Anna Forrester
The competition for new fighter jets to replace Canada’s CF-18 fleet faces a refresh as the Liberal party prepares to take over government on Nov. 4, Reuters reported Monday.
Randall Palmer writes that incoming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has ruled out the purchase of Lockheed Martin‘s F-35 and indicated plans to place savings onto naval ships.
Other bids on the original competition were for Boeing‘s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Dassault Aviation‘s Rafale, Saab‘s Gripen and the Eurofighter Typhoon by Airbus, BAE Systems and Finmeccanica.
The report said Trudeau’s government plans to re-establish program requirements and issue a new request for proposals on the CF-18 replacement.
Defense News staff reported Sunday that Canada’s potential withdrawal from the Pentagon’s F-35 program could impact prices for the remaining international partners and facilitate losses of US$8.3 billion across the Canadian supply base.
The country, which had planned to buy 65Â F-35s under the Conservative government, would also be the first industrial partner to pull out of the program, the report said.
