The Royal Canadian Air Force does not want a mixed fleet of fighter jets
It has been a year since Canada began looking for alternatives to its American ally that had become too unpredictable. And among the options on Mark Carney's desk is that of integrating Swedish-made Gripen fighters into Canada's air strike force.
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), through its most senior officer, Lieutenant-General Jamie Speiser-Blanchet, does not see this possibility in a very positive light. The reason? The RCAF would not have the resources to integrate Gripen at the same time as the first F-35s are delivered.
While waiting for Mark Carney's decision, which she refuses to comment, the RCAF commander prefers to focus all her efforts on the integration of the F-35s. "We are focused on the acquisition [of the F-35s], which started with the decision made in 2022, and announced in 2023. We will begin training on our first Canadian F-35 aircraft, which will be delivered to the U.S. base in Luke, Arizona, next fall. At the moment, we are focusing on the current path," explained the RCAF commander in an interview with Le Devoir.
And the current path is to integrate American F-35s into the Canadian air strike force to replace the aging F-18s, whose life expectancy has been extended to 2032. "Right now, we have a plan for the transition from the F-18 to the F-35. We are reducing F-18 operations while we are increasing F-35 operations. We're really focused on this transition, which is quite complex in terms of differences in technology or security levels."
Adding Gripen aircraft in the middle of this transition would therefore add a degree of complexity that Commander Jamie Speiser-Blanchet considers inappropriate.
Due to the political tensions between Ottawa and Washington since Donald Trump's return to power, one of the fears about the F-35s is related to the possibility of a loss of Canadian sovereignty in relation to the aircraft's updates.
Lieutenant-General Jamie Speiser-Blanchet brushes aside these fears. "No, it's not a fear," she says bluntly when asked by Le Devoir.
According to the senior officer, Canada decided to buy the American F-35 because it is the best aircraft available today. "It's the only fifth-generation fighter jet that is available to Canada, since the others are developed by China and Russia. Our NATO allies, but also Australia and Japan, already have F-35s. It is also for this reason that [the] decision [to acquire them] was taken.
Moreover, unlike the Danish military, for example, the Commander of the RCAF refused to consider the United States a military threat to Canada. "I would distinguish between politics and the military. The United States is a military ally and, therefore, in that sense, it is not a threat that we should worry about."
As for Trump's repeated threats against Canada, the commander prefers not to analyze them in the heat of the moment, even if she says she is aware of the political stakes. "It's very important that I go beyond my emotions and focus on the facts. And that's what I do. I make sure that we make decisions and provide military advice to the government that is truly fact-based and intelligence-based."
