Canada reconsidering F-35 purchase amid tensions with Washington, says minister
Canada reconsidering F-35 purchase amid tensions with Washington, says minister
Canada is actively looking at potential alternatives to the U.S-built F-35 stealth fighter and will hold conversations with rival aircraft makers, Defence Minister Bill Blair said late Friday, just hours after being reappointed to the post as part of Prime Minister Mark Carney's new cabinet.
"reconsidering"?
Y'all haven't canceled all orders of everything yet? I know I would.
It's not like buying a car. Whatever amount has historically been paid for the aircraft is probably only a small portion of the amount invested in training maintenance personnel and facilities for manufacturing parts.
They definitely need to be shifting to other options but the current tiff with the US will be over before you can start phasing out the current fleet.
Americans will activate the kill switch on F-35s, along with all of their allies. US technology should not be trusted.
According to the subject experts I've heard on French news, there is no kill switch to immediately lock the engines or weapons. But, they can lock the software maintenance that is required at least one month and the flight planning software because both are centralized in the US, effectively crippling the planes.
Edit: detailed article https://theaviationist.com/2025/03/10/f-35-kill-switch-myth/
Also, even if both were offloaded, maintenance requires a long supply chain leading to the US. (Which is fine and dandy if you are the US—after all, the US military’s world-spanning logistics, which in peacetime can famously keep troops in the farthest corners of the world supplied with the comforts of home, is a marvel—though not so good if you’re an ally with any doubts about your standing with the US.) Now that the US’s reliability as a partner is in question, so is the safety of relying on such an arrangement.
That’s good news.
Can we ship Eurofighters over there? Imagine the burn 🔥 😆
And Dassault Rafales and Saab Gripens.