The American-built F-35 fighter jet dominated its Swedish rival Gripen in terms of technical and military capabilities during a competition held by the Defence Department in 2021.
The competition focused on each fighter jet’s capabilities in defending the North American continent and the likelihood of success in various missions against modern military forces.
The F-35 got a score of 95 per cent on military capabilities, with a total of 57.1 points out of 60.
By contrast, the Gripen-E finished with a score of 33 per cent, netting 19.8 points out of 60, according to the Department of National Defence (DND) ranking obtained by Radio-Canada.
The gap is particularly significant in scoring for “mission performance” and ability to upgrade the aircraft over its life cycle.
Asked to comment on the results of the competition, DND said the review of the F-35 purchase is ongoing.
Several experts, as well as representatives from the two companies in the running, said they had never seen the precise figures before now.
The stark difference between the two aircraft might help explain the Trudeau government’s decision to renege on its 2015 electoral promise not to proceed with the F-35 purchase, said David Perry, president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
“The capability assessment here says that there is a clear-cut winner, no contest, no ambiguity,” he said. “I’d expected that [the F-35] was going to be a clear winner, but this is a winner by a mile.”
The DND assessment suggests the Gripen’s results were “systematically inferior” to the F-35 in terms of military capabilities, said Justin Massie, a defence expert at the Université du Québec à Montréal.
He said the results are particularly interesting as Canada is reviewing the possibility of buying fewer F-35s in favour of Gripens.
“Do we want a less capable aircraft for Canada?” Massie said.
Former Royal Canadian Air Force lieutenant-general Yvan Blondin says the numbers confirm there is no real competition between the F-35 and all the other American or European aircraft that were once in the running for the Canadian contract.
The F-35’s advantages reside in its greater stealth and ability to integrate information from various military assets, such as ships, other F-35s and surveillance aircraft, he said.
“When you compare them, they’re not even close,” said Blondin, who retired from the Canadian Armed Forces in 2015. “The F-35 is the best fighter jet in the world, by far.”
Still, another retired officer, Charles “Duff” Sullivan, argued the air force has long wanted the F-35 and that the criteria used in the 2021 competition favoured the aircraft.
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Sullivan said the F-35 development program is experiencing setbacks and delays, which means that Canada will not necessarily obtain all the technical capabilities that have been promised by Lockheed Martin.
“The Canadian project office has always been 100 per cent in favour of the F-35,” said the former major-general, who worked for Boeing Canada after leaving the air force.
After comparing the F-35 and the Gripen, Ottawa determined that the two aircraft met its minimum mandatory requirements. After considering technical capabilities, long-term cost and economic benefits, however, the government awarded the contract for 88 jets — now estimated to be worth over $27 billion — to Lockheed Martin in 2022.
Order under review
The Carney government launched a review of the American jet purchase in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies.
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said last week the government is looking at switching to the Gripen for most of its fleet if Lockheed Martin does not improve the contract’s economic benefits to Canada.
“I don’t believe that we’ve had enough jobs created and industrial benefits done out of the F-35 contract,” Joly said. “I think Canadians expect more, and we should get more.”
Representatives from Saab, which manufactures the Gripen, said they never had access to the final scores of the 2021 competition and could not comment on them.
Still, they defended the Gripen as a robust, state-of-the-art aircraft, easily adaptable to threats and designed to be upgraded faster than any of its competitors.
“It’s built for a mission that we still don’t know, and it’s built for technology that we still haven’t seen,” said Marcus Wandt, a Gripen pilot who is vice-president in charge of technology at Saab.
He said the aircraft is easier to maintain and operate than the F-35, notably in Arctic conditions.
“One of the big capabilities right now is that it’s so upgradable and updatable, so you can keep it relevant for a long time,” Wandt said.
Lockheed Martin did not comment directly on the results, but said its aircraft is “the best choice for Canada.”
For now, Canada has only placed a firm order for 16 F-35s.
Future of mixed fleet
If the government chooses a mixed fleet, the Gripens would be assembled in Canada.
The Carney government has said it is interested in Saab’s promise to create 10,000 jobs to assemble fighter jets domestically for the Canadian Armed Forces and the international market.
It was already understood when Canada signed its contract with Lockheed Martin that it did not include a traditional economic benefits package. The order was placed through the international partnership that developed the aircraft and in which Canada has participated since 1997, thus ensuring a lower acquisition price.
Overall, Lockheed Martin is promising benefits of more than $15 billion over the life of the contract, noting there is approximately $3 million in Canadian content in each of the 3,600 jets that will be delivered to various militaries.
There is already equipment manufactured in Canada on more than 1,000 delivered jets.
“That’s not just airpower. It’s jobs, skills and prosperity for all F-35 partner nations, including Canada,” said Lockheed Martin in a statement.
But the firm recently warned that the economic benefits of the F-35 purchase will “shrink” if Canada reduces its order.
Massie said the government should not decide to purchase a military aircraft like the Gripen based on promises of Canadian jobs. The objective, he said, should be to evaluate whether a second fleet could complement the F-35 based on the country’s long-term military needs.
“It’s not up to the minister of industry to define Canada’s military needs,” he said. “Defence policy isn’t about jobs.”
And Blondin said the prospect of a mixed fleet should be a longer-term project, when fighters will fly alongside a new generation of combat drones.
Sullivan said Canada should commit to a purchase of 24 F-35s and explore the possibility of buying Gripens, given that it was the only other aircraft to qualify in 2021.
