F-35 fighter jet purchase ‘remains under review,’ defence minister says

Canadian Minister of National Defence David McGuinty says the country’s planned acquisition of 88 F-35 fighter jets from the United States “remains under review.”

“We’re looking at the important questions around Canada’s security and sovereignty. We have to consider facts like interoperability, we have to consider facts like benefits, industrial benefits around the country, something that’s being worked out,” he said in a pre-caucus scrum Wednesday.

The U.S. fighter jets from Lockheed Martin are set to replace the Royal Canadian Air Force’s aging CF-18 fighter jets, but come at a cost of roughly $85 million each and amid the backdrop of the U.S. trade war against Canada.

3:06 CAF F-35 acquisition project review ‘continues’: McGuinty

This comes following a report from CBC News earlier this week where U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra said that walking back the deal would result in the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) partnership being “altered.”

He had suggested that could mean the U.S. would need to deploy American fighter jets into Canadian airspace to address threats to continental defence.

NORAD, a decades-old agreement between Canada and the U.S., is “charged with the missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America.”