The coming $26 billion windfall for the Canadian Armed Forces. What to buy?

[Admiral Beez]

Looks like Lockheed Martin is prepping Canadians to accept the firm as our go to for maintenance and training on whichever new submarines we buy.

Beneath the surface: sustaining Canada’s submarine fleet

What’s beneath the surface of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN)’s submarine program? A hard-working team of Lockheed Martin staff dedicated to maintaining the complex systems that keep Canada’s sailors safe and ready for the mission. Through the Victoria-Class In-Service Support program, they...

www.lockheedmartin.com

Honestly, the depth of breadth of Lockheed-Martin in the CAF's projects is notable. It's not just the F-35, but the new destroyers as well.

River-class destroyer (Canadian surface combatant) - Canada.ca

Procurement of the River-class destroyer for the Royal Canadian Navy

www.canada.ca

 

[kEiThZ]

Suffice to say, while he followed rules of decorum, he clearly does not have a high opinion of the Gripen, you couldn't miss that for the world.

He's not the only one. I see in public discussions that people always act as though it's generals that want the F-35. It's the usual idea of "elites". Nope. I know of pilots who are thinking of putting in their release if the Gripen is purchased. The thing is substantially disliked. For a whole bunch of reasons.

And what never gets discussed, but should, is that only two small NATO countries other than Sweden use the Gripen. Both of them are a bit too Russia friendly (Hungary and Czechia). One of them (Czechia) is only leasing the Gripen till they get delivery of F-35s. Not one of Sweden's neighbours or any country on the Eastern Flank of NATO bordering Russia or Belarus has ordered the Gripen. All are F-35 customers. It's utter madness to see the Canadian public frenzy for this aircraft when looking at global reality.

Honestly, the depth of breadth of Lockheed-Martin in the CAF's projects is notable. It's not just the F-35, but the new destroyers as well.

Welcome to multinationals. Lock Mart Canada employs and is lead almost exclusively by Canadian citizens. If you ever talk to any of them, they don't see themselves as some sort of American plant in Canada. If it ever got bad, we wouldn't shutter them. They would be kept whole and nationalized. They are an incredible powerhouse of talent in Canada's defence sector.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Welcome to multinationals. Lock Mart Canada employs and is lead almost exclusively by Canadian citizens. If you ever talk to any of them, they don't see themselves as some sort of American plant in Canada.

That reminds me of Avro Canada, where even though it was a wholly owned subsidiary of Britain's Hawker Siddeley (with the CF-105 Arrow's chief designer James Floyd being a Brit), the place appeared to have firmly Canadian roots.