Dr. Clarke doubts a near-term Canadian carrier purchase based on his conversations with people close to Canadian politics. A Gerald R. Ford-class carrier is considered especially difficult to support because of its scale relative to Canada's economy. A smaller carrier comparable to Charles de Gaulle is imagined as a more plausible prestige purchase. Even that possibility is treated as unlikely.
Notable Point · 3:50:54-3:52:06
Could Canada afford a large aircraft carrier?
A brief assessment questions both Canadian political appetite for a carrier and the economic scale of operating a Ford.