In January 2023, the Canadian government finalized the contract with Lockheed Martin to acquire 88 F-35A Lightning II fighter jets, aiming to replace the aging CF-18 fleet. However, Ottawa committed to funding only 16 aircraft, the first of which is due to arrive in 2026, and is not legally bound to purchase the remaining 72 from Lockheed Martin.
Israel got this in their contract, so there is precident. It seems a totally reasonable demand in the negotiations over this.
In the current Canada-US political climate?
I guess we could and if they say no, we use that to cancel the rest.
In the current climate this shouldn’t make a difference. Every military and IT contract with the US, that can be cancelled, should be.
The contracts should be made with Europe, including self-sovereignty clauses.
99% sure SAAB offered this up front to try to differentiate themselves from the F35 but that’s from memory.
The only issue is that Europe is still a while away from having a fifth gen or better fighter so if you want one then the F35 is the only currently available option.
For sure. I rather meant that it’s unlikely the US would let Lockheed give us the unmanaged F35 version.