Pretty sensible. “Canada is actively looking at potential alternatives to the U.S.-built F-35 stealth fighter and will hold conversations with rival aircraft makers, Defence Minister Bill Blair said late Friday” https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7484477
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6 weeks of Russia-friendly white house, but years now of Russia-friendly GOP & media.
And I'm not assuming that there will be free elections in 4 years.
I *can* tell you that, as a Canadian, I hope we DON'T go back to normal with you. Ever.
You've shown that you're not a reliable ally, & so will find that you no longer HAVE allies that you can take for granted as you have.
Misinformation by foreign actors is the real enemy. We have Russian disinformation problem but maybe Canada should be more worried about Chinese pushing propaganda into Canada.
OMG do it!!! We should not be buying military equipment from the nation hinting at using their military against us. Move away from the US - far, far away.
Why was Canada considering 88 f35 to begin with? It would be bad use of taxpayers money to just use them for patrolling Canadian airspace. Eurofighters or gripens would be a more sensible choice within a defence doctrine.
Ah, right. It would still require US permission - the US keeps tight control of weapons containing their tech. Sweden could ignore them, but then never get any more US tech, spares again, so they'd need to be bloody sure they were fully independent of them
What happens if they scrap that deal and start exporting, anyway?
Since clearly US agreements mean nothing to *them*, everyone else shouldn't necessarily feel bound to them. 🤷♀️
Well, we are truly living in a post-rules post-norms order, so.... yes! F..k it. I don't believe there are any rules here, but if there are they can go to hell. The whole world is the new Wild West.
Canada & Europe can no longer assume America will ever have another stable democratic government and be a trustworthy ally.
Trump was pushing for NATO countries to increase their military spending & got waht he wanted... we're all doing that...and NOT buying from American defense contractors.
Perfectly reasonable that a country wouldn't want to build its air force around a plane that has to be maintained and upgraded by a foreign country that keeps threatening to annex them.
Massively overpriced and overcomplicated, unreliable, and dependent on US support with the risk of having remote kill switches. The world is starting to understand what "hegemony" means.
They got a great deal on the F35. Comparisons are never apples to apples but Germany purchase a few years later was twice the cost per airframe.
But operationally Gripen would have made sense. Smaller, simpler and cheaper to operate.
A bigger issue for Finland is that the US military has indicated that all software upgrades for the F-35s would be done in the US. If that’s the case, the Finns won’t have full control over the fighters they have just bought
I wish the Royal Danish Air Force, amongst others, would have chosen the Rafale instead. It is the only modern Western fighter jet that can operate independently of the Americans.
It will never make sense to me how many European forces bought Boeing AWAC, MRAPs & Spy Plane variants that they have little to no control of or Input into improvements of when they could have bought fantastic Saab products that they could tailor / mount on various European or Canadian platforms
It's not coincidence, of course. Mostly EU Northern "frugal/stingy" countries that wanted to feel closer to the great USA (not America), than to their "fellow" Europeans.
The exception, conservative Italy and Greece with their specific relationship with USA., but they have alternative providers.
If Europe had any modicum of sense it would get every nation running the Saab Swordfish for MRAP on a Canadian Bombardier and Canada should do the same.
Stop buying American stuff you don't actually own. They will not give you access to how it works.
On the topic, the UK nuclear system relies on Trident.
So the British nuclear warheads are mounted on US missiles. The Navy services the warheads, but they rely on US military to service the missiles.
If the US decides to deactivate them, the UK is not a nuclear power any longer.
Ooops.
If push came to shove I'm pretty confident UK Gov could go to ArianeGroup with a big bag of money & ask for a Trident replacement that fits in the space on Vanguard / Dreadnought. Suspect they'd pretty quickly provide one based on the M51
It probably wouldn't be as good as either but it would work
Interim they'd have warheads and no way to use them though unless the rockets in the subs can last a V long time without a service (who knows how long that is if truly needed).
It seemed a great deal but long term France was right and UK was wrong.
Hard to say whether it wouldn't be as good. Development of the M51 started more than a decade after Trident II so maybe more modern, and two major upgrades since for increased range, accuracy and penetration. The M51 is a bit fatter, Trident is a bit taller, so that might require some adjustments.
It's more than that. Political leaders have pushed their countries to buy things not in their interests for years then taken consultative roles in companies from the same country that benefited from this (MBB & Big 4)
If China did this we'd call it corruption. How is it any different with the US?
Can't say I blame them. Aside from the public feeling about sending money to a country that has disrespected and frankly betrayed them for no good reason, could you really count on delivery? Or being able to get replacement parts? Why subsidize an enemy autocrat? https://bsky.app/profile/shashj.bsky.social/post/3lkfwdrp6ek2c
There was a strong push within the CA Air Force for the F35 because so much of the CA defence complex is stuck in a "me too" mentality. Air Force pilots were scared of being looked down on by their US counterparts if they didn't have the shiniest new gadget. Not politicians, but the AF itself.
