Caught in trade crossfire, Canada reconsiders purchase of F-35 jets from US

Amid the ongoing economic tussle between the United States and Canada, Ottawa is reevaluating its planned purchase of American F-35 fighter jets. Before the tensions between the two nations escalated, Canada committed to buying at least F-35A Lightning II, a fifth-generation aircraft, produced by Lockheed Martin.

In light of the recent developments, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is weighing on whether to buy another 72 jets from the American defence company, The Hill reported. A mix of domestic political pressure, rising costs and an increasingly contentious relationship with US President Donald Trump has prompted the Carney government to reconsider its plans and find alternatives.

Vincent Rigby, who previously served as national security and intelligence adviser to former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, revealed that escalating rhetoric from Washington has pushed a lot of policymakers in Canada to rethink the defence relationship between the two neighbours, The Hill reported.

More from World

Cybersecurity, security liaison officers… What came out of Ajit Doval’s visit to Canada Canada’s Tumbler Ridge school attack: How mass shootings are rare in the country

“We defend the North American continent very closely with the United States. I think our national interest in that respect will always converge, we hope. At the same time, they’re saying stuff, doing stuff that really puts us in a difficult position,” Rigby said in an interview with the American news outlet.

“And so one of the things that we’ve been thinking about more and more is we should be buying less from the United States and diversifying our defence relationships, buying more equipment, procuring more stuff from Europe, from the Indo-Pacific region, from countries like South Korea. And this is a big break. This is a real, real departure," he added.

Quick Reads

View All

US-Iran tension: Third round of nuclear talks begin in Geneva — can it avoid war?

‘You have an amazingly efficient government’: Netanyahu praises PM Modi during Israel visit

What the initial plan was

Back in 2022, Canada agreed to purchase 88 F-35 fighter planes, which are known for flying nearly undetected into the adversary territory. The aircraft also function as battle management systems and carry long-range anti-ship missiles. However, the deal encountered hiccups with the delivery time sliding backwards and costs ballooning by more than $27 billion.

With the trade tensions flaring up between the two nations, Carney called for a review of the deal in March last year; that review remains ongoing. In the midst of this, the rift between the US and Canada over the F-35s seemingly widened last month when the US ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, said during an interview with CBC that if Ottawa does not buy the Lockheed Martin-made F-35s, North American Aerospace Defense Command ( NORAD), a defense partnership operated jointly by the two countries, “would have to be altered”.

He emphasised that a faltering of the deal would prompt Washington to fly over the Canadian airspace more frequently. However, the US State Department later clarified that Hoekstra was not threatening to change the terms of the agreement, which goes back to 1957. The department noted that the American diplomat was commenting on how Canada’s purchase of F-35s fits into plans to modernise the defence partnership.

“If Canada decided to significantly reduce its investment in the F-35, that would create a significant gap in the defence structure of North America,” the State Department said in a statement to The New York Times. “Filling that gap is not news; it is common sense.”

Search for an alternative

Amid the chaos, the Carney government is considering ordering the Swedish-built Saab JAS 39 Gripen, a fourth-generation aircraft, to upgrade its air fleet and replace the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet fighters. However, the Canadian military officers are urging the government to stick with the Lockheed Martin jets.

Others in Canada have argued that sticking with F-35s would leave Canada overly dependent on the United States and its now predictable foreign policies. It is pertinent to note that the Pentagon keeps a level of oversight over sustaining and upgrading the jets even after a sale.

“We just don’t know where the US is going to be in three, four or five years,” said Rigby, the former Trudeau adviser, who is currently a nonresident senior adviser with the Americas Program at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. “We need to walk a tightrope. We push back on the U.S. where we have to, we diversify where we have to, but we’re still going to buy equipment from them, and we still have common interests, in particular in the defence of North America,” he added.

While speaking at Davos last month, Carney touted Canada’s plan to double its defence spending by the end of this decade and to build up domestic industries. The Canadian Prime Minister emphasised that Ottawa is ‘rapidly diversifying abroad.’ Hence, it will be interesting to see how Washington reacts to the recent developments.