The Trudeau government has officially ordered 88 new F-35 fighter jets from American manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The purchase bill, which foresees the delivery of the first four aircraft in three years, amounts to 19 billion dollars – but the total bill will reach $70 billion for the complete life cycle of this new fleet which will replace the old planes of Canada’s CF-18 fighter.
Ottawa has been trying for more than ten years to begin the process of replacing these old devices. The Liberals had relaunched the process after coming to power, to achieve today the same result as their Conservative predecessors.
The Canadian government therefore retained the F-35 aircraft. National Defense expects the new fleet to be fully operational between 2032 and 2034. The transition will begin with a first tranche of four aircraft, which the Royal Canadian Air Force will take possession of in 2026 to begin training its fighter pilots in the States. -United.
The infrastructure at the military bases in Bagotville, Quebec, and Cold Lake, Alberta, will also be upgraded to allow the repatriation and subsequent operation of the new fighters in Canada.
The Canadian government will pay an average of US$85 million per device to purchase (C$114 million, based on the current exchange rate) — the same amount as other countries purchasing these devices.
A return to square one
The F-35 saga began more than 10 years ago in Ottawa. The former Conservative government of Stephen Harper announced a $15 billion contract without tender with Lockheed Martin. A report by the Auditor General then revealed, in 2010, that the total cost of this fleet would reach $29 billion for the full life cycle of this fleet.
When he came to power in 2015, Justin Trudeau promised to launch a new bidding process and never buy the F-35s – which were accumulating technical glitches. At the end of this new process, which formally began in 2017, the Trudeau government announced last March that it would also do business with Lockheed Martin.
The Liberals have planned the purchase of 88 F-35 fighters. The former Conservative government had planned to order 65.
If the total life-cycle cost of the new fleet is higher than estimated in 2010 ($70 billion, up from $29 billion then), it’s because the Liberals ordered 23 more aircraft than what was predicted by their predecessors and that the government now claims to have taken into account the possible evolution of the economy (inflation and exchange rate, for example) over the 30-year lifespan of the fighter jets.
Benefits in Canada
The development of the F-35 by Lockheed Martin is part of a program which provides for the participation of local companies from the countries which participate in the purchase of the new fighter. Thus, 36 Canadian entrepreneurs contribute to the program. The acquisition of the F-35s could result in spinoffs of $425 million per year in Canada and provide nearly 3,300 jobs per year, according to projections presented by the Canadian government during a technical briefing on Monday morning.
Further details will follow.