With Donald Trump pitching poo about the amount of Fentanyl crossing the border from Canada into the United States and blathering about annexation, we folk North of the Wall have gotten what you'd call a little hostile. We've imposed trade tariffs in response to the tariffs placed on our goods. American hooch? Not on our shelves. Those Lockheed Martin F-35s that the Royal Canadian Air Force really, really needs to replace our aging CF-18 Hornets? Kicked to the curb.
Mostly.
Canada's to spend $19-billon on 88 of Lockheed Martin's fifth-generation stealth fighters. Right now, we're contractually required to fork over for 16 of the things. The other 72? Not so much. If you were in the Canadian government's boots, you'd likely be feeling the same: No one wants their weapon systems supplied by a nation, giving most of its long-time allies the 'no' feeling. It'd be a cinch to deny the owner of the plane's spare parts, software upgrades, and other needful things over the lifetime of the aircraft were relations to get worse. Lockheed Martin knows this. According to The Globe and Mail, the company wants to make nice with Canada in an effort to sell the remaining planes to the angry Commonwealth nation.
A senior government source with direct knowledge of the F-35 purchase program told The Globe and Mail that it's not just about the purchase price, but also about jobs. Lockheed Martin has approached Ottawa on the offer of more jobs in Canada if we purchase all the jets, the source said.
… Lockheed Martin did not offer to build the F-35 in Canada, or specifically guarantee Canadian jobs. Instead, it announced a competitive process where the F-35 "partner nations" could bid on supplying components to the jet or offer research and development programs.
"Canada has been a strong partner on the program since 2002 and a critical part of the supply chain prior to procurement of aircraft," Lockheed Martin said in a statement.
Tempting! But do you know what's more tempting? Being able to build your own damn planes, soup to nuts, in your own damn factories on your own damn soil. Saab's been fine with letting Brazil build the JS-39 Grippen since 2023, with the first of 15 of the fighters scheduled to be birthed later this year. They've offered the capability to build the Grippen to Canada as well.
It'll be interesting and a little tense to see how this all plays out.
Image via Wikipedia Commons – By U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Donald R. Allen
