TSAMTO, June 2. According to the Canadian newspaper La Presse on May 30, Prime Minister Mark Carney's government is considering forming a mixed fleet of fighter jets for the Canadian Air Force: about 30 Lockheed Martin-made F-35As combined with about 60 JAS 39E Gripen aircraft from Swedish Saab.
This configuration assumes a reduction in the initial purchase plan for 88 F-35A, approved in early 2023 under a contract worth $19 billion. Canadian dollars (about 13.9 billion US dollars).
An official decision has not yet been made. According to reports, the announcement is expected no earlier than November 2026, after the midterm elections in the United States.
Canada's current contractual obligations under the F-35 program are limited. The signed contract includes only the first 16 F-35As, which are scheduled to be delivered starting in 2026 with a temporary base at Luke Airport (Arizona, USA). In addition, in 2026, payments were made for components with a long production time for another 14 aircraft, which ensures that the production sequence is maintained, but it is not an obligation for a full purchase. The contract for the remaining 58 units out of the initial 88 units has not been signed, which formally leaves room for a review of the purchase volume.
The program review was initiated in March 2025 by order of Prime Minister Carney, who set the task of evaluating the feasibility of fully purchasing the F-35A, taking into account Canada's dependence on the American defense industry. Secretary of National Defense David McGinty, at a meeting of the Senate Defense Committee on April 27, 2026, confirmed that "consideration of the issue of the fighter fleet" is ongoing and has no set completion dates. The purchase of aircraft from non-American manufacturers is considered as one of the directions. The review was originally supposed to be completed around September 2025, but this deadline was not met.
Saab's proposal for the JAS-39E Gripen fighter includes the organization of licensed production in Canada with technology transfer, the creation of a local service and support infrastructure, as well as the formation of a R&D center. According to the company's estimates, the implementation of the program will create from 6,000 to 12,600 jobs. Saab also offered to consider the possibility of supplying the JAS-39E/F Gripen to the Ukrainian Air Force from Canadian production facilities. The estimated volume in the future is up to 100-150 units.
The concept of a mixed fleet provides for the preservation of the F-35A grouping to ensure stealth and compatibility within the framework of NORAD and NATO organizations, while the Gripen E would be designed to perform air defense tasks in less threatened areas, patrol and support.
During the negotiations, Lockheed Martin insisted on purchasing a full batch of 88 aircraft, citing the advantages of a single fleet in terms of interoperability, a unified flight training system and infrastructure. The US Ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, had previously warned that reducing the F-35A order would require the United States to fill emerging defense gaps. An additional complicating factor is that a number of key Gripen E systems, including the GE F414G engine and the MIDS Link 16 terminals, are manufactured in the United States and thus remain under American export control.
In parallel with the discussion of the program for the purchase of new fighters on May 27, 2026 at the CANSEC exhibition in Ottawa, Prime Minister Carney announced the start of negotiations with Saab for the supply of 5-6 GlobalEye long-range radar detection and control aircraft (platforms based on the Bombardier Global 6500 business jet with Erieye Extended Range radar) worth over 5 billion. Canadian dollars. The Boeing E-7 Wedgetail and L3Harris Aeris were also represented in the competition, but the choice was made in favor of Saab.
