Only 40% of Canada's warplanes are fit for action, documents show

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Only 40 per cent of Canada's air force inventory is considered serviceable and ready for action, a document obtained by CBC News shows. Much of Canada's combat capability is made up of aging CF-18 fighter jets.   Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/1.7487233  »»» Subscribe to CBC News to watch more videos: http://bit.ly/1RreYWS  Connect with CBC News Online:  For breaking news, video, audio and in-depth coverage: http://bit.ly/1Z0m6iX Follow CBC News on TikTok: https://bit.ly/3TnHioe Follow CBC News on Twitter: http://bit.ly/1sA5P9H Find CBC News on Facebook: http://bit.ly/1WjG36m Follow CBC News on Instagram: http://bit.ly/1Z0iE7O Subscribe to CBC News on Snapchat: https://bit.ly/3leaWsr  Download the CBC News app for iOS: http://apple.co/25mpsUz Download the CBC News app for Android: http://bit.ly/1XxuozZ  »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» For more than 80 years, CBC News has been the source Canadians turn to, to keep them informed about their communities, their country and their world. Through regional and national programming on multiple platforms, including CBC Television, CBC News Network, CBC Radio, CBCNews.ca, mobile and on-demand, CBC News and its internationally recognized team of award-winning journalists deliver the breaking stories, the issues, the analyses and the personalities that matter to Canadians.

Transcript

00:00What we have here is the State of the CAF document.

00:03It is a readiness snapshot for the Canadian military and it is military-wide,

00:09so it includes both the Air Force, Army and Navy,

00:12and it just basically gives an assessment as to how much of the equipment

00:17and how much of the personnel are ready to fight.

00:20Now, it shows only 40% of the RCEF fleet is ready and ready to be deployed on operations.

00:28That means 60% of the fleet is either in maintenance or just completely unserviceable.

00:37And this is a global document.

00:39It covers all of the branches of the forces,

00:42but it is, as you were saying, very concerning because of the fact

00:47that the federal government has now begun the process of reviewing the F-35 purchase.

00:53The F-35 is meant to replace the Air Force's most populous aircraft, which is the CF-18s,

01:00the CF-18s that have been in the air and flying for Canada for more than four decades.

01:06And the CF-18s, the older they get, the more time they spend in maintenance,

01:12so this is part of what is reflected in this document.

01:15And Murray, I mentioned the government is looking again at what should be

01:19in Canada's fleet of warplanes going forward.

01:22Can you tell us about that?

01:24Well, the Canadian government at the moment is committed to purchasing 16 of the F-35s.

01:30But the government has signaled, because of the threats of annexation of Canada by President Trump

01:38and because of the trade, the ongoing trade war,

01:42that the purchase of American-made aircraft and American military equipment is now up for question.

01:50And the government has signaled that it's committed to honoring the contract for the first 16,

01:56but is also looking at perhaps pivoting to another aircraft,

02:01which would be possibly the Saab Gripen E,

02:06which was the runner-up in the competition that the government held for fighter jets a few years ago.

02:12And that means the federal government could end up operating two fleets of fighter jets

02:19with all of the costs and all of the logistics that are associated with it.

02:23CBC News Defence Correspondent Murray Brewster in Ottawa.

02:26♪

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