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How Canada’s dream supersonic interceptor became a National Nightmare

Talyn

SAINT
Founding Member
Perhaps @belladonna can give us a north-of-the-border perspective on the Arrow?

It was meant to be one of the most advanced aircraft of its era, dispatching the threat of Soviet nuclear bombers and making Canada a world leader in military aviation and engineering.

The Avro Arrow, also known as the CF-105, had a lot resting on its wings.


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Perhaps @belladonna can give us a north-of-the-border perspective on the Arrow?

It was meant to be one of the most advanced aircraft of its era, dispatching the threat of Soviet nuclear bombers and making Canada a world leader in military aviation and engineering.

The Avro Arrow, also known as the CF-105, had a lot resting on its wings.


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Diefenbaker cancelled the project and had all the prototypes destroyed. That all transpired a little bit before my time, and I do not know a lot about its history. I’m certain politics had a lot to do with it. I had a book called The Fall of the Arrow but my ex decided he needed it more than I did.
Sorry, I don’t know that much about it, but I heard a lot of chatter about the politics at that time and I think they were paid off not to put it into production. I could be wrong.
 
IMO what Canada needs to patrol & defend its Great White North is adding the F-15EX to it's fleet.

Much longer range/endurance and the ability to carry very long-range AAMs much better than the F-35.

The F-35 is fine based on its sensor capabilities, and could provide targeting vectors for the F-15EX.
 
I have seen photos of several that were destroyed on the tarmac in front of a hangar. They were butchered...rendered useless. I did not know about the one in Lake Ontario.
The examples in Lake Ontario were/are sub-scale test models, not the five full-sized real-deal test aircraft.
 
From all I’ve read the Arrow was at least 15 years ahead of its time. Indeed, I believe that even today an Arrow equipped as designed AND with modern avionics could give most contemporary combat aircraft a pretty hard time. Canada’s leaders sold the country down the river on this project (and the good old USA was the villain). I’d love to see our friends to the north develop and field a world class frontline aircraft. It would be good for Canada (and the US as it would force our aerospace companies to actually “compete). Finally it would be a boon to NATO to have yet one more high spec aircraft to chose from. If you read history you’ll find in WW2 the US fielded a variety of fighters. Some proved effective in one theater of operations while not being quite so effective in another. The future is unknown-I’d feel much better having a little more variety out there.
 
From all I’ve read the Arrow was at least 15 years ahead of its time. Indeed, I believe that even today an Arrow equipped as designed AND with modern avionics could give most contemporary combat aircraft a pretty hard time. Canada’s leaders sold the country down the river on this project (and the good old USA was the villain). I’d love to see our friends to the north develop and field a world class frontline aircraft. It would be good for Canada (and the US as it would force our aerospace companies to actually “compete). Finally it would be a boon to NATO to have yet one more high spec aircraft to chose from. If you read history you’ll find in WW2 the US fielded a variety of fighters. Some proved effective in one theater of operations while not being quite so effective in another. The future is unknown-I’d feel much better having a little more variety out there.
See? I knew politics had a lot to do with it. Diefenbaker was afraid of stepping on Uncle Sam’s toes…or something to that extent. They would still likely be flying that aircraft if it had had the chance to really prove itself.
 
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