this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2025
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Linked National Post on purpose. Given their bias I believe they'd present the worst case scenario.

E: Apparently the article is from 2016 so the cost is likely higher today.

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[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 2 points 14 minutes ago

Notwithstanding clause. Don't pay a fucking dime.

Besides war declared by US, that makes US permissions on every flight a deal breaker, the plane is a POS, and we should be refunded for returning every existing plane we may already have. Cancelling deal for cause, with zero penalty, despite any contract is the right move.

[–] nik282000@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 hour ago

Ford blew twice that to put beer in gas stations. Clearly we have the money to blow 🀑

[–] RaskolnikovsAxe@lemmy.ca 19 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) (1 children)

Why bother paying anything? Let it go to court. Threatening annexation should fall under some kind of hostilities clause, national security clause, or force majeure clause. Anyway who's going to collect?

The US government can pay ~~MD~~ Lockheed, they're the ones who threatened annexation.

Edit... Fixed above, not sure why I had MacDonell Douglas on my mind...strange substitution for a company that no longer exists under that name.

[–] sik0fewl@lemmy.ca 1 points 27 minutes ago

Not saying you're wrong, but certainly that would be added to the made-up list of reasons to annex Canada.

[–] CircaV@lemmy.ca 27 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

We need to pull out of this deal, the last thing Canada needs is to buy weapons from the country that has designs to annex us. And that sells weapons with kill switches.

[–] BeardedGingerWonder@feddit.uk 9 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

Weapons they need permission to use.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 hour ago

That feels like an internet rumour. How would that even work? Like if someone took out LM's servers all F-35s in the world would no longer function? If an enemy jammed the signal they wouldn't work?

There's no need to invent problems anyway. The US could potentially cut off Canada from parts needed to maintain the planes and that's reason enough to cancel it.

[–] CircaV@lemmy.ca 6 points 2 hours ago

Exactly. Absolutely it has to be cancelled based on the fact that the imminent danger to Canada is from the US. No way we should be buying their weapons, listening to their media etc.

[–] sirspate@lemmy.ca 14 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

That's an article from 2016.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 0 points 7 hours ago

Oh damn, I didn't notice. Thanks!

[–] Global_Liberty@lemmy.ml 15 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Of course Canada needs to leave. Do Canadian politicians think the US will supply it with parts as it invades?

Buy some Gripen and/or Eurofighters and join GCAP.

[–] lambipapp@lemmy.world 5 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Would love to see some buy in on Saabs next gen project

[–] BeardedGingerWonder@feddit.uk 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Why does Lemmy have such a love for Saab fighter jets? Gripen is a lovely looking jet, but the Typhoon is a lot more capable.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

But does the Eurofighter come in a flat pack with an allen key and a booklet that vaguely indicates how to assemble it?

[–] BeardedGingerWonder@feddit.uk 1 points 42 minutes ago (1 children)

I'm not privy to high level procurement stuff like this, but unless every part is manufacturable in country all drawings/plans/source code/test data etc available and modifiable is there a significant advantage?

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 1 points 26 minutes ago

Sorry but my source for procurement doesn't have that level of detail for the Gripen. It may be classified.

https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/search/?q=gripen

[–] jerkface@lemmy.ca 16 points 11 hours ago

That's less than the total incurred costs of Ford's decision to break the contract with The Beer Store a year earlier than scheduled.

[–] crabigno@lemmy.zip 6 points 10 hours ago (1 children)
[–] howrar@lemmy.ca 5 points 8 hours ago (1 children)
[–] crabigno@lemmy.zip 3 points 3 hours ago

And investment. 1/5 of my lifetime economies are now in European aerospace and military companies shares. Something I would have never thought I would do, as a fundamentally anti militaristic person. I don't even care if I don't get any economic benefits out of it.

[–] FaceDeer@fedia.io 34 points 16 hours ago (4 children)

America is currently at war with us, declared abruptly and out of nowhere. They just decided one day "we want to annex Canada!"

Even if Donald's presidency is short-lived and a new slightly saner and less stupid administration takes control, I don't think it's a good idea to be trusting the Americans any more.

We need to disentangle ourselves from any military dependence on such ridiculously unreliable "allies." I'm all for this.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 hour ago

I think everyone is thinking the same way. I think the probability of the US invading is low, but there is a probability.

Even if the US never uses their military against us, there's a very real chance they withhold parts for military equipment as leverage in a negotiation. They are already withholding military aid from Ukraine as leverage after all. That alone makes it imperative we end Canada's dependency on the US defense industry.

[–] Reannlegge@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 hour ago

Even if Donald's presidency is short-lived and a new slightly saner and less stupid administration takes control

I know the hamburglar has got his sights on Trump but if he takes his shot during the next 4 years the US gets JD Vance. Vance will be a lot worse than Trump, I do not know how Musk or Teil will handle Vance.

[–] pretzelz@lemmy.world 10 points 8 hours ago

You would imagine there would be a clause in the contract for exactly this scenario. If there's not, it's going to be a common one in contacts going forward...

