former pilot, said that decision caught him off-guard because he believes Canada will eventually purchase the F-35.

"Every time the F-35 is in competition, it is the top -- in many cases the only choice out there, and it's becoming cheaper and developing an excellent reputation," Lawson said.

"So I think what caught me by surprise is that this putting off of that decision will of course be expensive and very difficult for the RCAF to carry out."

The current fleet of CF-18s is more than 30 years old and down from 138 planes to 76, according to numbers provided by the government.

During the 2015 election campaign, the Liberals estimated the cost of an F-35 at $175 million per plane, with the Super Hornet coming in at $65 million.

Canada has obligations to NORAD and NATO that require a specific number of jets to be "mission-ready," although officials won't say how many planes that means. Defence officials say there aren't enough mission-ready planes, but admit that is due to a change in policy under which they started counting the combined NORAD and NATO commitments. That policy changed on the day they announced the plan to purchase an interim fleet, a defence spokeswoman told

United for Ukraine: CAF to deploy 200 Troops to the Ukraine

Defence Minister Jason Kenney and Chief of Defence Staff General Tom Lawson announced with Prime Minister Stephen Harper that the Canadian Armed Forces and Canada is United for Ukraine; and will deploy approximately 200 troops to the Ukraine to help train local forces, who are fighting the Russian-backed separatists. Approximately 10-12 Military Police will be part of the deployment - to better train the police forces in the region as well.

The CAF members will be deployed both on a sustained and periodic basis, depending on the type of training, which will last until the end of March 2017.

Kenney said that this is yet another step in Canada's efforts to help the Ukraine maintain its territorial integrity against Russian aggression.

It was announced that Canadian troops will be as far removed from the conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

The training mission will begin during the summer of 2015 - and will take place primarily at the NATO training facility in Yavoriv, in Western Ukraine, near the Polish border. Other training will take place at the Ukrainian Defence De-mining Centre  in Kamyanets-Podilsky - also located in Western Ukraine. The Polish border is Canada's exit strategy, should the unthinkable happen, and Canadian troops are required to exit the Ukraine in a hurry.

Since January 2014, Canada has been sending non-lethal aid to the Ukraine, and has continued to refuse lethal aid. The Ukrainian embassy in Canada has said Canada's training assistance is highly appreciated.

Canada in Syria: Correcting Minister Kenney's Comments

I posted last week - as many other news agencies posted, that the United States had pushed for Canada to join the air campaign in Syria because of our precision-guided munitions that our Arab allies do not have - this is false. Both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been deploying precision-guided munitions in Syria against ISIS.

The comments made by Defence Minister Jason Kenney have been shown to be false, and members of DND have no idea why he made them. 

Over the weekend, DND released the following statement, now published on the DND/CF site:

"As stated by the Minister of National Defence, the Royal Canadian Air Force’s precision targeting capabilities make Canada a valuable partner in the fight against ISIL. The weapons that will be employed will be amongst the most advanced precision-guided munitions in the world. These weapons are equipped with laser and GPS guidance systems, giving Canada the ability to strike targets in all types of weather. Currently, only the United States uses these advanced precision-guided munitions in Syria.

Our highly trained pilots can use these advanced precision-guided munitions to strike targets either deliberately, or dynamically. Deliberate targeting occurs where targets are static, while dynamic targets can be identified while flying a mission, and could include, for instance, an ISIL military vehicle or weapon that is moving. This is a significant capability which, currently, only the US employs in Syria.

I applaud the contributions of all our allies in the coalition, and I agree with US Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey’s assertion that our allies operate with skill and precision, and take extensive measures to minimize civilian casualties.

Canadians can be proud of the contribution that their Armed Forces bring to the coalition – both in terms of advanced weaponry, and our expertise deploying it. Our contributions make Canada a highly valued and respected ally in the coalition effort to defeat ISIL."

Statement by:

General Tom Lawson,
Chief of the Defence Staff

Canada in Iraq - Troops Within Non-Combat Mandate: Gen. Lawson

CDS Gen. Tom Lawson during a briefing on OP IMPACT.
Photo: Ottawa Citizen, Labelled for Reuse. 

During a Parliamentary Committee hearing on Foreign Policy on Thursday January 29th 2015, Chief of Defence Staff, General Tom Lawson again reiterated that Canadian Special Forces operating in Iraq are well within the Non-Combat mandate of "Advise and Assist" that Parliament granted during the fall of 2014. Lawson continued to state that our role has evolved since first being deployed. He also regrets his comment to Parliament in October where he said Canadian Special Forces would not be guiding coalition air-strikes. Canadians learned in early January that Special Forces are in fact using lasers to help target and guide coalition strikes against ISIS. This was a role that Lawson says the military did not foresee, and are working on training the Iraqi forces to be able to conduct these tasks. 

To read the full article from The Star please see the link below.

Top General Says Canadian Soldiers Still Within Non-Combat Mandate