Canada Canada picks the F-35 in fighter replacement competition

Nilgiri

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TORONTO — Canada has selected Lockheed Martin’s F-35 as the preferred offering in the country’s competition to buy a new fighter jet, government officials said Monday.

Canada plans to buy 88 new fighter jets to replace its CF-18s. The government has budgeted about CA$19 billion (U.S. $15 billion) for the purchase.

Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi said Lockheed was deemed to be the top-ranked bidder.

Delivery of the first aircraft would be scheduled for 2025 if an agreement is reached. If an agreement is not reached, the government has the option to enter into talks with Saab, whose Gripen fighter came second to the F-35 in the competition.

Lockheed Martin is an American company, and Canada has a close relationship with the United States. The neighbors use fighter jets together to defend North American airspace.

Canada previously ruled out Boeing’s Super Hornet in the competition.

A former Conservative Canadian government previously announced the purchase of the F-35, but the current Liberal government delayed that purchase and opened up the bidding to competition. Tassi said Canada will get a better deal now.

Before becoming prime minister, Justin Trudeau said Canada wouldn’t buy the F-35.

Defence Minister Anita Anand has said the decision to pick the F-35 was done without political interference. “We’re living in a new reality,” she said, referring to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

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@DAVEBLOGGINS @Ted Barnes et al.

Any thoughts on this and the extra time and money spent to just circle back on the original decision?
 

DAVEBLOGGINS

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TORONTO — Canada has selected Lockheed Martin’s F-35 as the preferred offering in the country’s competition to buy a new fighter jet, government officials said Monday.

Canada plans to buy 88 new fighter jets to replace its CF-18s. The government has budgeted about CA$19 billion (U.S. $15 billion) for the purchase.

Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi said Lockheed was deemed to be the top-ranked bidder.

Delivery of the first aircraft would be scheduled for 2025 if an agreement is reached. If an agreement is not reached, the government has the option to enter into talks with Saab, whose Gripen fighter came second to the F-35 in the competition.

Lockheed Martin is an American company, and Canada has a close relationship with the United States. The neighbors use fighter jets together to defend North American airspace.

Canada previously ruled out Boeing’s Super Hornet in the competition.

A former Conservative Canadian government previously announced the purchase of the F-35, but the current Liberal government delayed that purchase and opened up the bidding to competition. Tassi said Canada will get a better deal now.

Before becoming prime minister, Justin Trudeau said Canada wouldn’t buy the F-35.

Defence Minister Anita Anand has said the decision to pick the F-35 was done without political interference. “We’re living in a new reality,” she said, referring to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

============================

@DAVEBLOGGINS @Ted Barnes et al.

Any thoughts on this and the extra time and money spent to just circle back on the original decision?
Finally!! What took so long? After 10 years of wasting time and money!! We could have had these F-35's operational by now! What a waste!!
 

Ryder

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Finally!! What took so long? After 10 years of wasting time and money!! We could have had these F-35's operational by now! What a waste!!

To make matters worse. Canada worked on the F35 but they basically for years rejected a plane they made and took part in.
 

DAVEBLOGGINS

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To make matters worse. Canada worked on the F35 but they basically for years rejected a plane they made and took part in.
Could not agree more Ryder!! And they are still throwing money at this program! Maybe we could get a credit for what we've sunk in thus far? I don't think so! The US is not that crazy!!
 

crixus

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I am OK with what ever they choose till they don't increase my tax lol
 

Nilgiri

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To make matters worse. Canada worked on the F35 but they basically for years rejected a plane they made and took part in.

Frankly ridiculous how bad the liberal party has been on this issue.

They made it part of their manifesto to scrap the deal (bipartisan developed before by both liberals and conservatives).... proceeded to do so.....with little to no thought process on the inertia of earlier agreement (w.r.t Canada industry benefits and workshare along with the security needs on fast approaching horizon).

Then superbug and gripen are not picked anyway (rightly so) by reopened MoD selection process....illustrating all the time and money wasted.

Delivery will be slower too and gaps addressed slower, because now Canada has to re-insert itself in production slot logistics it threw away earlier.


I am OK with what ever they choose till they don't increase my tax lol

Platform choice (they are all high end) makes little difference given duration of service of all platforms in the end....w.r.t security needs that are long set in.

