Posted on 03/17/2025 12:25:09 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
* Canada is reviewing its contract with Lockheed Martin for F-35 fighter jets, the country's Defense Minister said.
* The review comes amid rising tensions between Ottawa and Washington.
* It comes after Portugal said it was also reconsidering purchasing the jet.
Speaking to CBC, Bill Blair said he had spoken with newly appointed Prime Minister Mark Carney and that they were now looking at "other alternatives" to the F-35.
"It was the fighter jet identified by our air force as the platform that they required, but we are also examining other alternatives," Blair said.
"Whether we need all of those fighter jets to be F-35s or if there might be alternatives, the prime minister has asked me to go and examine those things and have discussions with other sources, particularly where there may be opportunities to assemble those fighter jets in Canada," he added.
Canada finalized a contract in 2023 to purchase 88 F-35 jets for C$19 billion (around $13.2 billion). It has made a legal commitment of funds for the first 16 aircraft.
The first jet is expected to be delivered to the F-35 training center at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona in 2026. The jet is set to arrive in Canada in 2028.
In a statement to Business Insider, Canada's Office of the Minister of National Defence confirmed that the defense minister had been asked to work with the Canadian armed forces and the Department of National Defence to evaluate whether the F-35 was the best investment for Canada and if there were other options that could better meet the country's needs.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Canada is really having a snit fit. Perhaps a suspension of visitation rights to the US is in order.
Fine. Go buy a Eurofighter or even the latest SU from Putin.
Fold paper....
From what I read about the contracting to build and fly the F35, countries would agree to buy a certain amount and in turn would get contracts to build part of it. Not sure about all the countries involved.
Start by clearing them out of Yuma first...PLEASE!!
Canada can’t afford more than a few Sopwith Camels.
You beat me to it. Let them try those Euro fighters. 😏
When you need a fighter, you really need a good fighter.
Being childish will just get people killed.
Hopefully they still have the plans for Sopwith Camels.
I wonder how many of our so-called allies are lying about the number of military personnel they have in uniform...
And what they’ve got in terms of armament, equipment, capability...
If they are lying through their teeth, that’s another reason to refuse to institute a draft.
Meanwhile...
Considering how Carney was installed, not a shocker, eh?
Should have kept the tooling for the F-22. We’ll need them when we go to war with the Caliphate of Europistan.
They are a plague here in Phoenix too. Pasty snow communists.
So Canada and Portugal will be updating their fleet with what?
Is their military strategy to bite their noses to spite their faces? Good luck with that.
Perhaps both Canada and Portugal should consider Cessnas?
Well, the Sopwith Camels are pretty stealthy. The Japanese were building wooden and canvas biplanes to use as suicide planes to defend Japan against the US in 1945. They don’t set off proximity fuses.
Give them some hand held bombs to augment the pair of .303 Vickers synchronized MGs. That’ll make them a real threat.
"Should have kept the tooling for the F-22."
If not, they can motorize a few beagle doghouses.
“Fine. Go buy a Eurofighter or even the latest SU from Putin.”
The Ukrainians say the Russian SU-35 is doing better than the F-16s, but I doubt Russia would sell the Europeans that aircraft...so they’re stuck with US hardware.
(glad our resident “I know everything about military hardware” guy got the ZOT today!)
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