Canada to operate CF-18s to 2032

a reply to: thebozeian

Kuwait's are probably around 7-9 years younger. I'd also wager they haven't been pushed as hard with combat use either. 

All true. But experience would hint that while we wear ours out like an old farm pickup, the forces in the oil rich countries in the MidEast treat theirs like a fancy sports car that their dad bought-- it gets driven a lot, gets redlined surprisingly often, and the approach to regular maintenance is somewhat haphazard and when it is done, gets done by your buddy's cousin in the backyard.

Example, the Saudis just made a switch a few years ago and committed $2.5B for a decade or so of various contracts like this one, to do work that had previously been done only by Saudi firms like Al-Raha Group for Technical Services (RGTS). They think the open competition will get better maintenance and ultimately save them dollars.