The problem with the Gripen now is that it is powered by GE's F414 engine. See also the reporting last month on the U.S. vetoing the export of Gripen to Colombia...
Apparently RR EJ200 was considered as an alternative for Gripen E at some stage. That could work but it could also be really difficult, I haven't found any hard info. Snecma M88 would probably fit too geometrically but also there that is no guarantee that it is simple.
Though it is probably not just the engine. I would not be surprised if there are many parts, air data sensors, actuators, weapons control systems, avionics etc that are export controlled. It is probably the same for Eurofighter. I am not even sure Rafale is completely free.
French parliament says the Rafale is ITAR-free FWIW, and Dassault Aviation CEO Trappier says "a priori" the Rafale doesn't have any U.S.-sourced critical components. There are some U.S.-sourced parts such as electrical connectors and vales, according to Airframer. (edited to fix Trappier quote)
The blocked sale to Egypt in 2018 was due to components in the SCALP missile (which MBDA worked to fix), not the Rafale itself. The M88 engine (Safran) in the Rafale is indigenous, for hot and cold parts. AFAIK the targeting pod is Thales, and the LM pod mentioned in places is on some export planes.
Yeah was also looking at that, the EJ200 was also in competition with the F414 in India, so that suggests there's some flexibility there, but an expert such as @justin-br0nk.bsky.social may have more insight. It's probably not going to be simple, with redesign and re-certification required.
Just can't get away from American parts. Part being the General Electric motor. Maybe they could just go back to Volvo's R12 and have peace of mind replacements would be available.
Except the RM12 is based on the F404 and co-produced with GE, so may run into similar problems. And thrust is 18k pounds vs 22k pounds so you'd lose performance and probably also power generation for the radar etc. Plus need to redesign around the slightly different dimensions. Tricky...
With the way defense companies spread out their vendors into the maximum number of Congressional districts, the impact would be widespread. The US Defense industry is the source of many of the highest paying manufacturing jobs and they support real estate values and local businesses.
Do we still know if the U.S. has a 'kill switch' to disable the F-35s sold to allies?
I read speculation about this (maybe FT?).
In any case it's better to apply the precautionary principle and for the Canadians and Europeans to build our own stealth fighters. We have the capability+ resources.
Time to think about our own national security interests.. Canada 🇨🇦 needs to invoke National Security in every decision we take, every tariffs we impose. Just like We don’t need EGGS or MILK from the USA.. we must continue protecting our farmers.
Cancel this contract. Do not purchase warplanes from the country that started a tariff war with you and is seriously threatening to annex you. The US is now Canada’s enemy.
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Canada_CF-105_Arrow
& Russia is no longer the US's enemy.
And I'm not assuming that there will be free elections in 4 years.
You've shown that you're not a reliable ally, & so will find that you no longer HAVE allies that you can take for granted as you have.
I hope not, as they're out for your implosion.
Same with Abrams, Bradleys and M113's
Think of the money Boing is now going to lose to Eurofighter, Griffin, France, South Korea (do they have a fighter?), etc
Since clearly US agreements mean nothing to *them*, everyone else shouldn't necessarily feel bound to them. 🤷♀️
Trump was pushing for NATO countries to increase their military spending & got waht he wanted... we're all doing that...and NOT buying from American defense contractors.
2. The 25mm cannon was so inaccurate it was "unacceptable for combat"
3. The fuselage wasn't built with recoil in mind and could crack after firing the cannons
The Tesla of fighters
https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/03/04/trump-zelensky-vance-ukraine-defense-arms/
But operationally Gripen would have made sense. Smaller, simpler and cheaper to operate.
We have the space, we have the resources, we have the capacity.
We just have to stop obeying 🇺🇸 when it asks us to shut down our capability.
We can do so much more than we've been allowed to.
https://canadianmilitaryproject.com/ww2/ww2-air/
The exception, conservative Italy and Greece with their specific relationship with USA., but they have alternative providers.
Stop buying American stuff you don't actually own. They will not give you access to how it works.
So the British nuclear warheads are mounted on US missiles. The Navy services the warheads, but they rely on US military to service the missiles.
If the US decides to deactivate them, the UK is not a nuclear power any longer.
Ooops.
It probably wouldn't be as good as either but it would work
It seemed a great deal but long term France was right and UK was wrong.
France being right, helps UK so much now.
If China did this we'd call it corruption. How is it any different with the US?
That should be a minimum requirement for any government purchase
Based.
I read speculation about this (maybe FT?).
In any case it's better to apply the precautionary principle and for the Canadians and Europeans to build our own stealth fighters. We have the capability+ resources.
https://bsky.app/profile/theukrainianreview.bsky.social/post/3lkfwj2gctc22
Trump’s actions are indistinguishable from deliberate sabotage of our country.
(*This is not financial advice.)