[–] PenguinMage@lemmy.world 10 points 16 hours ago

As an American I sadly agree. This is an overreach that shouldn't be ignored. And if it is OK now it's obviously not off the table sometime down the road... this isnt something g you just shove under the carpet.

[–] Grimpen@lemmy.ca 24 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I've been advocating joining GCAP, an effort by Japan, UK and Italy to make a 6th gen fighter. It isn't scheduled to deliver the final design until 2035 though, so we would still need a stopgap.

Still, it would send a pretty strong signal and also allow as a path to reinvigorate our domestic aerospace defence industry.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 hour ago

This looks like a good idea. We do have people in Lunenberg, NS that have experience with working with stealth materials which could be a significant contribution to that project.

Could we call it the Arrow? Though I'd also be cool with it being called Spitfire.

[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 76 points 19 hours ago (3 children)

Why even pay the cancelation fee?

It's not like anything going on now is legitimate.

[–] CircaV@lemmy.ca 9 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Exactly. Canada should just choose to ignore it. Just like the US is ignoring international deals they’ve signed with other countries. Thing is: Canada has honour and our actual signature means something when we sign agreements. I don’t think Canada will sink as low as the US.

[–] Reannlegge@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 hour ago

I do not think so either but we really should.

[–] lettruthout@lemmy.world 54 points 18 hours ago

Or promise to pay but never do, like Trump did for his campaign rally expenses.

[–] Perhapsjustsniffit@lemmy.ca 17 points 16 hours ago

When the creditor calls tell them Canada doesn't live here anymore and hang up like your room mate used to do for you in college.

[–] witty_username@feddit.nl 27 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

Don't cancel. "Pause" it until further notice

[–] Yoga@lemmy.ca 10 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

β€œCanada’s liability would be no greater than US$346.7 million” – the difference between what it had already contributed and what was remaining of the original US$551 million commitment.

Since the analysis was produced, the Liberal government has paid another US$33 million.

Considering that there are Canadian companies that have contracts related to the f35 and they would almost certainly be cancelled or not renewed, running down the clock isn't a terrible idea. The $300+m is already a sunk cost.

[–] chuck@lemmy.ca 6 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

No say will cancel it and then pause it then cancel the landing gear then pause that then cancel it pause it till it comes back looking like the avro arrow

[–] Yoga@lemmy.ca 41 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

https://www.saab.com/markets/canada/gripen-for-canada/built-for-canada-by-canada

From another page:

"In addition, Canada will have full and exclusive control over Gripen’s secure data – a unique advantage of our offer. The Gripen Centre in Montreal will host all work on the fighter's mission system and Canadians will carry out this work. With the mission system, communications and technical data all hosted in Canada, Gripen exceeds all industrial, security and controlled goods requirements. With Gripen the Royal Canadian Air Force will have maximum control over sensitive data handling."

It's a no brainer, in a world of digital warfare, needing to rely on a foreign home base is a tremendous liability.

[–] wise_pancake@lemmy.ca 7 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

How are they the only ones offering that, that needs to be table stakes to even bid

[–] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 5 points 9 hours ago

Because we live in capitalist dictatorships masquerading as freedomℒ️ and democracyℒ️

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 41 points 20 hours ago

Doug Ford spent much more on canceling various contracts on a whim. I say bail.

[–] Aconite@lemmy.ca 31 points 19 hours ago

Fuck it. They're an intelligence hazard and that's cheap in government terms.

[–] AlolanVulpix@lemmy.ca 20 points 18 hours ago (2 children)
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[–] Nils@lemmy.ca 6 points 16 hours ago

These are numbers from 2016. Is there any place where we can read these contracts? Maybe with the current situation, conditions are changing. Hopefully, people put a clause in case of animosity between countries.

[–] DaddleDew@lemmy.world 10 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

I'd be hoping that Trump's time in power would be far outlived by the F-35 program and would be only a footnote in the history of friendship between Canada and the US. But nobody who knows what the future has in reserve.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 hour ago

Trump won't outlive the F35, but the distrust of the US will.

The US cut off military supplies to a country (Ukraine) during an active conflict. Trump did this as leverage in a negotiation. That's a line that can't be crossed, and he crossed it. There were no articles of impeachment, and most Americans didn't pay it any mind. So this is how Americans do business now.

So we should expect the US to use military supplies as leverage in negotiations going forward. Using US equipment means CAF's readiness is in constant peril for the foreseeable future. Currently it's at the whims of a deranged old man. But it will always be a bargaining chip for future US Presidents.

The only way to ensure CAF readiness is to end the use of all US equipment. It's not solely about Trump, it's about what the US has become.

[–] ohulancutash@feddit.uk 6 points 16 hours ago

Significantly. The F-35 programme is a 50-year one. Trump won’t even be alive in half that.

[–] LeFantome@programming.dev 10 points 18 hours ago

Yes please. So clearly the right move.

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