After a long debate within the country, In 2022 Canada decided to acquire 88 units of the in order to replace your F-18 fleet.
The order was formalized in January 2023, with a cost of 15,000 million dollars (almost 14,000 million euros, to the current exchange), although The estimation of total operating costs of the fleet is 52,000 million dollars (approximately 47,000 million euros). It is expected that The first fighters are delivered to Canada in 2026.
However, The deterioration of relations between the United States and Canada from the arrival at the White House of Donald Trump (who talked openly about the possibility of Canada someday becoming the 51st State of the United States and) He has put that arms agreement at risk.
Last Friday, Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blairwhich has been re -elected after the remodeling of the government caused by the resignation of Trudeau and arrived to power of Mark Carney, He announced that his department was “actively studying possible alternatives to f-35 hunting” and that “he would hold conversations with rival aircraft manufacturers.”
“The prime minister has asked me to have conversations with other sourcesin particular when there may be opportunities to assemble these fighters in Canada, “said Canada’s Minister of Defense.
As Efe collects, One of the possible alternatives to the United States F-35 with which Canada could count It would be the Super Rafale, an advanced version of the French Dassault Rafale.
In any case, it should be noted that The request for the first 16 American F-35 combat planes has already been partially paid by Canadaso the fighters will foresee themselves.
Consequently, in the event of backing in the purchase of the rest of the committed units, The country led by Mark Carney would be forced to keep two fleets of fighters.
