The American ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, says that if Canada were to cancel or change its current order for the American-made Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets, NORAD would "have to be altered."NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defence Command, is a joint defence organization between Canada and the United States that serves as an early warning system and binational defence agreement between the two countries.Canada currently has an order for 88 F-35s, with the first 16 aircraft already having been purchased and set to be operational in 2029.However, due to the ongoing trade war between Canada and the United States and the threats of American annexation, the Canadian government has said they are looking at potential alternatives to the F-35.Alternatives such as the Swedish Saab JAS 39 Gripen have been proposed as a cost-effective alternative to the F-35, but Hoekstra says that should Canada abandon the F-35 project, American aircraft will undertake more flights into Canadian airspace to address threats heading towards the United States..In an interview with CBC, Hoekstra stated that "NORAD would have to be altered" should Canada not follow through with its initial purchase.He also mentioned that Canada having F-35s is imperative should Canada and the U.S. maintain interoperability, which he said was necessary to repel threats to North American airspace.Speaking about Canada's potential purchase of the Saab Gripen, rather than the F-35, Hoekstra said, "If they’re (Canada) going with an inferior product that is not as interchangeable, interoperable as what the F-35 is, that changes our defence capability. And as such, we have to figure out how we're going to replace that.""If Canada is no longer going to provide that (capability), then we have to fill those gaps," said the American ambassador..Canadian officials have said that these comments from the American ambassador, which mirror similar comments from the American administration, are a move to try and force the Canadian government's hand over this fighter jet dilemma.Another issue with the F-35's is the admittance from the American government that Canada would be getting slightly "scaled down" version of the fighter jet compared to the American version.Current analysts say that the Canadian government is considering a mixed fleet of fighters, with the 16 currently ordered F-35s supplemented by 72 Gripen jets, but this seems like it still wouldn't be enough for the American administration.
