Canada to buy $19 billion worth of F-35 jets to replace CF-18s

Defence Minister Anita Anand said Canada reached a deal to buy 88 F-35 fighter jets at an estimated cost of $19 billion on Monday.

It was announced Monday morning that Canada reached an agreement with the United States and the aircraft maker Lockheed Martin Corp., to buy 88 fighter jets.

Officials at a technical briefing prior to the formal announcement set the full cost of owning and operating the aircrafts over the next few decades at $70 million.

Anand said the F-35 aircraft fleet will ensure that Canadian aviators have the long-term ability to defend the second-largest airspace in the world.

“It will help us meet our Norad and Nato commitments and it will also deliver concrete economic benefits to our country,” she said.

The Feds promised in 2015 not to buy the F-35, but to instead launch an open competition to replace the CF-18 aircrafts.

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They later planned to buy 18 Boeing Super Hornets without a competition as an interim measure until a full competition could be launched.

However, the Liberals canceled the plan after Boeing launched a trade dispute with Montreal aerospace from Bombardier.

Both the Super Hornet and F-35 were allowed to compete after Ottawa initiated the current bidding process in July 2019.

Anand was asked about the government’s reconsideration, she said the aircraft has “matured,” and eight countries in particular are using the F-35.

The Canadian government spent hundreds of millions on the CF-18 fleet in order to keep it flying until a replacement aircraft is available.

The CF-18s will have been around in Canada for 50 years by 2032.

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