The first part of the Canadian Cobra story is well documented by apophenia in
http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=3320.0Continuing that story a little further into the future:
The story of Canadian Airacobras and Canada Car and Foundry should have ended in the 1950's... and it almost did, except for two odd turns of fate.
First up, the acquisition of Canada Car and Foundry by Bombardier in the mid-1980's. Bombardier had been looking to gain respectability in the train market and the low fortunes of CC & F made the acquisition a natural fit. With CC & F came the intellectual property, including all licenses and rights.
The second important factor was an odd business decision made by CC & F management during the Second World War. It seems that CC & F leadership was loath to sign licensing deals that expired based on a date... they strongly preferred a deal that would expire based on number of examples built.
So it was that Bombardier was positioned to take advantage of two odd twists of fate, more than 60 years after the story should have ended. In those licenses, most long dormant and expired, was the rights of CC & F to build the Bell Airacobra (or derivatives). The rights included 2387 aircraft that had never been constructed. Arguably 623 serial numbers has been assigned to construction, but even if included that left 1764 examples yet to be built.
The experience of the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan had showed the lack of a close support or counter-insurgency aircraft. Given the lengthy staffing process common to such a bureaucracy, Canadian participation in Afghanistan had long ended before an appreciable action had been taken. In 2014 though, the Canadian Air Support/Reconnaissance (CASR) project was officially launched. Project definition was delayed with the standard games being played by Royal Canadian Air Force leadership, they wanted a specific type and wrote the specification to exclude all others.
Fortunately for the taxpayer, Public Works and Government Services Canada was watching closely. The RCAF had tried this before, with disastrous results. PW&GSC workers were quickly on the ball and reporting that the specification was unsuitable. PW&GSC refused to launch the project until the specifications was rewritten. The new specifications were somewhat more open, but still leaned heavily toward the RCAF's chosen fighter type. PW&GSC wasn't happy, and in March of 2015 the project was shut down. The RCAF finally relented and in December of 2015 the project was re-launched, with much broader specifications and requirements.
Bombardier had evinced little interest in the project before the re-launch. Even afterward, it just didn't seem to fit with anything Bombardier had, or could quickly draw up. It was with some regret that Bombardier would bow out, renewed national sentiments would have been an advantage in the ensuing contest. It was then that an aviation buff and archivist in the legal department came up with an idea. 1764
licenses remained of an old type, what if the base design were suitably updated? The Bombardier Airacobra was born.
PW&GSC required submissions by no later than July 7th of 2016, including a flyable prototype or a demonstrator. Bombardier met the requirement only barely. They did have a flyable prototype, even if it hadn't yet flown. That flight would take place on July 19th and an accelerated flight test program was launched. Expansion of the flight envelope progressed quickly and within 6 months weapons trials were almost complete.
In April of 2017 the CASR program flyoff began at CFB Cold Lake. The Canadian order was anticipated to be relatively small, only some 50 examples to be purchased. This lead to only three types being offered: the Beechcraft AT-6, the BAE Hawk and the Bombardier Airacobra. The Hawk was the favoured type of the RCAF, but the flyoff was not destined to proceed that way. The Beechcraft was quickly shown to rank 3rd in almost every test, but a surprising tie was forming between Hawk and Airacobra.
RCAF program managers were concerned, but not overly so. Their hand-picked winner was getting a run, but the final test would be the dissimilar air combat sorties held with participation of aircraft arriving early for the annual Maple Flag exercise. Surely the jet-powered Hawk would fair much better than the "prop-powered-pretender". So it was with fair confidence that they waited for the results of the DACM sorties over Cold Lake's Air Combat Maneuvering Range. The ACMR would let everybody know that the test had been impartial, and when the Hawk won the competition all would be well in the RCAF's world.
The tests were an unmitigated disaster. The longest time a Hawk survived from entering the merge was 2 minutes, 57 seconds. Modern fighters were simply overwhelming the aging Hawk. Far worse, the shortest time to kill an Airacobra was over 4 minutes... and in 3 of the 4 final sorties the 'Cobra had actually
WON. Seeing the Airacobra lead a BAE Typhoon back over the field was the last straw, and the end of the flyoff, Airacobra was the clear winner.
June of 2016 saw a stunned RCAF sign a contract for 54 examples of Bombardier's Airacobra. Production would start immediately. The first aircraft would be delivered in only 6 months and 4 Airacobras were in RCAF hands by the end of January 2017. By March deliveries were up to 6 per month, and the entire fleet was in RCAF hands before the end of 2017.
The new aircraft might bear the Airacobra name, and look like an Airacobra, but there was no mistaking that this was a new aircraft. The M39 cannon firing through the prop hub was replaced by a M242 chain gun in 30mm. There were no nose guns fitted above the cannon. The skin was smooth and flush, being composite over an aluminium/titanium frame. The canopy was somewhat reminiscent of the F-16, being frameless until a rear arch at the hinge point. The "car doors" were gone, but vaguely suggested by composite armour appliques.
The spinal intake was much larger, feeding the new Pratt & Whitney PT-6 turbine engine. The smooth sides of the aft fuselage were broken up by the fitting of IR exhaust shields and chaff/flare dispensers. The vertical tail was taller and squared off, showing the clear signs of electronic warfare antennae. The horizontal stabilizer and elevator were likewise square, with a full flying stabilizer trim setup.
Below the engine bay was the turret of an electro-optical sensor. Under the cockpit was a weapons hardpoint between the main gear bays. The wings shared the squared tips look of the empennage and now carried two underwing hardpoints each as well as a pair of .50 cal. machine guns. Each square wingtip also carried provisions for a rail mounted air-to-air missile.
Detractors of the propped-pretender had decried the lack of a radar fit. Bombardier had laughed and gleefully pointed out that WWII prop aircraft were capable of carrying a radar. A similar fit was carried on the outboard panel of the port wing of the new Airacobra. The radar was limited in range due to the small antenna size, but otherwise as capable as any other radar fitted to a modern fighter.
Bell Textron had been quiet up until now, which surprised many observers. Bell and Bombardier had quietly discussed the issue of the new Airacobra, and had re-confirmed the licensing agreement terms. Bombardier could export to any Commonwealth country, but exports to other countries were only as a Bell product. Bell would market the Airacobra internationally, but all construction would come from the Bombardier plants unless a US order was forthcoming. In the matter of a US order a new plant would be assigned to meet US requirements.
The Bombardier Airacobra entered service without much fanfare or even appreciation.
Time would tell a different story.