And make no mistake about it: the Snowbirds form -- or at least, should form -- an important component of Canada's 21st century national defense strategy.
Unfortunately, the Snowbirds' fleet of CT-114 Tutor jets is simply not a good public face for a modern military -- notwithstanding that some other nations use similarly unimpressive aircraft for their military aerobatics teams. CT-155 Hawks, which
some have suggested as possible replacements for the Snowbirds' CT-114 Tutors, are equally unimpressive airshow material. Perhaps these planes make good training equipment, but they will not inspire the public and project Canadian military power.
The model to follow is, as usual, that of the Americans. The Blue Angels, the US Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, sets the gold standard for what a modern nation's air power public relations wing should look like, as do the US Air Force's Thunderbirds.
Rather than playing with toys, the
USN Blue Angels currently fly the F/A-18 Hornet A/B and have been doing so since 1986, a serious fighter jet, having previously flown the F6F Hellcat (1946), F8F Bearcat (1946-1949), F9F-2 Panther (1949-1950), F9F-5 Panther (1951-1955), F9F-8 Cougar (1955-1957), F11F-1 Tiger (1957-1968), F-4J Phantom II (1969-1974), and the A-4F Skyhawk II (1974-1986). This team is currently transitioning to the F/A-18 Hornet C/D variant.
The
USAF Thunderbirds have been flying the F-16 Fighting Falcon since 1983 (transitioning from A/B to C/D variants over time), having previously flown the F-84G Thunderjet (1953-1954), F-84F Thunderstreak (1955), F-100C/D Super Sabre (1956-1969), F-105B Thunderchief (1964), F-4E Phantom IIs (1969-1973), and the T-38A Talon (1974-1982).
Apparently the Royal Canadian Air Force has examined and rejected the use of CF-18s as CT-114 Tutor replacements, contending that "using CF-18s would increase the ability of the Snowbirds to perform around the world but reduce their availability for smaller venues in Canada that have runways too short to accommodate the jets." This rational speaks to a lack of seriousness in the Canadian military and national defense planning establishment.
One could imagine the Snowbirds using real fighter jets and flying into smaller venues from nearby cities with runways of sufficient length to accommodate the jets. Alternatively, an even better idea would be to upgrade the national runway network to allow these types of fighter jets to use a far greater number of municipal airports. Perhaps this may also come in handy during any possible future conflicts whereby our air force may need to temporarily use non-traditional locations?
It is all too typically Canadian for the military establishment to reject the use of actual military aircraft at airshows because the runways in small towns are too short, and it would seem to send a signal to our adversaries abroad regarding fatal flaws in our national defense strategy. By the way, do we even have a serious national defense strategy? The answer is a resounding no, because we lack the military capacity to adequately defend the second-largest nation on the planet.
The RCAF does have a "
CF-18 Demonstration Team," but it only consists of a
single plane with
eight team members and a pilot, and the link to the pilot's biography yields a "ERROR: Page Not Found" webpage. Not promising. The e-mail address to contact the RCAF Snowbirds on their
webpage is
Snowbird.Team@sasktel.net. Perhaps
snowbirds@forces.gc.ca would be more appropriate? A primary goal of the military is to project confidence at home and power abroad. These issues do not help achieve this core objective.
One of the reasons it is difficult to generate public support for increased military expenditures in Canada is that the military does not do a good job selling itself. The problems reside both with the elected politicians and the national defense bureaucracy. If you want Canadians to be convinced that advanced fighters -- such as the F-35 -- are required and warrant significant public expenditures, you have to build the case over time and form the civilian culture that supports and promotes it. Having the Snowbirds perform widely across the nation in modern fighters, as the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds do each year, would also do wonders for morale in our armed forces.
It would be money well spent.
