Canada is buying 88 F-35 fighter jets from the US
Canada is buying 88 F-35 fighter jets from the US. On this occasion, this North American country has also finalized an agreement with the United States and US arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin.
Qatar-based media Al Jazeera said in a report that this information was brought forward by Canada on Monday (January 9).
According to the report, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand held a press conference on Monday regarding the purchase of fighter jets from the United States. There, he said, this contract worth 1,420 million US dollars for the purchase of fighter aircraft is the largest investment in the Royal Canadian Air Force in the last 30 years.
"Our world is becoming increasingly dark, with Russia's illegal and unjustified aggression in Ukraine and China's increasingly aggressive behavior in the Indo-Pacific region, and this project has great significance," said Anita Maza. In particular, it emphasizes interoperability with our allies.'
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According to Al Jazeera, the announcement of the purchase of advanced F-35 fighter jets from the United States comes at a time when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Mexico City to attend the 'Three Amigos' summit with US President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Basically, Canada is one of the countries with close defense relations with the US and the US has been trying to replace its aging fleet of Boeing CF-18 fighter jets for more than a decade. Some of them are more than 40 years old.
According to media reports, Canada will receive the full fleet of four F-35 fighter jets from the US in 2026 and between 2032 and 2034.
Besides, the price of each warplane has been fixed at 85 million US dollars. The total project cost of $1,420 million includes infrastructure, weapons and other related costs, apart from the cost of fighter jets.
However, there is some criticism in Canada about this very expensive project to buy fighter jets and at the same time questions have also been raised.
Activist group No Fighter Jets Coalition said in a statement in late December, 'Canadians are struggling to make ends meet as winter sets in. And that is why it is irresponsible and unjust for the Trudeau government to spend public money on American warplanes.
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Instead, the federal government should invest in affordable housing, health care, education, economic assistance and climate change mitigation, they added. Canada's planned purchase of F-35 fighter jets is unacceptable, immoral. It must be abolished.'
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