National Defence committee  Thank you for the question. Our current aircraft has 16,000 pounds of fuel with three external fuel tanks. The conventional take-off and landing variant of the F-35 with internal fuel only is 18,500 pounds, so it has significantly more fuel just internally. It will have significantly more range and we can also put external tanks on the F-35.

National Defence committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. We read all sorts of things in the media, and there's all sorts of speculation. The challenge I have is not being able to ask the author of articles like that the basis of some of their information. I can assure you and this committee that the extensive analysis we have done shows us that the fifth-generation attributes of stealth, advance sensors, sensor fusion, and networking truly are game-changers and war-winners.

National Defence committee  Absolutely. We have done a lot of simulation activities, both as part of the JSF program with other partner nations and unilaterally. I have been running a simulation-based process with a team that is uniquely Canadian, where we have been studying the differences between fourth- and fifth-generation capabilities and their employment, their exploitation, in unique Canadian scenarios.

National Defence committee  Thank you very much for the question. There really isn't a close competitor to fifth-generation. All of the other options that were considered were fourth-generation aircraft. Some of them had some improvements to them, so some of the marketing describes them as four-plus generation—4.5 or in that range—but there was no other option that was truly a fifth-generation and had the attributes that I described earlier of the very low observable stealth, advanced sensors, the fusion, and the networking.

National Defence committee  The key issue in operations is being able to come home safely and go the next day, and because of the very low observable stealth and the other capabilities that are incorporated in fifth- generation aircraft, the risks to the operator are diminished significantly and the chance of coming home is far increased, which enhances survivability.

National Defence committee  I've been in this position since 2007, but I must add that I've been in Ottawa at headquarters for 12 years now, and it has been during that entire time as project director for CF-18 modernization and then as director of requirements that I have been looking at this process.

National Defence committee  It's the F-35 program and how it relates to the next-generation fighter capability project and all the other options as well.

National Defence committee  Thank you for that question. Let me start by saying that in 2008, when the Canada First defence strategy came out, there was a very clear understanding between the director of air requirements and me that he and his team would be developing the requirements while I and my team would be doing the analysis against the requirements.

National Defence committee  The attributes of fifth-generation that really stand out are very low observable stealth, advanced sensors, the fusion of that sensor information both from on board the aircraft and off board, and the networking that allows that process to take place. The combination of all of these attributes allows fifth-generation capability to far exceed any other option that we considered, any fourth-generation, or four-plus, type of aircraft.

National Defence committee  Our biggest challenge, as you are aware, in flying fourth-generation and earlier aircraft was understanding what was going on around us, having situational awareness, and then determining, using the small amount of time that was left, how we would react to the tactical situation.

National Defence committee  Fifth-generation capability in terms of survivability and effectiveness is a total game-changer. It's a different level entirely.