Buying the F-35 Could Be Canada's Biggest Strategic Mistake | The Walrus

"In practice, interoperability means building a military designed to work in lockstep with its US counterpart at the highest levels of combat. This is a level of integration far beyond what most North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies seek through such things as standardized stocks of ammunition. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of a very few navies that can seamlessly embed a ship into a US carrier battle group-and has regularly done so. Our army commanders are trained to operate jointly with US counterparts."

"I n the next few weeks, Prime Minister Mark Carney 's government will make one of the most important decisions of its short life, with enormous consequences for Canada's relations with the United States and our national defence. That decision is whether to stick with the proposed purchase of eighty-eight F-35 fighter jets. To grasp what's at stake, it helps to see how Canada's military has long conceived of its role. For eighty years, it has understood itself in a particular way."

Canada faces a decision on purchasing eighty-eight F-35 fighter jets that will shape relations with the United States and national defence. The Canadian military doctrine prioritizes interoperability with U.S. forces, aiming to operate in lockstep at high levels of combat. That doctrine produced deep integration: the Royal Canadian Navy embeds into U.S. carrier groups, army commanders train to operate jointly with U.S. counterparts, and the Royal Canadian Air Force functions within a binational air-defence framework led by the U.S. The enduring Cold War mindset now faces strain as questions arise about continued U.S. commitment to NATO's Article 5.

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