PUBLISHED on August 9, 2025, 08:16 AM EDT – Key Points and Summary – While Canada’s decision to purchase the F-35 is the right choice for its immediate needs, it is not a sufficient long-term solution for an era of great-power competition. That can only mean the F-47.
-To counter future sixth-generation threats from China and Russia in the Arctic, Canada must look beyond the F-35.
A U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II prepares for takeoff at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, September 22, 2022. The F-35 squadron from Luke Air Force Base, AZ used Mountain Home AFB for the terrain and airspace in order to practice simulated combat scenarios. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Cheyenne Bassham)
-The most pragmatic option is to join the U.S. Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program and procure the F-47.
-This is the only realistic path for Canada to maintain long-term fighter competitiveness, secure industrial benefits, and ensure full interoperability with its key allies.
Canada Needs to Think Beyond the F-35 and Purchase the F-47
Canada’s long-awaited review of its intended purchase of the F-35 fighter was released last week.
Included among the report’s many recommendations was the idea that the F-35 should be the centerpiece of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s future air defense capability. And while this decision makes sense, the F-35 will be the right choice for the short- to medium-term. Canada will need something more in the long term.
Put simply, in an increasingly volatile and strategic ecosystem of great power competition in the Arctic, North Pacific, and North Atlantic, Canada needs to take a long view when it comes to defending and securing its national interests. There’s no point in buying a brand new fleet of F-35s only to watch them get steamrolled by some Chinese or Russian sixth-generation competitor in a decade or two.
If Canada wants to be truly certain it will be able to protect and defend its interests well into the future, it needs to take steps now to ensure it will be able to access sixth-generation fighter jet technology when that comes online.
The most pragmatic option is to join the United States’ Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program and procure the F-47.
The F-35 Does Make Some Sense…
The selection of the F-35 as Canada’s next frontline combat aircraft is obvious from an operational perspective. The F-35 is a stealthy, sensor-fused, and adaptable fifth-generation platform. As China and Russia position themselves to assert their growing interests in the Arctic, North Atlantic, and North Pacific, the F-35, as expensive as it may be, is Canada’s best answer to its new strategic reality.
A U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II assigned to the 355th Fighter Squadron receives fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker assigned to the 909th Air Refueling Squadron during a bilateral air exercise with Japan Air Self-Defense Force fighters over the Pacific Ocean, April 14, 2023. Bilateral operations exemplify the U.S. and Japan alliance’s ability to quickly and decisively respond to threats within the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jessi Roth)
The Swedish Gripen is a fine airframe, but it is not a fifth-generation aircraft, and it lacks the networked stealth capabilities and sensor fusion of the F-35. Further, the economic and strategic benefits of closer integration with the United States’ defense capabilities make the F-35 the best strategic answer.
While the F-35 is the best option for Canada right now, it won’t be enough to take on future aircraft such as China’s sixth-generation J-36 fighter. The step from fourth- to fifth-generation fighters was huge, but the technological and capabilities gap between the fifth and sixth generation is going to be greater still, as artificial intelligence, autonomy, hypersonic weapons, and flight capabilities continue to evolve.
If Canada is going to protect and defend its interests well into the future, it must have access to the best sixth-generation fighters. The only program positioned to deliver that anytime soon is the NGAD.
Why the F-47 NGAD?
The NGAD is a multi-domain, family-of-systems program being developed by the Air Force to usher in a new era of air combat. As the name implies, NGAD is a blanket term for a new class of fighter aircraft and their related systems. It is not just about one specific aircraft design, but rather about ushering in a new school of air combat.
The NGAD pursues a mix of crewed and uncrewed systems with AI-enabled sensors and decision-support systems to enable an incredibly lethal, hyper-autonomous, integrated combat air network that can find and hit targets anywhere in the battlespace with greater speed and accuracy than has ever been known before.
