OTTAWA –
Canada is officially buying the F-35 fighter jet, ending the long-running search to replace the aging CF-18 fleet where it began.
Defense Minister Anita Anand announced Monday that Canada had reached an agreement with the United States and F-35 maker Lockheed Martin to buy 88 of the planes at an estimated cost of $19 billion.
Officials at a technical briefing before the official announcement put the total cost of owning and operating the fighters over the next several decades at $70 billion.
“The fleet of advanced F-35 fighter jets will ensure our airmen have the long-term capability to defend the world’s second largest airspace,” Anand said.
“This will help us fulfill our commitments to Norad and NATO and will also bring concrete economic benefits to our country.”
As first reported by The Canadian Press last month, Anand said Canada is buying an initial set of 16 F-35s and will make additional orders in the coming years.
The first four aircraft are scheduled to be delivered in 2026, although officials say they will initially be based in the US while the Canadian military prepares the necessary facilities.
Royal Canadian Air Force pilots and technicians will train at bases in the U.S. while preparations are underway, with the F-35s scheduled to arrive in Canada no earlier than 2029.
The Canadian Press reported last month that the Ministry of Defense had been authorized to spend $7 billion on an initial batch of 16 F-35s and related equipment.
Officials confirmed at a briefing on Monday that Canada will buy the 88 planes in phases, with the initial cost including infrastructure upgrades, spare parts and other one-time costs.
They also said Canada would end up paying the same as the United States — about $85 million per plane — because it is one of eight partner countries that have paid for the development costs of the F-35 since 1997.
Canada has so far spent $712 million to stay at the table with the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Italy, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Stephen Harper’s Conservative government first committed to buying 65 F-35s without competition in 2010, before concerns about the stealth fighter’s cost and capabilities forced the government to go back to the drawing board.
The Liberals promised in 2015 not to buy the F-35, but instead to launch an open competition to replace the CF-18. They later planned to buy 18 Boeing Super Hornets without a tender as an “interim” measure until a full tender could be launched.
Some have questioned that plan, suggesting the Liberals are trying to find a way to lock Canada into the Super Hornet without opening it up to a legal challenge from Lockheed Martin or other jet makers.
But the government scrapped the plan after Boeing began a trade dispute with Montreal aerospace firm Bombardier. Ottawa began the current bidding process in July 2019, and the Super Hornet and F-35 were cleared to compete.
Asked about the Liberal government’s change of heart, Anand said, “The aircraft has matured. And now we see many of our allies, eight countries in particular, using the F-35.”
Meanwhile, the government was forced to spend hundreds of millions of additional dollars on the CF-18 fleet to keep flying until a replacement was available. By 2032, the CF-18 will be around 50 years old.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on January 9, 2023.
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