Summary and Key Points: The Carney government’s review of the F-35 deal has reached a “point of no return.” While the Prime Minister continues to weigh a mixed fleet including Sweden’s Saab Gripen, the Canadian government has started making payments for 14 more F-35s to secure critical “long-lead” components.
-This move comes amid a sharp diplomatic escalation: Ambassador Pete Hoekstra has warned that choosing an “inferior product” would force the U.S. to “fill the gaps” in Canadian airspace.
U.S. Marines with Marine Wing Support Squadron 371 , Marine Air Control Group 38, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), refuel a U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 225, Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 13, 3rd MAW, on a Forward Arming and Refueling Point at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Grounds, Yuma, Arizona, May 23, 2022. The weapons configuration consists of six inert GBU-12 bombs, four mounted onto the wings and two loaded into the weapons bay, as well as an AIM-9X air-to-air training missile. MAG-13 forces are capable of conducting Offensive Air Support, Antiair Warfare, and Aviation Reconnaissance from expeditionary sites in any clime and place. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Samuel Ruiz)
A Strategic Disaster? Why Canada Is Paying for 14 More F-35s Despite the Review
The Canadian government’s review of its purchase of F-35 fighter jets is ongoing. And it’s been ongoing for an uncommonly long time.
The deal was first agreed to in 2022 by the Liberal Party government under Justin Trudeau, under which Canada would acquire 88 of the jets.
New Prime Minister Mark Carney, who had talked on the campaign trail about reconsidering the deal, announced a review once he was elected early last year. A review was implemented last spring, with the understanding that Carney would have the final say. The idea is that Canada could either stick with the F-35s or adopt a hybrid fleet that also includes Swedish JAS 39 Gripen jets. Saab has proposed manufacturing those jets in Canada.
And that review has continued, into 2026, even as relations between the United States and Canada have continued to deteriorate, with President Donald Trump frequently musing about making Canada the 51st state. Canada agreed to a preliminary trade deal with China last month.
So, what’s the latest on the jet purchases?
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter on carrier operations.
Money Down on More F-35 Fighters for Canada?
CBC News reported on Tuesday that the Canadian government “has started to make payments for key components for 14 additional U.S.-built F-35s,” even with the government review still in progress.
“The money for these 14 aircraft is in addition to the contract for a first order of 16 F-35s, which will start being delivered to the Canadian Armed Forces at the end of the year,” the CBC report said. “According to sources, the new expenses are related to the purchase of so-called ‘long-lead items,’ which are parts that must be ordered well in advance of the delivery of a fully assembled aircraft.”
Had Canada not done this, per the report, it would have fallen behind in the delivery of such items.
The Department of National Defence told CBC News that the review of the jet purchase was “still underway.”
“We have acquired 16 F-35 fighter jets,” Defence Minister David McGuinty said in late January. “The question of further acquisition of that fleet remains under review.”
The CBC also noted that Carney may be using the F-35 purchase as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Trump.
“Each week, Trump adds another reason not to move forward with the F-35 and he is the one creating a negative spiral. This puts the Carney administration in a difficult position,” political scientist and defence specialist Justin Massie told CBC.
F-35 JSF. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
“The longer the decision is delayed, the harder it will be to back down,” he added. “Because once you’ve made financial commitments and signed contracts for the next batch, it’s always more complicated to go back.”
U.S. Jets in Canadian Airspace?
Meanwhile, in late January, U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra warned that the U.S. could alter the longstanding North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) agreement if Canada did not proceed with the full F-35 purchase.
Per a CBC News story last month, the ambassador has said that the U.S. will “fill those gaps,” which could entail the U.S. purchasing more F-35s and using them to intervene in Canadian airspace.
“NORAD would have to be altered,” Hoekstra said in the interview. “If Canada is no longer going to provide that [capability], then we have to fill those gaps.”
What would happen if Canada goes with the Swedish jets rather than F-35s?
“If they decide,” Hoekstra told CBC, “they’re going with an inferior product that is not as interchangeable, interoperable as what the F-35 is, that changes our defence capability. And as such, we have to figure out how we’re going to replace that.”
Denmark’s Advice to Canada
Meanwhile, per that same CBC story, a politician in another country that has been the recipient of Trump sabre-rattling has issued some advice to Canada.
Trump has called since the launch of his second presidency for a U.S. takeover of Greenland, which is controlled by Denmark. Denmark has also purchased F-35s, but the head of the defense committee in Danish parliament, Rasmus Jarlov, is having “second thoughts” about that purchase- and has suggested Canada rethink its own F-35 purchase.
Jarlov has advised Canada: “Choose another fighter jet.”
F-35 fighter.
An F-35A Lightning II taxis down the flightline in a Beast Mode weapons configuration July 22, 2020, at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. The weapons configuration consists of six inert GBU-12 bombs, four mounted onto the wings and two loaded into the weapons bay, as well as an AIM-9X air-to-air training missile. The Beast Mode weapons configuration provides F-35 B-Course student pilots with the additional training and experience needed for potential combat sorties and helps train the world’s greatest F-35 pilots and combat ready Airmen. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Alexander Cook)
“They’re in for repairs about half the time or even more,” he said, “so the Americans have all the power of actually destroying our air force just by shutting down [parts] supplies.”
And the CBC story in January also noted that according to a poll of Canadians commissioned by Ekos Politics, “72 percent support incorporating Sweden’s Gripen into Canada’s fighter fleet, either by switching to the aircraft for all future purchases or by maintaining a mixed fleet of both Gripens and F-35s.”
A Stanley Cup Threat?
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, this week, threatened something even more sacred to Canadians than any fighter jet: Hockey.
“As everyone knows, the Country of Canada has treated the United States very unfairly for decades,’ Trump said in a Truth Social rant on Monday. He then went on to complain about the construction of the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, and to threaten to block its opening.
“I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve. We will start negotiations, IMMEDIATELY,” the president said.
Gordie Howe, of course, was a hockey great. And Trump went on to predict that if the trade deal between China and Canada goes through, China will somehow eliminate Canada’s most popular sport.
“The first thing China will do is terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup,” Trump said. China has not, to anyone’s knowledge, threatened to take away Canada’s favorite sport or the trophy awarded to its champion.
Whether all of that – the jet order, the bridge opening, and various other trade disputes — gets rolled up into an eventual trade agreement remains to be seen. But Lord Stanley’s Cup is almost certainly safe.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
