The Avro arrow should have been cancelled. It has taken on a mystic and unrealistic aura over the years, with people believing it could have changed our military and technological future. That is a pipe dream. Its reputation has outgrown its reality. It encountered a variety of problems stopping it from coming into commission. It’s production and development experienced a massive amount of obstacles and costs soon went through the roof. Prime Minister Diefenbaker was under pressure from the US to join their defense plan by acquiring the American BOMARC missiles. The Bomber planes the Arrow was built to combat were being replaced. The general political field was undergoing a change with the liberals losing power to Diefenbaker’s conservatives …show more content…
The models were supposed to cost about 2 million per plane, but production quickly came across problems and prices soared to 12 million per unit . Canadian citizens, once entranced by the prospect of their own plane, quickly grew sour when reports of the cost came in. The fact that we were producing our own plane, without the aid of the USA meant we had to build it from scratch, meaning we needed to develop our own engines, fire control, missile systems and communication systems. At the time only superpower nations had enough financial might to design their own plane, and Canada just didn’t have enough money to keep putting into a non essential project like this . The project may have been popular with the people at first, but the government has an obligation to the people to spend its taxpayer dollars efficiently and wisely, which they decided was not in the Avro arrow …show more content…
In the Early 1950s Russia was undergoing a period of technological and strategic change, as they switched from bomber planes to missiles as their main carrier of nuclear warheads. The Soviet launch of an ICBM missile on august 27th officially started the era of missiles and made Canada’s development of a new interceptor impractical. Canada was under immense pressure from the USA to buy their BOMARC missiles and create a united North American system . These missiles would be able to intercept the Russian missiles as a part of a united north American defense system If Canada didn’t accept these missiles and place them along our artic border, the US would place them along the Canada-USA Border. This would be problematic because the fallout from those shot down missiles would destroy cities on the Canada-USA border, like Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and Thunder Bay. This made Canada’s participation in the BOMARC program essential. Once it was clear that the US would not purchase any Arrow version, the Canadian government decided it could not afford BOMARC, and the Arrow . This unfortunate reality doomed the Arrow’s
The Cold War was a period of dark and melancholic times when the entire world lived in fear that the boiling pot may spill. The protectionist measures taken by Eisenhower kept the communists in check to suspend the progression of USSR’s radical ambitions and programs. From the suspenseful delirium from the Cold War, the United States often engaged in a dangerous policy of brinksmanship through the mid-1950s. Fortunately, these actions did not lead to a global nuclear disaster as both the US and USSR fully understood what the weapons of mass destruction were capable of.
The Avro Arrow was Canada’s broken dream and it could have been one of Canada’s greatest aeronautical achievements. The cancelation of the Avro Arrow was a huge mistake that set Canada’s aviation industry back, which resulted in a Brain Drain to USA and was an act of Canada bowing to USA pressure. The Avro Arrow, an advanced, supersonic, twin-engine, all-weather interceptor jet aircraft developed by A.V. Roe of Canada in 1949, could have been many things. It might have become the fastest plane in the world, our best defense against Soviet bombers, the catalyst to propel Canada to the forefront of the aviation industry. Instead, it became a $400-million pile of scrap metal, and the stuff of legends. If A.V. Roe Ltd. remained and the Arrow flew today, Canada’s aircraft industry would be a very different thing indeed.
By the end of World War I the world was beginning to realize the ability air combat presented. When World War II started planes became much more effective. Though still fabric covered, the aircraft were faster and more agile than the variants used in the Great War. In 1938, the first year of the Second World War, Curtiss unveiled their P-40 Warhawk. This aircraft was one of the best of its time and laid the foundation for modern aircraft engineering. But by 1940 the German Luftwaffe had begun to develop faster, long-ranged fighter-bombers. All current Allied aircraft could not keep up with the long range of the B-17 bombers who needed escort. In 1940, North American Aviation received an order from Britain requesting another shipment of
John Diefenbaker was instrumental in bringing in the bill of rights, which "provides Canadians with certain quasi-constitutional rights in relation to other federal statutes," (wikipedia.com). The bill of rights was created in 1960 it gave Canadians Freedom of speech and freedom of religion, The right to life, liberty and security of the person, and in another section, rights to fundamental justice; these are all things that were left out of the charter. Diefenbaker also had some questionable decisions like the decision to cancel the Avro Arrow project, which was a mach-2 interceptor jet. This jet was supposed to be the Canadian Air Forces Interceptor from 1960 and beyond. The project had been started when the liberals were in power but in June 1957 the liberals lost the election to John Diefenbaker and the Conservatives. Diefenbaker thought that the project was taking too much time and money and in February 1959 he cancelled the project. Another policy that Diefenbaker passed was the Agriculture Rehabilitation and Development Act that was targeted at enhancing the viability of rural communities through improved resource use and retraining to facilitate the exit of marginal farmers to other jobs as well as authorized the Canadian Wheat Board to make advance payments to producers on a portion of their farm-stored grain. Diefenbaker also played a big part of getting free health care; in 1961 the Royal Commission on Health Services was created, it studied and reported on the health care needs of Canadians. The following year, the Government of Saskatchewan offered free access to physician services to all of its citizens. Diefenbaker set many bills, polices and acts into action but he was also vital in redefining Canada's culture identity.
