The F-35 Aircraft Delay – Why?

By Jeff Gilmour, 20 July 2026

On 9 January 2023 the Canadian government committed to acquiring 88 Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter aircraft to replace the RCAF’s ageing CF-18 fleet for $19B. The first tranche consisted of 16 aircraft with the remaining 72 to be ordered later. Subsequently, the government revised the order to “financially commit” to an additional 14, for a total of 30 aircraft. On 14 March 2025 the Carney government directed a review of the program to determine whether the remaining 58 aircraft should still be purchased or whether alternatives, such as the SAAB Gripen should be considered, based on the current procurement process and changing relations with the United States.

            At the present time, Canada has contractually committed to only 16 F-35 aircraft. The delay concerning the original F-35 plan for acquiring the original 88 F-35s seems unusual, for the following reasons:

            1. Canada joined the Multinational Joint Strike Fighter Program (MJSFP) as a partner in 1997. Canada’s contribution amounted to approximately $810M dollars (US). The benefit to Canada of being a partner in the program was that it had access to the program itself, opportunities for Canadian companies to compete for work and participation in various aspects of the program management and future development.

            2. Canadian companies, according to the Canadian government, have received more than $3.3 billion dollars (US) in F-35 related contracts as a result of participating in the MJSFP.

            3. The F-35 fighter aircraft is considered a fifth generation weapon, whereas the SAAB Gripen aircraft is not.

            4. Fourteen NATO countries have purchased the F-35 aircraft to date. They include Norway, Denmark, the UK, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Finland, Germany, Czech Republic, Greece, Romania, Canada and the US. In total, 20 countries have purchased this fighter aircraft worldwide. Turkey may be the next country acquiring this aircraft.^[1]

            5. It is interesting to note the Scandinavian countries, Norway, Denmark and Finland did not purchase the Swedish built SAAB Gripen aircraft.

            Based on this information, why has the Canadian government taken over a year to decide to complete purchasing the remainder of the F-35s for the RCAF? Most of the other NATO countries have already had the F-35s operational in their respective squadrons for several years now. It is a fair assumption that it will take a decade before Canadian squadrons will be fully equipped and operational with such aircraft if the decision to purchase the remainder of the contract is made now by the government. Many NATO countries are already looking at designing and building a 6th generation fighter aircraft.

^[1] 2026 Ankara NATO Summit, July 7-8, 2026.

Image: An infographic of Canadian industrial participation in the F-35 program from 2019. Credit: Lockheed Martin