OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada has finalized a deal to buy 88 F-35 fighter jets from U.S. defense company Lockheed Martin Corp in a C$19 billion ($14.2 billion) project to replace its aging fleet of fighter aircraft, the Canadian government said on Monday.
Ottawa has been trying for more than a decade to replace its fleet of Boeing Co CF-18 fighters, some of which are more than 40 years old. The purchase of F-35 stealth fighters would mark the largest investment in the Canadian Air Force in more than 30 years.
Canada expects the first F-35s to be delivered in 2026 and the fleet’s full operational capability is anticipated between 2032 and 2034, Defense Minister Anita Anand told a news conference.
The F-35 fighter deal announcement coincides with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s trip to Mexico on Monday for the North American leaders’ summit where he will meet U.S. President Joe Biden.
The deal “will help us to meet our NORAD and NATO commitments and it will also deliver concrete economic benefits to our country,” Anand said.
The C$19 billion project includes cost of infrastructure set-up, weapons and other related expenses in addition to the price of planes.
Canada is part of a consortium that helped develop Lockheed Martin’s F-35 and Ottawa will pay the same amount for the aircraft as the other participants, including the United States.
($1 = 1.3404 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; editing by Grant McCool)
