Canada’s 40-Year-Old CF-18 Hornets Are Running Out of Airframe Life. Replacing Them Became Its Biggest-Ever Fighter Fight

Canada’s 40-Year-Old CF-18 Hornets Are Running Out of Airframe Life. Replacing Them Became Its Biggest-Ever Fighter Fight

For four decades the CF-18 Hornet has been the backbone of the Royal Canadian Air Force, and it is now worn out and running short of airframe life. Replacing it should have been simple after Canada picked the F-35 in 2022. Instead the aging Hornet became the forcing function behind a saga that has swollen into a possible 140-aircraft, three-tier air force split between American and Swedish manufacturers, a fight over sovereignty, jobs, and depen…