Amidst the trade war with America, the F-35 development program has emerged as the target of the Canadian public’s ire. However, as Canada reviews the country’s decision to remain in the program, the Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier Inc. has a word of caution.
Bombardier Chief Executive Officer Eric Martel has flagged that Canada’s decision to review the F-35 may backfire. Canadian companies have contracts with the Pentagon that could be revoked should Ottawa pull out of the F-35 program.
In addition, the quest to find an alternative to the F-35 can be blocked by the US, which supplies crucial components like engines for some European fighter jets.
New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has ordered a review of the F-35 purchase agreement that was signed in 2023. Canada agreed to purchase 88 5th-generation fighter jets for $19 billion Canadian (US$13 billion). While the deal hasn’t been scrapped, the government has asserted that it needs to “make sure that the contract in its current form is in the best interests of Canadians and the Canadian Armed Forces,” a defense ministry spokesperson said.
The deal is one of the country’s largest defense expenditures. Canada has already paid for the first 16 airplanes scheduled for delivery early next year.
Martel has underscored that there could be some reciprocity in the ongoing volatile ties between the two North American neighbors. “Canceling the F-35s might be a good idea, but we need to think about it,” Bombardier Chief Executive Officer Eric Martel told business representatives in Montreal. “We have contracts with the Pentagon. Will there be reciprocity there?”
Canadian aerospace and defense companies have benefited from participating in the F-35 development program. They have received contracts to manufacture F-35 components, creating thousands of high-paying jobs, stimulating innovation, and positioning Canadian companies as key players in the global defense supply chain.
Bombardier currently has two contracts with the US government—one for communication aircraft and the other for surveillance planes. The Montreal-based firm delivered the first Bombardier Global 6500 aircraft to the US Army’s High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) program.
The Global 6500 is a next-generation intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft that can fly higher, faster, and farther than legacy airborne sensor platforms. It is the first ISR aircraft in the US Army to use a large-cabin business jet with advanced deep-sensing capabilities.
The Global 6500 is key to the US Army’s revamping of its aerial reconnaissance and electronic warfare as it moves away from the aging Guardrail turboprop planes and gears up for a potential large-scale conflict with Russia and China. The US Army wants a plane with much greater endurance, speed, and payload capacity that can see, detect, and target threats from farther distances.
In October 2024, Bombardier Defense delivered the eighth Bombardier Global aircraft to the United States Air Force for the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) program. Bombardier has a multi-year agreement with the USAF to provide a distinctive and reliable airborne communications platform essential for completing critical missions across air, space, land, and sea.
Kashmir: How United Nations Is Directly Responsible For One Of World’s “Longest Running” Conflicts
About 60 percent of Bombardier’s business is from the US, and its planes are manufactured and supplied under the Canada-US-Mexico (CUSMA) agreement. Bombardier’s defense supply chain includes manufacturing in the US and Mexico. Its US suppliers are spread across 47 states.
Giving a reality check, Martel said that two-thirds of the country’s aerospace industry exports depend on the US.
Martel argued for a continued partnership with the US despite losing a $7 billion (USD 4.89 billion) deal to supply surveillance jets to Canadian forces to the American aircraft manufacturer Boeing. This was followed by its stocks nosediving by 18 percent after President Trump’s re-election. But a hopeful Martel underscored that it remains up 50 percent year-on-year.
Nixing The F-35 Deal
America’s new President, Donald Trump, started his new tenure with a slew of bombastic decisions that have riled up the country’s allies. The President has been ratcheting ties with Canada through statements like making its northern neighbor its 51st state and levying 25 percent tariffs on imports of Canadian goods that fall outside the purview of CUSMA.
In addition, he has imposed a 25 percent import duty on aluminum and steel products, which has started a trade war between the two North American countries. The Canadian public has been clamoring for the nixing of the F-35 deal as America becomes “isolationist and unreliable.”
As a Canadian citizen wrote to the EurAsian Times recently, “With recent developments in Canada-US relations, there is a real threat of the US denying code or parts that would ground Canada’s air defenses at Washington’s whim. It is very dangerous for one country to have control of another country’s air force.”
In light of these sentiments, Canada’s new Defence Minister, Bill Blair, stated last week that Canada is actively considering alternatives to the American-built F-35 stealth fighter and will speak with competitor aircraft manufacturers.
According to Blair, the initial F-35s might be approved, and the rest of the fleet could consist of planes from European vendors, like the Saab Gripen, which was built in Sweden and placed second in the competition. If Canada cancels the F-35 deal, it could turn to the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), a European joint fighter project led by France, Germany, and Spain.
Canadian Prime Minister Carney confirmed on March 17 that he has discussed with French and British government officials whether those countries could build fighter jets in Canada.
However, Canada’s quest to find an alternative would not be easy.
Whether the Canadian government decides to buy Eurofighters or Gripen, it faces the prospect of the US vetoing the deal as the jets contain US components. For instance, an American General Electric engine powers the Gripen.
Trump Proposes U.S. Takeover Of Ukraine’s Nuclear Plants To Secure Ceasefire, End Russia-Ukraine War
“The ability of the Americans to block (a sale) would be highest with the Gripen because of the engine,” defense analyst Martin Shadwick, who retired after teaching strategic studies at York University in Toronto, was quoted as saying by a Canadian news outlet. “Rafale would have the least American content,” he added.
The Gripen is by far the most dependent on international parts.
The Typhoon Eurofighter, built by a consortium of the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Spain, does not have an American engine. It is powered by the Eurojet EJ200, mostly made by the UK’s Rolls-Royce.
However, European aircraft also have some American DNA. US contractors supply different systems for fighter jets. Lockheed Martin supplies the Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod, Collins Aerospace provides the Large Area Display, Honeywell manufactures Life Support Systems, and Northrop Grumman has been contracted for Inertial and satellite navigation systems.
For French Dassault Rafale, US contractors like HiRel Connectors Inc. supply Electrical and electronic Connectors, Collins Aerospace provides Pitot probes, ice detectors, and air data total air temperature sensors, the Lee Company provides Hydraulic Systems and restrictors, Lockheed Martin has been contracted for the Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod, and Aerotech Herman Nelson, Inc. supplies Portable heaters (Canadian contractor).
The US has recently blocked the sale of Saab’s Gripen E fighter jets to Colombia, citing restrictions on the export of the General Electric F414-GE-39E engine. The veto has left Colombia scrambling for alternatives and raised concerns about similar restrictions affecting Peru, which is also evaluating the Gripen E as part of its air force modernization efforts.
Despite its animosity towards the US, Canada’s decision to move away from its neighbor and ally will not be easy.
