Canada is actively looking at potential alternatives to the U.S-built F-35 stealth fighter and will hold conversations with rival aircraft makers, Defence Minister Bill Blair said late Friday, just hours after being reappointed to the post as part of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new cabinet.
“reconsidering”?
Y’all haven’t canceled all orders of everything yet? I know I would.
Americans will activate the kill switch on F-35s, along with all of their allies. US technology should not be trusted.
According to the subject experts I’ve heard on French news, there is no kill switch to immediately lock the engines or weapons. But, they can lock the software maintenance that is required at least one month and the flight planning software because both are centralized in the US, effectively crippling the planes.
Edit: detailed article https://theaviationist.com/2025/03/10/f-35-kill-switch-myth/
So instead of some cartoonish “kill switch” that instantly bricks the plane, the U.S. can simply stop updating and supporting them… and the only thing stopping them from doing so is words on paper.
If I was Canada, I’d go for the Gripen.
Also, even if both were offloaded, maintenance requires a long supply chain leading to the US. (Which is fine and dandy if you are the US—after all, the US military’s world-spanning logistics, which in peacetime can famously keep troops in the farthest corners of the world supplied with the comforts of home, is a marvel—though not so good if you’re an ally with any doubts about your standing with the US.) Now that the US’s reliability as a partner is in question, so is the safety of relying on such an arrangement.