Issues arose when people saw the price which was high in terms of money and resources. Alongside its high cost, the government saw no need for interceptors. The Prime Minister at the time wanted to use US Bomarc missiles because they cost less, people argued saying that Canada still needed interceptors that were Canadian made. The Avro Arrow would soon become a disaster of epic proportions.
...L., and Dean F. Oliver. The Oxford companion to Canadian military history. Don Mills, Ont.: Oxford University Press ;, 2011.
One real problem was that with early aviation, the ability to see other aircraft while flying was limited and usually a last second visual. Another problem was that as aircraft were being built, there were no real safety standards that were required, when building them. As a result, planes were literally falling apart in the air because of developmental faults. With all these accidents happening, it was becoming apparent that there were problems that had to be corrected, which needed to involve the Federal Government.
The economic progress Canada made after the war lead to the growth of the country. New industries emerged from innovations of products like automobiles, radios, television, digital computers and electric typewriters (Aitken et al., 315). Canadians quickly adapted back to the “buy now, pay later” strategy rather than careful budgeting during the Great Depression (Liverant). Almost everything that Canadians did was influenced from new inventions; television was the most influential. Canadians conversations, humour, and lifestyle were influenced from television (Aitken et al., 315). Trade relations between the United States and Canada had become more efficient due to the St. Lawrence Seaway. The mass development of the St. Lawrence Seaway, in 1954, was to provide a large wate...
The main lesson from Federation Square is that project definition and planning processes must be improved, particularly for large-scale, complex ‘icon’ projects. Prestige projects such as Federation Square have the capacity to create lingering major controversy and to become a sinkhole for taxpayers' funds and maybe the government of the
After the Korean War, it was believed that the United States’ nuclear build-up had played a key role in achieving armistice. At this time, early in President Eisenhower's term in office, he had announced his policy of nuclear superiority. During this time period of nuclear build up, the Soviet Union began to find ways to overcome deficiencies in their strategic technologies2. Not soon after Eisenhower made his policy known, Russia became the first country to successfully test ICBMs, or Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. These tactical nuclear weapons are land based rocket propelled vehicles capable of intercontinental range in excess of 4000 nautical miles....
Canada filled and changed the world with new technologies and new with its early inventions in 1914 to 1935. Firstly, Guglielmo Marconi invented the first radio. When he improved this invention, it changed the lives of many people in Canada and the world. (Newman, 177) People would use the radio when doing house work, to be more relaxed or to simply waste time. This is significant because Canadians thought it was very impressive. Soon the world started using it and it shows that Canada is advancing above every other country in the 20th century. Secondly, in October 1920, Dr. Frederick G. had a great idea to produce insulin to treat diabetes, and when he succeeded, he improved the living of Canadians through science and technology. When the insulin was first used in a fourteen-year old boy who obtained diabetes, the insulin worked to help his disease. When it worked, hundreds of diabetes came to Toronto to be treated after hearin...
...he Cuban missiles in exchange for a promise by U.S. leaders not to invade Cuba. The
In conclusion Canada gained independence because of a series of events that took place during the twentieth century. If it hadn’t been for these events, Canada to this day might have been a part of the British Empire. Through discussion on the Chanak affair we signalled that we wanted autonomy. Through our hard work and lives, the world knew we had the ability to stand alone as a strong nation. While, our international reputation of being a “peacekeeping” country the right to stand as an independent self-governing nation. But finally through the Canada Act, we stood solely independent from our Empire. It is obvious that the twentieth century provided us with great chances to become an independent strong nation.
The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty is a treaty, agreed upon by the US and the Soviet Union in the 1970s, that put limitation on ballistic missile defense systems. This treaty was meant for the aide of the two biggest nuclear capable superpowers in the world if it came down to nuclear warfare. The key takeaway from this treaty is that each superpower could only have two limited Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems with one guarding the country’s capital and the other guarding a designated launch area; at least 1,300 kilometers apart. The basic limitation that these two superpowers were facing was the fact that they were signing away their permission to advance their defense systems to cover the entire nation from incoming Intercontinental Ballistic