The NGAD program is the optimal choice for Canada for a number of reasons. First, it is probably the only realistic path to long-term fighter competitiveness. In an international arms environment as competitive as the current one, Canada cannot afford to fall behind. Teaming with the United States on NGAD would ensure Canada’s forces are provided with a next generation of combat aircraft able to counter contemporary as well as future peer-level threats.
A U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II pilot assigned to the 421st Fisgter Squadron, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, receives fuel from a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft assigned to the 506th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, over the Pacific Ocean, while conducting Agile Combat Employment (ACE) rehearsals, June 28, 2022. ACE shifts operations from centralized physical infrastructures to a network of smaller, dispersed locations that can complicate adversary planning and provide more options for joint force commanders. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Nicholas Priest)
The industrial reasons are just as compelling. For Canadian companies, there are great benefits to tapping into the well of industrial opportunities that will emerge from the U.S.’s largest, most ambitious military project to date. Collaboration with the U.S. and other partner nations would grant Canadian companies access to the most cutting-edge fighter aircraft technologies on the planet.
Also crucial is the issue of interoperability with allies. Canada’s historic, long-term relationships with the United States, Britain, and Europe are all predicated on full participation in allied frameworks built over many decades.
For Canada to continue to have a seat at the NATO table, it must be able to deploy alongside American, British, and European forces in the North Atlantic and Arctic with the same equipment and to the same effect.
NGAD. Image Credit. Lockheed Martin.
Were Canada denied access to the NGAD program, it would be left behind in the future development of next-generation, high-end, integrated airpower capabilities as part of that alliance.
Denied the industrial, interoperability, and strategic benefits that come with such involvement, Canada will be boxed in and prevented from contributing fully to the air defence architectures that will shape global security for generations to come.
The F-35 is the right choice for Canada right now and for the coming years – but it is not enough in the long term. Continued aerial dominance requires access to sixth-generation fighter technologies, which Canada cannot independently develop on its own.
Canada’s best bet for remaining a player in the aerial battlespace of the future is participation in the U.S. F-47 NGAD program. In an ideal world, Ottawa’s recently released fighter program review would have acknowledged this fact – and committed Canada to acting on it. Alas, we do not live in that world.
Canada Air Force CF-18. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
About the Author: Dr. Andrew Latham
Andrew Latham is a non-resident fellow at Defense Priorities and a professor of international relations and political theory at Macalester College in Saint Paul, MN. You can follow him on X: @aakatham. He writes a daily column for National Security Journal.
Defense Watch
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Bockscar
August 9, 2025 at 12:34 pm
Canada’s going nowhere militarily. 10 aug 2025.
Latest news is that jd vance is already in london to meet the non-brit brit foreign minister. Lammy. Lamey Lam.
What’s the urgent matter, there.
There, the non-brit brits and their mixed brigade of fellow proto-nazis and nazis are now gathered in london to denounce the coming trump-putin pow-wow to be held next week.
They’re eagerly scrraming for ww3. War, now. Gimme war.
So, where Does canada stand in this current situation.
Git the HELL outta europe.
Better to just smell the roses at home and NOT get into any military adventure abroad !!!
Jon
August 10, 2025 at 2:35 am
I’ll have hair growing on my palms before Canada buys anything even remotely close to the F-47
Booboo
August 10, 2025 at 6:38 am
Only possible invader is America, with or without heavy armed from air or from sea. Why bother waste money on so much insane paranoia that wouldn’t make any difference if America decided to invade us.
Ian C Skinner
August 10, 2025 at 6:46 am
Couldn’t tell you are a mouth piece for the MIC. One more paid shill in the weeds rearing it’s low IQ head.
SmartLib
August 10, 2025 at 2:28 pm
I wonder how much Northrop and the others in the Military Industrial Complex give as kickbacks for senseless rhetoric like this? Canada doesn’t have the economy to finance F47’s and they’re concerned about F35 security lockouts already.
