Canadian General Who Recommended F-35 Deal Now Calls For Purchase Of Other Jets

The air force general who recommended Canada buy the F-35 fighter jet now says the purchase should no longer go forward as planned because the U.S. has become so untrustworthy.

Retired Lt.-Gen. Yvan Blondin, who headed the Royal Canadian Air Force from 2012 to 2015, argues that the American-built F-35 was the best fighter jet for Canada to operate in a world where alliances were anchored by the United States.

But all that has changed with the election of U.S. President Donald Trump. “Reliance on a US defence umbrella, a critical factor since the end of WW2 for so many countries, is no longer guaranteed,” Blondin wrote in a March 25 post on LinkedIn. “No affected country can afford to close its eyes and hope that 2026 or 2028 elections in the US will bring everything back to ‘normal’… and not happen again. The toothpaste cannot go back in the tube.”

Trump has threatened to harm Canada’s economy and has talked about annexing this country. He has mulled about seizing Greenland and the Panama Canal and under his administration the U.S. has cozied up to Russia.

The retired general, a former fighter pilot, recommended to Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper that Canada purchase the F-35 from Lockheed Martin. Harper’s government announced the acquisition but eventually that was put on hold because of the increasing cost and technical problems associated with the F-35.

The Liberal government announced in 2023 it was spending $19 billion to buy 88 F-35s. But Canada has only financially committed to purchasing the first 16 jets.

Blondin said the problem with the F-35 is not the aircraft itself; it is the complete control the Americans have over all aspects of the plane.

“The reality is that, without US consent, no country can hope to operate the F-35 for long,” Blondin said.

He said building Canada’s future fighter force solely on the F-35 would be “irresponsible.”

Liberal Leader Mark Carney ordered a review of the F-35 purchase in the wake of an increasingly hostile United States and Trump’s threats towards Canada.

Blondin said there is still time before a decision has to be made to purchase the remaining 72 F-35s. The solution, he added, may be a mix of some F-35s and other aircraft from European nations, while at the same time spending money for future aircraft being developed by Europe.

“We may find for example that 36 F-35 and 150 other fighter aircraft such as Rafale or Gripen could be a better strategic, economic, and military posture while investing heavily in 6th gen developments,” he explained.

Blondin dismissed claims that Canada could not support two different types of fighter jets and argued that the country could quickly purchase a new aircraft.

Carney confirmed March 17 that he had discussions with French and British government officials about whether those countries could build a fighter jet in Canada.

In addition, there have been suggestions that the Swedish-built Gripen, which came second in the Canadian fighter jet competition, could provide a solution for Canada. The Swedes had promised to build the Gripens in Canada.

Blondin said Canada now needs to develop a defence strategy based on the new realities of changes in the U.S.

Former defence procurement chief Alan Williams and various defence analysts have warned that the F-35 represented a strategic vulnerability for Canada since the U.S. has total control over software upgrades and spare parts on the aircraft.

Supporters of Canada’s F-35 purchase point to the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of contracts that Canadian companies have earned by supplying parts for the U.S. aircraft. That, in turn, has sustained or created Canadian aerospace jobs.

But on Feb. 28, the National Post reported that Trump had told Lockheed Martin he wanted those jobs back in the U.S. when the Canadian contracts came up for renewal.