Col (Ret) Dr. Alan Stephenson argues that the narrow focus of the Standing Committee on National Defence’s Report on Canada and the Defence of North America: NORAD and Aerial Readiness has again shaped the discussion on the requirements for fighter operations to feed into a predetermined narrative – one that focusses on stealth, number of engines, immediacy of replacement and flyaway costs. This, unfortunately, is a continuation of the politicization of the whole procurement saga of a replacement fighter for the CF-18.