Ed Majden wrote:

: The CF-105 Avro Arrow was often referred to as the most advanced
: fighter/interceptor of the day.

Yes, and that is about what was wrong with it :-). The
CF-105 had the misfortune of being a very big, very
expensive, highly specialised interceptor with all major
elements of the programme being very ambitious: Not only
the airframe, but also the engines, the avionics, and
the missiles. For a country like Canada, this was really
overstretching it, and something was bound to go wrong.
The risk might have been acceptable if the CF-105 had
had the all-round potential of the F-4, but it was
probably not flexible enough.

For a more sensible approach, look at Sweden, which has
similar air defense problems, and has designed several
generations of excellent fighter aircraft by staying with
more modest (but very effective) and flexible designs,
and using imported engines and weapons.

--
Emmanuel Gustin