Canada gets first F-35 jets from U.S. as full order stays under review

Canada's Royal Canadian Air Force announced Friday that it has received the first two of its Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets from the United States, posting a photo of one plane with a maple-leaf roundel from Phoenix.

The arrival comes a year after the review of the purchase, which Prime Minister Mark Carney ordered after taking office, was supposed to have concluded. Ottawa agreed in January 2023 to buy 88 F-35A jets, and the review is now weighing whether to keep them all. The first F-35s still arrive this year.

The review is weighing alternatives, including a mixed fleet that would include Gripen jets built by Saab. The debate has taken on a political edge: U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra recently called the F-35 "the best fighter in the world," and former foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy, in a Saturday blog post, warned that Washington controls the software used by the jets.

The RCAF did not say when pilot training on the new planes will begin, and the announcement did not give a delivery date or cost for the two jets. The date by which the Carney review will conclude has not been given either, nor the total cost of the jets Ottawa has committed to or who pays it.