$ 338 Billion is an obscene figure for 40 F-18's. The design is 30 years old. It is a fuel pig, and would require an expansion of extension of a refueling fleet. It has a very poor thrust to weight ratio and practically no effective combat range for Canada. It was developed as a fleet defense - coastal attack aircraft, but it's days are over because new missiles make them obsolete.

I'm encouraged by the phrase 'buy more jets for less money' as that would seem to point to the Saab Grippen, which I think would be a great choice. It carries every air to air and air to ground missile out there, including the new Meteor, it cost's only $ 4,000 US an hour to operate and you can change an engine in 30 minutes. Total air to ground to air time is 10 minutes. I wonder if they have the guts?