The Department of National Defence is actively considering whether to retire some older ships, planes and other items of equipment that have become difficult and costly to maintain — including the aircraft belonging to the iconic Snowbird demonstration squadron.
Not sure you need the experience to judge based on the article, but I hear you. I cannot imagine the time and effort to keep those birds in the air, and it is indeed the end of an era. The snowbirds were a staple of every air show I ever went to.
To your point about what comes next, I don’t see any reason to purchase manned air craft in the current climate. Air superiority is obviously important, but the landscape is drastically changing with drones being more and more invested in. I think we should pivot our Air force to unmanned and work on something that could actually guard our arctic regions, considering Drones aren’t a fan of the cold, over getting some shiny new jets.
https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2023/12/canada-acquiring-remotely-piloted-aircraft-systems-for-the-canadian-armed-forces.html