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发表于 2026-5-2 10:09:41
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Canada Confirms Considering Abandon F-35 Stealth Fighter Purchases
本帖最后由 Test 于 2026-5-2 11:43 编辑
Canadian Defense Minister David McGuinty has confirmed that a review of plans to purchase 88 F-35A fifth generation fighter aircraft is currently ongoing, with no timeline given for a final decision, adding that procurements from non-U.S. sources was under consideration. “The review of the purchase of the F-35s is continuing,” he stated, adding: “We are taking the necessary time to study very, very closely the question of the fighter fleet.” The review was originally scheduled to be concluded around September 2025, but has continued past that time, as public opinion and much of the political leadership have supported reducing reliance on the United States for Canada’s defence.

U.S. Air Force F-35A Fighter at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska
Canada in March 2022 selected the F-35A to succeed its F-18s, with procurement of 88 fighters planned at a cost of $14.2 billion, around $161 million per aircraft. The decision to resume talks on procuring an alternative fighter type have primarily been stimulated by a sharp deterioration in relations with the United States under the Trump administration from early 2025. The Defence Ministry had already paid for its first 16 F-35s by the time the review was initiated, however, and in February 2024 initiated payments for long-lead items associated with the procurement of 14 additional F-35s. Thus while planned F-35 procurements may be reduced significantly, possibly to just 30 fighters, a total cancellation of procurement plans remains unlikely. The F-35 was selected in part due to the U.S. Air Force’s deployment of the fighters as the backbone of its air defence fleet in Alaska, with the fielding of a common fighter type providing significant interoperability advantages.

Gripen D Light Fighter in Royal Thai Air Force Service
The Canadian Defence Ministry was reported in April 2025 to be holding talks with the Swedish defence producer SAAB regarding the possible procurement of Gripen E/F fourth generation fighters. Eight months later however, internal Ministry reports confirmed that under the Future Fighter Capability Project tender, the F-35A was evaluated as being overwhelmingly superior to the Gripen. The F-35 scored 57.1 out of 60 points, a 95 percent score, in the tender, while the Gripen E/F achieved just 19.8 points, a 33 percent score, with their performances diverging particularly sharply once rated operational criteria were applied. Such an outcome remained in line with broader trends towards potential clients for the F-35 favouring it by similarly overwhelming margins over competing European aircraft, with the results of in Belgium, Finland and Switzerland being notable examples.
GCAP Fighter Artwork
Senior officers such as the commander of 1 Canadian Air Division Major General Chris McKenna have indicated strong support for procuring the F-35, due to the perceived need to be able to counter Chinese and Russian fifth generation fighters, to which no other Western fighter type can provide a peer level capability. The F-35’s position as the only NATO-compatible fifth generation fighter type in production anywhere in the world has provided it with a distinct advantage in this regard. In April 2026, however, the United Kingdom, Japan and Italy were confirmed to be coordinating plans for the inclusion of Canada in the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), a next generation fighter program intended to deliver a fighter ready for active service by 2035. While the program’s ability to deliver a fighter with comparable capabilities to an enhanced Block 4 F-35A has been brought to serious question, it is considered very likely to provide a much more capable alternative than the Eurofighter, Gripen or other European fighter types that are currently available.
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