The Government of Canada has announced that, following the completion of the Future Fighter Capability Project competition, it will be procuring Lockheed Martin’s 5th Generation F-35 Lightning II aircraft for the Royal Canadian Air Force.
This procurement includes 88 F-35A multirole stealth fighters, a sustainment solution tailored to meet Canada’s sovereign requirements, and a comprehensive training programme.
“Canada is our friend and a close ally. Their decision to procure almost 90 jets underscores the value of the incredible F-35 Lightning II,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Mike Schmidt, program executive officer, F-35 Joint Program Office.
“The F-35 is the best in the world, providing unmatched interoperability to America, Canada and the additional 15 nations that have selected the fighter. It is a global game-changer. Through power-projection, the F-35 is at the tip of the spear for deterrence. Its forward presence will continue to ensure that potential adversaries choose diplomacy over armed conflict.”
“We are honored the Government of Canada has selected the F-35, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian defence industry to deliver and sustain the aircraft,” said Bridget Lauderdale, Lockheed Martin’s vice president and general manager of the F-35 programME.
“The selection of F-35 strengthens allied airpower in Canada, North America and around the world.”
To date, the F-35 operates from 27 bases worldwide, with nine nations operating F-35s on their home soil. There are more than 890 F-35s in service today, with more than 1,870 pilots and 13,500 maintainers trained on the aircraft.
Will this be to replace or co-exist alongside their F18 fleet?
Replace
Interoperability with Allies is the name of the game. Working together, sharing tactics, networked operations is easier when more are using the same aircraft and technology. A Canadian Typhoon order would’ve been great news for Warton, but every F35 order is more work for the UK. And the industrial know how from F35, will make Tempest more likely to succeed from a technical aspect.
👍 GB
There was a time I genuinely thought the F-35 wouldn’t win some of its bids – Finland, Switzerland, Germany come to mind, and I was unsure whether Canada would settle for Super Hornets instead.
Pretty cool to see the wins that the F-35 has had in these recent years. In particular, the openness and transparency of Finland’s FX competition has given me much more confidence that the F-35 isn’t just being pushed through by marketing and political muscle.
Do you work for Boeing ?
No, I don’t.
It’s funny how war can sharpen the senses and jolt leaders into action. The world is what it is; a very dangerous place and getting more, not less dangerous as each day passes.
What’s terrifying is how much faster they forget, once things settle down.
Right now, the big concern is the rate of production of shells, bombs, and missiles. It’s not as sexy as something like the F-35, but is something that the West needs to be able to ramp up.
First ones arriving in 2026 apparently, a sensible decision given the increasing costs to upgrade them prior to LOT 15, which will create over 3000+ jobs for the Canadian workforce.
9 Jan 2023
The first four aircraft to be delivered in 2026, the next six in 2027, and the next six in 2028, with the full fleet to arrive in time to enable the phase-out of the CF-18s by the end of 2032.
Upgrades
“Delays come with some benefits in that aircraft from LOT 15 and later will have hardware updates under the Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3) programme.
These include a new L3Harris [LHX] integrated core processor and memory unit, 25 x the power of the current system and capable of running the future Block IV software upgrades.
TR-3 also includes upgrades to the Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS), an improved Electronic Warfare processor and new receivers plus the Distributed Aperture System (DAS), which provides a 360º view to the pilot, including through the fuselage, via the helmet and a panoramic cockpit display.
If the UK decides it can afford to retrofit Block IV capability for its entire tranche 1 fleet, at an estimated cost of around £22M per aircraft, it would total more than £1Bn for all 48 jets.
The software update is a critical requirement, needed to integrate the UK F-35’s two most potent weapons, SPEAR-3 and the beyond-visual-range Meteor air-air missile.”
As usual in Canadian Defence procurement, this took about 8 years longer than it should have. Welcome news finally.
I can’t wait for a Canadian submarine replacement program should be very long and entertaining.
There is already something a foot there but not mentioned much or reported on. Maybe something new is being tried.😀
We also need more than four ‘when’ it happens. Eight minimum.
Some nice designs out there.
There are a lot of options out there for diesel electric attack subs to be sure .
Nuclear powered subs are a hard sell for the Canadian public however and should be avoided even though we have nuclear power plants across the country. lol
Helps keep British manufacturing going, so I count this as good news