Supporters of Canada’s F-35 purchase point to the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of contracts that Canadian companies have earned by supplying parts for the U.S. aircraft. That, in turn, has sustained or created Canadian aerospace jobs. But on Feb. 28, the National Post reported that Trump has told Lockheed Martin he wants those jobs back in the U.S. when the Canadian contracts come up for renewal.
During the 2015 election campaign, Justin Trudeau vowed his government would never purchase the F-35.
As prime minister, Trudeau continued to point out the Canadian military had no need for the F-35 and he blamed the Conservatives for agreeing to purchase a problem-plagued fighter jet. But, with the 2023 announcement, the Liberals not only committed to the acquisition, but also increased the number of jets to be bought to 88 from the 65 the Conservatives had wanted.
Are you suggesting that CAF fighting against US air power with our own air power has a chance of success?
The only interest the Trump regime has is monetary. Drones and missiles would inflict damage to the US, and if we keep their locations secret we’d have second strike capability. To achieve deterrence we’d only need to have the capability of inflicting enough damage to the US economy to cost the ruling oligarchy enough money to not be worthwhile to them.
The only immediate threat to Canada is the US right now. Europe won’t have a fifth gen fighter for quite some time, we’d obviously get cut off from parts for F-35s if there were a conflict with the US. We’ll need time recruit more people into the military to operate any plane and time to train them. We can start buying and producing drones in a much shorter time frame, which is critical given the pace Trump is betraying US allies.