Russia’s Ukraine War Pushed Canada Into Buying F-35 Stealth Fighter

Canada has agreed to purchase 88 F-35 stealth fighter aircrafts from the United States. 2015 campaign promise Justin Trudeau, then-Liberal candidate, to end the Conservatives F-35 fighter jet programme.

This agreement makes America’s NORAD partner and NATO ally one of the eight original F-35 partners that will embrace the fifth-generation fighter. reported CNN. Canada had previously contributed over $600million to the development of the aircraft as part the program.

What about the details?

The Canadian government Announcement Monday’s announcement by the F-35 fighter-jet manufacturer was that it would purchase 88 F-35 fighter-jets under an agreement with Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney, both American aerospace manufacturers.

According to the National PostLockheed Martin agreed on the mandatory delivery criteria “the 9th fully mission capable future fighter platform will be delivered no earlier than 1 December 2025 and no later than 1 December 2027.”

The deal, which is worth approximately $14.2 billion USD (or $19 billion Canadian Dollars), represents Canada’s largest investment into its air force in 30 years. Canadian defense firms are reported to have won more than $1.4 Billion in F-35 part manufacturing contracts.

CTV News Not noted Canadian taxpayers may spend around $52 trillion on jets and their maintenance over their expected 40-year lifespan.

The delivery of the first four aircraft is planned for 2026. In 2027, six additional jets will be delivered, while six more will be available in 2028.

“The F-35 is a modern, reliable, and agile fighter aircraft used by our closest allies in missions across the globe. It is the most advanced fighter on the market, and it is the right aircraft for Canada,” According to the National Defence Department, Statement.

The RCAF Please indicate This acquisition is a “positive step forward” This will allow it to “enforce Canada’s sovereignty as outlined in Canada’s Defence Policy and meet Canada’s NORAD and NATO commitments for decades to come.”

Canada, like other American allies, has been growing increasingly wary about the threat of Chinese aggression, extra to the reality of Russian hostility.

Canada’s Defence Minister Anita Anand provided geopolitical context for the purchase, writing, “As our world grows darker, with Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable attack on Ukraine, and China’s increasingly assertive behavior in the Indo-Pacific, this project has taken on heightened significance – especially given the importance of interoperability with our allies.”

According to the U.S. State Department, American defense arrangements with Canada are more extensive than with any other country. Additionally, U.S. and Canadian military forces cooperate on continental defense within the framework of NORAD, the world’s only binational military command.

In part due to this interoperability, Canada’s aging air force and waning military capabilities have been cause for American concern in recent years. Former President Donald Trump called Canada “slightly delinquent” in 2019 for failing to live up to NATO’s target for spending on defense.

The Toronto Star reported that former President Barack Obama similarly made an issue of Canadian’s defense capabilities.

In 2021, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, David Cohen, underscored the need for “Canada’s policies [to] reflect its words in terms of the treatment of China,” adding that the northern nation and the U.S. had to improve their collaboration in taking on “the existential threat that is China.”

Canada, which was not brought into AUKUS, a defense alliance composed of the U.S., the U.K., and Australia, may also have been spurred by President Joe Biden’s suggestion to former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison that the “United States has no closer or more reliable ally than Australia — our nations have been together for a long time.”

Although it is unclear whether Canada will eventually join AUKUS, which Trudeau claimed was about nuclear submarines, the acquisition of the new F-35s will enable the Canadian military to more seamlessly operate alongside its allies, reported CTV News.

The purchase of the F-35s represents a significant about-face for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who criticized the previous Conservative government for considering the acquisition back when the Canadian-U.S. exchange rate was far more favorable.

Trudeau castigated the Conservatives for “cling[ing] to an aircraft [the F-35] that does not work and is far from working.”

He told reporters in 2015, “The Conservative government never actually justified or explained why they felt Canada needed a fifth-generation fighter. They just talked about it like it was obvious. It was obvious, as we saw through the entire process, that they were particularly, and some might say unreasonably or unhealthily, attached to the F-35 aircraft.”

Conservative defense critic James Bezan said with regards to Trudeau’s change of heart, “This is a situation where he originally said he would never buy the F-35 and did everything in his power to stop it from actually happening, but at the end of the day, this is the only modern fighter jet that can deliver the capabilities Canada so desperately needs.”

“And so here we are today, where Justin Trudeau has to eat crow and do what’s right for Canada, do what’s right for the Royal Canadian Air Force, and do it right for our NORAD and NATO allies,” added Bezan.