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Defence Watch recently reported that the Canadian government project to buy new fighter jets does not include replacement aircraft to deal with those lost to attrition.

The Liberal government says it will acquire 88 advanced fighter jets to replace the current fleet of CF-18s.

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The fleet size is based on the Canadian Armed Forces requirement to have sufficient fighter aircraft to fulfill Canada’s NORAD and NATO commitments simultaneously, based on planned aircraft serviceability rates and aircraft required for training, said RCAF spokesman Maj. Scott Spurr.

“If the RCAF loses any future fighters due to attrition, it would be a policy decision on whether attrition aircraft would be replaced, and if so how,” Spurr told Defence Watch.

The RCAF did not answer whether it had projected any estimates on how many aircraft are expected to be lost to attrition over the course of the program.

But some readers noted that in a 2012 examination into the Conservative plans to buy 65 F-35s, the Auditor General’s office pointed out that another 14 fighter jets might be needed to deal with attrition. Here is what the AG noted at the time: