An illuminating account of the complexities of aircraft procurement in the early years of the Cold War before the ill-fated Arrow project.
Description
The cancellation of the CF-105 Arrow in 1959 holds such a grip on the Canadian imagination that earlier developments in defence procurement remain obscure. Randall Wakelam corrects this oversight – and offers fresh insight on the AVRO saga and contemporary procurement issues – by revealing how cabinet ministers, chiefs of staff, and air marshals negotiated competing pressures to arm the air force, please allies, and save money during a decade when Canada’s air force was growing by leaps and bounds. The result was the CF-100 Canuck and the F-86 Sabre, Canada’s front-line defensive aircraft in the coldest years of the Cold War.
Reviews
Very readable and well-researched…Wakelam has made an important contribution to the historiography of the Canadian aircraft industry and the institutional history of the RCAF. By providing the context, analysis, and research strength that was lacking in previous non-scholarly publications on Canadian air force procurement, Cold War Fighters succeeds in bridging the gap between academic and popular history.
- Richard Goette, Canadian Forces College, Royal Military College of Canada
Wakelam uses his previous experience in the Air Force and within the aircraft procurement environment to contextualize the archival material he has unearthed to render an exceptional examination of aircraft procurement that is as relevant today as during the 1950s.
- Colonel Simon Sukstorf
Cold War Fighters confronts the reality of a nation that aspired to great technological advancements in the air and how it dealt with its limitations rooted in the lack of experience designing and producing advanced military platforms. Wakelam is able to properly instill feelings in the reader that range from enthusiasm at Canada’s successes and frustration caused by the industrial failures that hindered the potential to become a world renowned producer of jet aircraft.
- Aaron Plamondon, Mount Royal University