Canada Is Asking A Question No U.S. Ally Has Dared to Ask Before: What If America Uses The F-35 as Leverage?

Canada Is Asking A Question No U.S. Ally Has Dared to Ask Before: What If America Uses The F-35 as Leverage?

Canada’s plan to buy 88 Lockheed Martin F-35A stealth fighters to replace the Royal Canadian Air Force’s aging CF-18 fleet has become a sovereignty fight. A 2025 audit raised the program’s projected cost from $19 billion to $27.7 billion. President Trump’s tariffs and U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra’s warning that NORAD ‘would have to be altered’ if Ottawa walks away have changed the conversation. Sweden’s Saab is offering the Gripen-E with the Gl…