Canada is proceeding “full steam ahead” on the F-35 fighter program until it hears otherwise, a top Department of National Defence official has told a House of Commons committee.
Deputy Defence Minister Stefani Beck testified before the tri-party public accounts committee on Tuesday, which is studying the latest auditor general’s report on the increased cost of acquiring the stealth jet.
Last spring, shortly after coming to power, Prime Minister Mark Carney ordered a review of the $27.7 billion purchase from U.S. defence giant Lockheed Martin.
He suggested a decision on whether to proceed with the full purchase of 88 fighters — or to make a more limited buy and look elsewhere to fill out the fleet — would be made by late summer.
So far, nothing has been said.
“What we have as direction is to continue with the contract… with the arrangements that we have in place until we hear otherwise,” Beck told MPs.
“We are full steam ahead, full steam ahead focused on making sure we’ve got the infrastructure, the pilots, the training in place for the arrival of those F-35s.”
Canada is committed to buying at least 16 F-35s — four already paid for and eight with money put down on the parts. The first handful of jets are expected to be delivered next year to a U.S. air force base, where pilot and technician training will take place.
Beck said the decision is with the government.
“We are public servants,” she said. “We offer the facts and the decisions are made and we take guidance from our elected leaders.”
Conservatives on the committee made it clear they’re in favour of the F-35 and anxious to see the program moved ahead.
Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet, the new commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, was put on the spot about whether she supports the notion of a mixed fleet of fighters. She partially ducked the questions by saying the air force will be required to manage two fleets throughout the introduction of the F-35 because the current CF-18s are expected to continue flying until the early 2030s.
Speiser-Blanchet did, however, say that operating two separate fleets would be more costly and complicated.
“It would duplicate a certain amount of infrastructure and training,” she said.
Speiser-Blanchet also testified that Canada’s adversaries both operate highly advanced fifth generation fighters and the sooner the transition takes place, the better.
“Both China and Russia have fifth generation fighter aircraft and fifth generation missiles that are able to go at much greater speeds and with much more that are holding Western allies at risk at this moment in time,” she said.
Officials defended the nearly 50 per cent increase in the program’s cost — from $19 billion in 2019 to $27.7 billion in 2025.
It was noted that some of the increase related to changes in the program by the United States.
For example, construction of new hangars and secure facilities at two Canadian air force bases are three years behind schedule and facing higher than anticipated costs because the Pentagon’s joint project office mandated higher security standards, officials said.
There’s also the issue of foreign exchange since the aircraft is purchased in U.S. dollars. The committee heard that for every one cent fluctuation in the exchange rate, it adds or subtracts $250 million from the cost of the program.
There’s no indication when the prime minister will decide how to proceed, but it has proven to be an irritant with the U.S. ambassador, Pete Hoekstra, regularly criticizing the notion of a mixed fighter fleet.
At times over the last few months, he has said Canada can’t afford to operate two different types of fighters and that turning away from the F-35 would make Canada less inter-operable within NORAD’s continental defence framework.
In an interview separate from Tuesday’s committee, retired Canadian air force major-general Duff Sullivan said such arguments don’t make sense.
“If you look at what the Americans are flying, the U.S. air force is flying up in Alaska, they’re flying F-22s, arguably the best, most advanced fighter aircraft in the world.” Sullivan told CBC News.
“So [right now] the CF-18s and the F-22s are flying continental defence. And a lot of U.S. Air National Guard squadrons are flying advanced F-16s. So here we have three different types of aircraft, but what makes us inter-operable are our tactics and procedures, not the type of aircraft.”
