The Morning Rant

The petulance of Trump Derangement Syndrome is embarrassing, but in most cases it is childish political entitlement masquerading as "speaking truth to power," or some such nonsense. But when it crosses the line into geopolitical reality, TDS is costly and dangerous.

We can criticize the F-35 program on multiple fronts, but what it does superbly is mesh multiple different forces into an integrated response. It is simply better at its job than any other platform. The recent attack on Iran by Israel's F-35s is an excellent example of its superiority. It is the most modern war plane on earth, and there is no getting around that fact.

For Canada to consider a clearly inferior platform because of its economic battles with the Trump administration is short-sighted in the extreme. We will have to step in and buttress Canada's already pathetic armed forces if they choose the clearly inferior Swedish plane. But TDS is all-encompassing, even if it means jeopardizing the national security of Canada!

Why Experts Say Canada's Plan to Ditch the F-35 Is a Strategic Disaster

In 2022 Ottawa selected the U.S. Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II – a fifth-generation, stealth multirole fighter – committing to 88 aircraft to meet agreed NORAD, NATO, and Arctic security requirements. The F-35’s advanced sensor fusion capabilities and deep strike profile were seen as essential to defending vast northern airspace alongside U.S. forces.

However, that consensus about what it takes to meet these requirements appears to have evaporated. After Prime Minister Mark Carney ordered a review of the F-35 contract in 2025 amid escalating U.S.–Canada trade tensions, Ottawa signalled interest in alternative options – notably Sweden’s Saab JAS-39 Gripen E, a 4.5-generation fighter pitched with the promise of 12,600 Canadian industrial assembly and jobs.

In response to reports that Ottawa is on the verge of siding with Saab, U.S. ambassador Pete Hoekstra warned that a pivot away from the F-35 would strain or “alter” the NORAD framework, likely forcing the U.S. to deploy its own fighters more often into Canadian airspace if interoperability is lost.

Carney’s stance on the situation is undeniably political, reflecting ongoing friction with Washington over tariff disputes and rhetoric seen in Ottawa as unpredictable. Those problems have contributed to the growing unease among Canadian policymakers over a perceived over-reliance on U.S. defense systems.

Canada and Carney remind me of the joke about the mouse that creeps up to an elephant and begins to hump its leg. The elephant looks down, the mouse looks up and says, "Don't worry, I'll be gentle."

[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter and X/Twitter]. If you folks who are on X/Twitter would follow us it would be much appreciated!

posted by CBD at 11:00 AM

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