New Fighter Aircraft Project
The New Fighter Aircraft Project (NFA) was a Government of Canada defence procurement project undertaken in the late 1970s that saw the Department of National Defence (DND) select a single new fighter jet to replace the fleets of CF-101 Voodoo, CF-104 Starfighter and CF-116 Freedom Fighter aircraft in the Canadian Forces.
| New Fighter Aircraft (NFA) | |
|---|---|
| A Canadian CF-18, winner of the NFA Project, flies off the coast of Hawaii. | |
| General information | |
| Project for | Multirole fighter |
| Issued by | Canadian Forces |
| Proposals | General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet |
| History | |
| Outcome | F/A-18 selected for production as the CF-188 |
Several aircraft were considered for the project, which led to some internal friction among federal government procurement staff as different aircraft were favoured among different departments. Despite several changes of government, and after a somewhat contentious selection process starting on 17 March 1977, the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet was selected as the winner of the NFA project on 10 April 1980. Designated the CF-18 Hornet by Canadian Forces Air Command (now called the Royal Canadian Air Force), a total of 138 aircraft were delivered between 1982 and 1988.