Well, I’m all for the Canadians wanting to buy F-35’s.
That said, unless the Bear has developed some amazing capabilities in the last few years, a Hornet ought to be able to shoot one down as easily as a JSF. This incident would seem to be about Tu-95 crews being able to get close to Canadian airspace before they were detected by ground radar, not the capability of the response fighters.
Perhaps adding a couple dozen Hawkeyes to the defense budget might be in order?
I agree that advance surveillance should be the priority here, but I think the reason they want the F-35s is not to deal with the Bears or other long-range attack aircraft, but the modern fighters that would be accompanying a strikeforce. The Bears wouldn’t be alone.
I don’t know the range of the newest fighter the Russians have been bragging about, but it’s undoubtedly capable of in-air refueling. I can’t remember what they are calling it; there was an article here on FR within the last month about it. This latest Russian fighter would blow through a F-18 or F-15 fighter. I’ll bet that’s why the Canadian conservatives are wanting the JSF - their defense fighter screen needs the advantage of a low radar profile.