Norman Paterson School of International Affairs Professor Philippe Lagassé told CBC the US could “probably” prevent upgrades or new parts for Canada’s offensive fighter jets, but the “entire armed forces has this problem.”
Former F-35 test pilot and retired lieutenant-colonel Billie Flynn echoed Lagassé.
“There is nothing unique about the vulnerability of the F-35”, Flynn noted. “Remember that every missile that we own and fire on the CF-18s and all our frigates, all our offensive weapons are American and necessarily the United States government has control over what’s loaded into the latest version.”
Canada’s military is desperate to avoid this discussion. According to retired Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, “senior officers are likely terrified by the perceived abandonment of their USAF [United States Air Force] relationships” that’s been caused by questioning the F-35 purchase. The RCAF leadership is facing a “crisis of identity”, adds Norman, since they have “a cultural bias towards the USAF”.
That’s quite the hardline dichotomy, that presumes quite a dearth of reasonability within our own military ranks. I seriously doubt we harbor conflicts of interests that run so deep we’d have to build a whole new military.