this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2023
17 points (100.0% liked)
CanadaPolitics
2229 readers
55 users here now
Placeholder for any r/CanadaPolitics refugees
Rules
- Keep the original title when submitting an article. You can put your own commentary in the body of the post or in the comment section.
Reminder that the rules for lemmy.ca also apply here. See the sidebar on the homepage: lemmy.ca
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Here's what the official government news releases say:
$19 billion for 88 F-35s = $216 million each - source
$2.5 billion for 11 Reapers = $227 million each source
... so I don't think you're right.
Edit: This CBC article quotes an unnamed "senior defence official" as saying the first four F-35s we purchased cost $85 million per plane, whereas the numbers quoted in the press releases above are the all-in costs including all the "sustainment set-up and services" such as ground control centers, training, etc. So without being an expert on this stuff, I do think the numbers in the press releases are a better apples-to-apples comparison.
Edit 2: but yeah, your point still stands.... Is a Reaper worth as much as an F-35? Beats me....
Thanks for doing the math! I'm not sure either. I guess it sort of makes sense given that they're about the same size and the Reaper must have a crazy amount of avionics etc, but still, I thought they'd be cheaper, especially given their age.