{"id":307005,"date":"2025-11-26T00:37:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T00:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/307005\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T00:37:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T00:37:08","slug":"canada-should-buy-f-35s-but-plan-for-european-fighter-jets-next-former-general-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/307005\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada should buy F-35s but plan for European fighter jets next, former general says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

An F-35 Lightning II fighter jet at the Florennes military airbase, in southern Belgium. Canada is rethinking its order of 88 F-35s and considering cutting its purchase plans to accommodate a second fleet of fighters, such as Sweden\u2019s Saab Gripen.JOHN THYS\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

A former air force commander says Ottawa should buy its full order of 88 U.S.-made F-35s to fill an imminent gap in fighter capacity but switch to European warplanes for future purchases to provide more independence from the United States.<\/p>\n

Retired lieutenant-general Yvan Blondin, who was commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force from 2012 until 2015, said the possibility exists now that the United States might disagree with how Canada chooses to utilize its fighter fleet outside of North America. <\/p>\n

He said it\u2019s not out of the bounds of possibility such a disagreement could lead to problems with Americans providing software updates or parts for U.S.-made fighters.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody can say if there\u2019s a kill switch inside the software,\u201d Mr. Blondin said. <\/p>\n

He said this was not previously a concern, but it\u2019s changed under Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a political risk today to rely solely on American weapons,\u201d Mr. Blondin said. \u201cThis is why a lot of European countries and a lot of Asian countries, and Canada are saying \u2018I need to diversify. I need to buy something else than just Americans.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Opinion: Sweden offers Canada a chance to revive its near-dead defence aerospace industry<\/a><\/p>\n

He said it\u2019s too late to switch plane choices now and he can\u2019t foresee any scenario in which Canada and the United States disagree on the use of F-35s for the defence of North America.<\/p>\n

Canada is currently rethinking its order of 88 F-35s and considering cutting its purchase plans to accommodate a second fleet of fighters such as Sweden\u2019s Saab Gripen. The Swedish king visited Ottawa last week to promote a sale. Ottawa\u2019s minimum F-35 order is 16, officials have said.<\/p>\n

A major limit on mixed fleets is Canada\u2019s shrinking fighter pilot population, Mr. Blondin said. The Department of National Defence did not immediately respond to a request for the current number.<\/p>\n

The former air force commander said he believes Canada has about 40 today.<\/p>\n

He said Canada needs fighter pilots to keep flying the aging CF-18s to meet the country\u2019s NORAD obligations until the last of these aircraft are retired in the early 2030s. Then it needs fighter jet pilots to fly the F-35s starting to arrive shortly. It also needs to keep training CF-18 pilots and also train F-35 pilots. <\/p>\n

A second new fighter would place difficult demands on the numbers of fighter jet pilot, Mr. Blondin said. \u201cYou\u2019re running out of bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

He predicted a mixed fleet of F-35s and a second fighter jet would lead to aircraft parked on the tarmac without pilots to fly them.<\/p>\n

After sufficient F-35s have arrived, Mr. Blondin said Canada could begin plans for a second fighter, this one from Europe, to provide it with a capability that isn\u2019t vulnerable to U.S. influence.<\/p>\n

Opinion: The idea of a mixed fleet of Canadian fighter jets should not take flight<\/a><\/p>\n

Red tape delaying deployment of new tech for Air Force, RCAF Digital Hub director says<\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the U. S. Department of Defence denied there is any mechanism planted in the F-35 software that could be used to immobilize the fighters or hamper their operation.<\/p>\n

The Pentagon\u2019s F-35 Joint Program Office said in a March statement to media that it does not have the power to remotely disable the fighters. \u201cThere is no kill switch,\u201d the office said. \u201cThe strength of the F-35 program lies in its global partnership, and we remain committed to providing all users with the full functionality and support they require.\u201d<\/p>\n

In early 2025, the German media outlet Stern reported on a clause in Germany\u2019s F-35 contract that stipulated the U.S. government reserves the right to terminate or suspend the provision of services in the event of unusual and compelling circumstances and if the national interest of the United States requires it.<\/p>\n

The Department of National Defence said in a recent statement to The Globe and Mail that this provision does not extend to Canada because of how Ottawa is purchasing the F-35s.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis does not apply to Canada as we are not acquiring the F-35 through a contract, but through the Joint Strike Force (JSF) Production Sustainment and Follow-on Development Memorandum of Understanding (PSFD MOU),\u201d department spokesperson Cheryl Forrest said in an e-mailed statement. \u201cUnder the terms of the MOU, the U.S. government cannot terminate or suspend the provision of services to the partner nations for the F-35.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: An F-35 Lightning II fighter jet at the Florennes military airbase, in southern…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44,714],"class_list":{"0":"post-307005","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}