What has added to your tax (and national debt + inflation) is the govt's stupidity to introduce political partisanship for no good reason....and thus added extra time and cost that way.
 

Ted Barnes

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Frankly ridiculous how bad the liberal party has been on this issue.

They made it part of their manifesto to scrap the deal (bipartisan developed before by both liberals and conservatives).... proceeded to do so.....with little to no thought process on the inertia of earlier agreement (w.r.t Canada industry benefits and workshare along with the security needs on fast approaching horizon).

Then superbug and gripen are not picked anyway (rightly so) by reopened MoD selection process....illustrating all the time and money wasted.

Delivery will be slower too and gaps addressed slower, because now Canada has to re-insert itself in production slot logistics it threw away earlier.




Platform choice (they are all high end) makes little difference given duration of service of all platforms in the end....w.r.t security needs that are long set in.

What has added to your tax (and national debt + inflation) is the govt's stupidity to introduce political partisanship for no good reason....and thus added extra time and cost that way.
Pretty Happy with the delay actually. This way we will get block 4 planes.
 

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Pretty Happy with the delay actually. This way we will get block 4 planes.
Although that could be true Ted, the inexcusable delays by the Liberal government have put us where we are today! PM Trudeau will feel the pain of the Canadian people and the RCAF at the polls sooner than later!!
 

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TORONTO — Canada has selected Lockheed Martin’s F-35 as the preferred offering in the country’s competition to buy a new fighter jet, government officials said Monday.

Canada plans to buy 88 new fighter jets to replace its CF-18s. The government has budgeted about CA$19 billion (U.S. $15 billion) for the purchase.

Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi said Lockheed was deemed to be the top-ranked bidder.

Delivery of the first aircraft would be scheduled for 2025 if an agreement is reached. If an agreement is not reached, the government has the option to enter into talks with Saab, whose Gripen fighter came second to the F-35 in the competition.

Lockheed Martin is an American company, and Canada has a close relationship with the United States. The neighbors use fighter jets together to defend North American airspace.

Canada previously ruled out Boeing’s Super Hornet in the competition.

A former Conservative Canadian government previously announced the purchase of the F-35, but the current Liberal government delayed that purchase and opened up the bidding to competition. Tassi said Canada will get a better deal now.

Before becoming prime minister, Justin Trudeau said Canada wouldn’t buy the F-35.

Defence Minister Anita Anand has said the decision to pick the F-35 was done without political interference. “We’re living in a new reality,” she said, referring to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

============================

@DAVEBLOGGINS @Ted Barnes et al.

Any thoughts on this and the extra time and money spent to just circle back on the original decision?
A contract has not yet been signed, so lets not put the "horse before the cart" just yet. We need only to look at the CSC Frigate decision and where it also stands!:cautious:
 

Ted Barnes

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A contract has not yet been signed, so lets not put the "horse before the cart" just yet. We need only to look at the CSC Frigate decision and where it also stands!:cautious:
LM is not going to drop the ball on that fighter contract. The CSC is a forgone conclusion as well given the work that's gone into it.
 

DAVEBLOGGINS

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LM is not going to drop the ball on that fighter contract. The CSC is a forgone conclusion as well given the work that's gone into it.
As far as both the LM F35A AND the CSC Frigate projects go, it is not a forgone conclusion until the contracts are awarded and signed by LM & Irving shipyard. Any thing could happen as you well know and things could alter, so let's just wait and see.
 

Ted Barnes

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As far as both the LM F35A AND the CSC Frigate projects go, it is not a forgone conclusion until the contracts are awarded and signed by LM & Irving shipyard. Any thing could happen as you well know and things could alter, so let's just wait and see.
Sorry I am of the opinion that they are too big to fail but your right lets wait and see as have to don't we.
 

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I can understand the initial F35 needing to be improved and such. But surely acquiring a few squadrons to work on the logistics and training the pilots would have been a good investment.
 

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I can understand the initial F35 needing to be improved and such. But surely acquiring a few squadrons to work on the logistics and training the pilots would have been a good investment.

More importantly, they could have packaged the decision making this way too (wait for better models, get stuff in interim), rather than a whole program restart+recycle.
 

