Canada ready to further distance itself from U.S. on military procurement

Source: CBC Politics
Date: 2026-08-29 08:00:00.0
Tags: [National, Defence, Trade, Industry, Technology]

Ottawa is shifting its military procurement strategy away from the United States amid ongoing tariff disputes, aiming to reduce reliance on American contractors and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) framework. Stephen Fuhr, head of the Defence Investment Agency, stated that the public has no appetite for sole-source American military contracts, putting procurements like Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets and potential Black Hawk helicopters under review. Concurrently, Canada is pursuing European and domestic alternatives, including negotiations with Swedish firm Saab for Gripen fighter jets and GlobalEye radar aircraft, and awarding a $2.3-billion Arctic military satellite communications contract to Telesat to reduce reliance on Elon Musk's SpaceX Starlink network.