Canada will buy 88 F-35 fighter jets, says defense minister

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada (AA) - Canada will spend CAN$19 billion (US$14 billion) to buy 88 F-35 aircraft, said Defense Minister Anita Anand in making the announcement at a press conference Monday.

Anand also announced Canada would spend more on NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which Canada partners with the United States.

"Together (these two will) sharpen our military edge to keep Canadians safe," Anand said.

The F-35s will replace an aging fleet of Canada's CF-18 jets. It also ends a 12-year controversy over new fighters - Canada had announced a plan to buy the F-35 back in 2010, then backed away.

The cost is about CAN$114 million (US$85 million) per plane and the purchase will be phased in with the first 16 planes delivered in 2026 and the full 88 complement of jets arriving by the end of 2031.

This is the same F-35 plane that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during the 2015 federal election his government would never buy because it was not needed and "does not work and is far from working." The plane has had technical troubles.

But Ananda said at Monday's press conference that there were more than 3,000 F-35s made by Lockheed Martin, an American company, purchased by various countries and with them Canada can "defend the second largest air space in the world."