Nilgiri

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TORONTO (AP) — Canada will spend billions to purchase 88 F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin Corp. in a deal announced Monday that aims to end years of deliberations over its aging fleet and fulfill obligations to defend North America’s air space.

The first four aircraft are anticipated to be delivered in 2026 with full operational capacity for the fleet expected between 2032 and 2034.

The government has budgeted about $19 billion Canadian (US$15 billion) for the purchase in what is the largest investment in the Royal Canadian Air Force in more than 30 years. Each jet costs about US$85 million. The full life cycle of the program is expected to cost $70 billion (US$52 billion).

Canada has a close defense relationship with the United States, which includes joint missions over North American air space. Canada also has obligations under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The announcement comes as Trudeau is set to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden at the North American Leaders’ Summit in Mexico.

The government said last year Lockheed Martin’s F-35 was deemed to be the top-ranked bidder for a new fighter jet to replace aging F-18s, deciding against Boeing’s Super Hornet. Meanwhile Canada purchased some Australian F-18s to help extend the life of the Canadian F-18 program until 2032.

Before becoming prime minister, Trudeau had said Canada wouldn’t buy the F-35. A former Conservative Canadian government had announced the purchase of the F-35 in 2010 but Trudeau’s Liberal government delayed that purchase and opened up the bidding to competition.

“As our world grows darker with Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable invasion of Ukraine, and China’s increasingly assertive behavior in the Indo-Pacific, this project has taken on heightened significance especially the importance of interoperability with our allies,” Defense Minister Anita Anand.

“We need to ensure that especially in this changing global strategic environment we are that we are fulfilling our obligations to NORAD and to NATO.”

Asked about the Liberals change in position, Anand said: “The aircraft has matured. And we see now that many of our allies, eight countries in particular, are using the F-35.”

Lockheed Martin in a statement said a total of nine nations are currently operating F-35s, with more than 890 jets in service today.

Last month, German lawmakers gave the go-ahead for the purchase of 35 F-35 fighter jets.

Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said it was inevitable that Canada would opt for the F-35, especially since many other western allies have bought the F-35.

“The Liberals opposed the purchase a few years ago when they were in opposition. They did so because the Conservative government favored it,” Wiseman said. “Unlike Americans, Canadians generally oppose increased defense spending and the F-35 is expensive. The proposed purchase received public blowback when the Conservatives were in office and the Liberals wanted to capitalize on it,” she said.

Wiseman said Biden will welcome the investment — F-35s are made in Fort Worth, Texas — but the U.S. has been expecting it for some time so it won’t be a surprise to Biden. Maintaining and operating the jets should involve 3,300 jobs and add $425 million annually to Canada’s GDP, the Canadian government said.

Canada’s decision to buy the F-35 was welcomed by U.S. Air Force Lt.-Gen. Mike Schmidt, the senior American officer responsible for managing the stealth fighter project out of the Pentagon.

“Canada is our friend and a close ally,” Schmidt said in a statement. “The F-35 is the best in the world, providing unmatched interoperability to America, Canada and the additional 15 nations that have selected the fighter. It is a global game-changer.”
 

DAVEBLOGGINS

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7 year u -turn, sickening the time wasted.

Hello Nilgiri. It's actually about 16 years since the Conservative government first decided to acquire the F 35 to replace the CF 18s. Then when Trudeau took power he cancelled the program saying they were too expensive 7 years ago and now he has flip-floped again. We could have had the first F35s in the field 10 years ago with all 88 F 35s operational by 2012. WHAT A WAIST OF TIME AND MONEY!!
 

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I am OK with what ever they choose till they don't increase my tax lol
Hello crixus. You can bet your bottom loonie that the price of these 5th generation jets will climb and climb. Some have said to well over $70 Billion dollars.Then what will happen if the Trudeau government raises your taxes to pay for this mess. This could have been painless if Justin had just carried on with the buy 7 years ago. Our procurement system is broken and needs to be fixed now! What a waste of tax payers money! The only people who are hurt by this is the RCAF and Canadian public. :mad:
 

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Then superbug and gripen are not picked anyway (rightly so) by reopened MoD selection process....illustrating all the time and money wasted.
Add to that the Bombardier-Boeing trade/tariff disputes that happened just as Superbug became the preferred choice of the liberal administration. It really was an absolute clownery.
 
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