It’s rare, but sometimes Trump is right about something. One is NATO. He wants the member nations to spend more on defense. We’ve got to pull up our pants and pay our fair share. Canada needs to pay at least 2% of GDP on defense.
At a time when we have a warmonger president, picking fights with China and pissing all over the world, we stand unprepared. We barely crack 1.4% of GDP. The man might be a bully, but he is trying to warn us. Shut up and spend. War is coming.
Cold War 2.0
Begin with fear. That always gets them.
Things seem to be tense internationally between world governments. Nuclear capable countries. The kind that like to build absurdly large stockpiles, because the potential to end all human life is not enough for them. It has to bigger, better, the most.
Welcome Russia, China,
North Korea,
Pakistan, India,
UK, France.
Iran?
Iraq?
Scary devils we’ve yet to know of,
and of coarse the U.S., who have the most nukes.
So right now, the American president, who some claim is insane, is advising his “friends” at NATO to either start paying their fair share or the U.S. is out. That includes Canada in this western alliance.
So what do we spend? Well, embarrassingly Trudeau fudged the numbers in front of him. Then later gossiped about Trump like a school child at some important looking function involving the Queen and other heads of state. Trump left in a tizzy, heli lifting off at night, departing the NATO summit early and pissed. Hurt, I imagine. He tried to warn his buddies, they made fun of him behind his back. 1.8%. That was the number we promised we’d meet. Sometime. In the next few years, or so….
Meanwhile, Trump went off to start a few more fires. See what other deals he can tear up. Rewrite the rules so they are a little more American, just in case the world forgot who’s got the most power. Well, he has a point.
Shut-up and fix your jets Canada.
And fly your citizens home, immediately, if they find themselves caught up in a dangerous situation.
50-60 functional F-18s, vintage 1970s. Planes flown till the wings come off, then we retire and part out to another to keep whatever remains going. What’s left in 2020?
Navy? What? With Russia encroaching on our waters, and the states all but declaring open season on a north west passage through our waters, we have one icebreaker. Patrolling how many 1000s of kms?
Air force. Grounded. We got some good shit. Of what remains it is impeccable maintained. But its now just a war of attrition between the amount of hours that remain on the air frames and our limited inventory.
The people serving, they do the very best possible with the tools they are given. Our people are exceptional even. Achieving great things.
But it’s time to go shopping.
Yes, we do have to spend a bit more on the fundamentals. Yes the world is getting nasty. But we can’t just pretend to hold hands about it. China is dicking around with holding Canadians in prison. We’re crying about Trump. We’ve got some bullies and were afraid to fight back.
Time to start building
What says we have to buy American jets? What says we have to spend billions on one plane? Did we not understand the age of drones or something? Can we not buy Canadian?
Imagine if your government decided to invest the billions it would take to buy the new F35 or whatever other albatross is forced upon us and instead invested it in your community. Manufacturing plants. High paying jobs. You know, unions. A return of the middle class. What if instead of buying what America says is ok for us to own at some inflated price, we built are own solutions.
Canada is an enormous country. We have a small population. But we’re bright, and well educated. More importantly, Canadians are some of the leaders in wide variety of fields. Robotics, aeronautics, rocketry, computers, programing, mathematics, advanced physics, chemistry, etc, etc… we have these skills. We know how to innovate. So why aren’t we innovating in our defense spending?
Why is the option buy this fat helicopter or fragile jet, when the better option would be to build what we need for ourselves. Build them slow, and build them right. Exactly as we need. Train a workforce that can scale up quickly, building whatever we need for equipment at a wartime industrial pace if called for.
This isn’t an industry with world markets in mind. This is for Canada, and our defense needs. The goal cannot be to be building for no reason or trying to recreate the American industrial military complex. Build enough of something, slowly, to the point that it is no longer needed. Then stop, and retool. Build whatever is next for the military. What they need, when they need it. This is not about sales and marketing to international clients. This is about protecting our homeland.
Say it takes about another 10-15 years building jets at 10 a year to get to a solid standing force. In that time we can design something that has tremendous range, is fast, but not too loud, and shows up bright and clear on radar (stealth is bullshit, especially if you want any range and durability). Then we refine, and figure out what works best.
So who is best to patrol thousands of kilometers of airspace, a couple hundred pilots or thousands of drones?
Imagine having a border that is surveilled 24/7, because the U.S. and it’s enemies sure do. We do not. We depend on American radar to warn us that someone is testing our national airspace. Imagine if a Russian bomber ran into some advance tactical drone Canadians dreamed up, that flies faster than any jet and shoots freaking lasers or some shit, and there is not just one, but hundreds of them, all pointing their laser pointers at one lonely foreign jet who dared test our sovereignty.
Wake up Canada. We don’t have to keep buying their shit. We can build it ourselves, and build something better.
Yes, weird propulsion systems exists. There are possibilities with automation that we’ve only just begun to see — A.I. and autonomous flight being a big one. We’ve seen demonstration of the swarm idea with drones. Why could not the same be expanded to fighting ships. Land forces. A drone army.
So land, sea, air. Robots do our bidding. Our personal are their masters. Directing them say on the Russian bomber intercept. Or drilling a hole through a foreign sub.
Small, smart, lethal. That is what I want for our Canadian military. The very best tools that a small population can realistically afford. Take 2% of our GDP and create jobs, restore communities, help the people prosper, and defend this great nation from whatever hornets nest Trump or the other dictators kick up.
Welcome to the age of empires.
It’s time we stop pretending this was candy land. With unimpeachable presidents, and a Senate that does nothing, the U.S. just finalized it’s transition to Rome. Welcome Caesar and his cohorts. The game has changed. They elect emperors, not presidents.
So who follows Trump? Does it really matter? With unchecked power and responsibility, anything and everything is open to the presidents whims. Start a war. Why not? Murder, sure, just make sure you tell a good story. Nothing and none can stop them.
But a fly can sure be annoying
Trudeau’s father used to always understand something about Canada and U.S. relations. We were the mouse to the U.S. elephant. The thing to remember is the elephant is scared of the mouse. It might be the biggest and most powerful of all the jungles animals, but it will shriek at the sight of a tiny little mouse. The point being it’s not the size that matters, it’s how you use it.
So bigger and louder is not best. To be small and smart is in.
That us. This tiny little country, overflowing with talent. Great minds and curious thinkers, luminaries and musical geniuses. They spill forth, past our wide vistas and abundant spaces and into the world at large. We are so incredible our best and brightest are meant for a global stage. That excellence is what we can bring if we focus in our a national needs.
Defense is one of them. We have to stop pretending the world hasn’t gone screwy with the return of empires in Russia, China and the United States. One wonders about Britain if it might not be reimagining the old empire too. Germany, one should always be nervous, especially if the E.U. should fall apart.
As this is happening, Canada is debating a $17 billion pipeline to protect some jobs that are destine to end in the next 10-20 years if the world goes off fossil fuels. Alberta is desperate for stable jobs, as is Ontario with the decimation of auto manufacturing. Across the provinces good stable sources of income, that can give people hope of rising in economic station, are gone. We can restore them. We have so many programs that need spending, and defense is one of them. We can use that to create jobs.
Build the planes, the boats, the tanks and what have you here. Employ Canadians, help them rise up, and defend this country. It’s time for Canada to get serious about defense spending.
