No deadline set for F-35 review as Carney repeats pledge to explore alternative fighter jets

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The review of Canada’s F-35 fighter jet purchase will take into account the work already done that led to the original selection of the U.S. aircraft but no final public deadline has been set for the evaluation.

The Department of National Defence and the Royal Canadian Air Force, which pushed for the purchase of the Lockheed Martin aircraft now being built in the U.S., will be conducting the review.

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Liberal Leader Mark Carney ordered the review of the F-35 purchase in the wake of an increasingly hostile United States and threats by President Donald Trump to damage Canada’s economy and annex the country.

Bill Blair, Carney’s defence minister, has said he will consult with the RCAF, the chief of the defence staff, as well as DND officials and allies. Few other details have been released about the review.

“We are currently in the early stages of scoping the review in a way that is both efficient and thorough,” DND spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin said in an email to the Ottawa Citizen. “The review would take into account the work already done to replace Canada’s current fighter jet fleet.”

DND would not answer when the review would be completed.

During an election stop in Halifax on March 25, Carney repeated his promise that if his party won the federal election it would look at the possibility of changing the F-35 purchase. “We have alternatives to the F-35 so we will explore those, as the ministers of defence and procurement will explore how the F 35 program could be adjusted, including greater investment here in Canada, greater production here in Canada,” Carney told a press conference.

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The Liberal government announced in 2023 it was spending $19 billion to buy 88 F-35s. But Canada has only financially committed to purchasing the first 16 jets.

The first of the F-35s will be delivered to a U.S. military base in 2026 and then into Canada in 2028.

Carney confirmed March 17 that he had discussions with French and British government officials about whether those countries could build a fighter jet in Canada.

Former defence procurement chief Alan Williams and various defence analysts have warned that the F-35 represented a strategic vulnerability for Canada since the U.S. has total control over software upgrades and spare parts on the aircraft.

Supporters of Canada’s F-35 purchase point to the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of contracts that Canadian companies have earned by supplying parts for the U.S. aircraft. That, in turn, has sustained or created Canadian aerospace jobs.

But on Feb. 28, the National Post reported that Trump had told Lockheed Martin he wanted those jobs back in the U.S. when the Canadian contracts came up for renewal.

The F-35 program has had a controversial history in Canada. The Liberal government originally committed funding to the development of the aircraft, but did not commit to purchasing the stealth fighter. As procurement chief, Williams oversaw the development initiative.

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At a high-profile news conference in 2010, featuring then-defence minister Peter Mackay sitting in the cockpit of a F-35 mock-up, the Stephen Harper government announced it was purchasing the plane. But increasing costs and technical problems dogged the F-35 program. In a 2012 interview with CBC, Conservative MP Chris Alexander claimed the government had never said it would buy F-35s despite obvious evidence to the contrary.

During the 2015 election campaign, Justin Trudeau vowed his government would never purchase the F-35. As prime minister, Trudeau continued to point out the Canadian military had no need for the F-35 and he blamed the Conservatives for agreeing to purchase a problem-plagued fighter jet.

But the Liberal government altered its usual procurement approach for the fighter jet purchase after the Trump administration threatened in 2019 to pull the F-35 from the Canadian competition. Usually, companies bidding on such large Canadian contracts are required to provide specific industrial and technological benefits, with dollar figures, that would be tied to the purchase of a particular piece of military equipment. That was changed for the fighter jet competition.

With the 2023 announcement, the Liberals not only committed to the acquisition, but also increased the number of F-35s to be bought to 88 from the 65 the Conservatives had wanted.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, including exclusive content for subscribers only, sign up here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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