Best thing Canada could do was throw in and order some Eurofighters…
Alex
August 10, 2025 at 4:35 pm
Absolutely agree with your assessment.
Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans are an anomoly. We need to get through the next 3.5 years and preserve what we can of our relationship particularly our shared and mutual defense.
Rob Ridley
August 10, 2025 at 5:32 pm
A rather repetitive article. Were you trying to flesh out a required number of words?
Your logic fails. The US is no longer a trustworthy ally, and is, in fact, the most likely aggressor. 88 F35s would not be much use there, because we’d have to ask permission to use them. Canada needs to build, maintain, arm and use it’s own defenses. While that may not be the path to immediate superiority, it is the path that leads to future relevance. Did we not learn the lesson of future relevance from Diefenbaker?
Vincent Montambault
August 10, 2025 at 8:55 pm
The worst choice for Canada is the F-35. Just the fact that the US can, as they please, ground an entire fleet of F-35 should be enough NOT to put many billions on those aircrafts. And I am not talking about all the other problems that aircraft has.
So investing in the F-47 would be again, the worst decision.
An aircraft like the Rafale would be better for Canada. Even the Gripen, but the Rafale is more versatile, but more expensive too. But both are a lot cheaper than the F-35.
Stephan Larose
August 10, 2025 at 10:57 pm
WRONG. WRONG. WRONG. This shill for US arms manufacturers doesn’t know what he is talking about. F-35 and F-47 are first strike weapons. Unless we are planning a stealth nuclear first strike against somebody, these jets are utterly useless for Canada. We need twin-jet engines craft with very long ranges to patrol the vast swathes of border. Nobody is going to attack Canada, except — and this is an exceedingly small possibility—the US. 99.9% chance that won’t happen. If we want jets to defend our borders, we should make them here, create the jobs here, and if you want real, actual national security, you can’t be dependent on other countries for arms manufacturing. F-35 stealth is already obsolete, even the Yemenis almost shot one down. No point in an over-priced, single engine, can’t turn, can’t run, can’t hide super lemon. NO.NO. NO.
Steven Hoyt
August 11, 2025 at 1:05 am
Neither Canada nor US should have any confidence in Boeing delivering anytime some, at any reasonable price, any product. The UK group is targeting an unrequited Atlantic crossing for their 6th gen project. With Canada’s vast artic reaches a long range 6th generation interceptor sounds like the right project.
Swamplaw Yankee
August 11, 2025 at 1:44 am
Great Peer reviews! But, the pressure on Canada must be compared to the very evident LACK of Pressure on the South, say the Mexican Cartel State.
The scam of skilled jobs into Canada. Wow, what a huge flag to wave.
Today, right this moment the 2014 USA POTUS plan to give-away, gift, donate these same high skills jobs to the ancient genocide Ruskie ethnics is well underway. Yep, you read that fact correctly!
The 2025 MAGA POTUS Trump is using the 11 year old US campaign to re-store the imperial reign of a russkie Czarling is near fruition.
The MAGA POTUS TRump Cabal is pushing for a con to donate these high skill jobs and their expensive facilities to the ancient genocide Russkie ethnics. The Ukrainian Engineers and their long established Factories who ran the missile and high aviation business in Ukraine, since the start of Aviation, are being shoved by Trump into the russkie commies total control. Look up Sikorski. This Ukrainian stated his aviation business in Ukraine, not some sex trading muscow suburb.
The point is, Americans must know that the Commie-clone Putin wants control of these high tech parts of Ukraine, now! Well: Why? To be able to later have his own ethnic russkie aviation power. And, Guess this one. There is a low intelligence POTUS near completely under his psychological control. The whole MAGA Cabal refuses to debate, let alone stop the slimy show
of fake scam one-sided give away-of Ukraine immediately negotiation.
Nobody in Europe can build a missile, maybe the French and then, Ukraine. If these heavy industry sites of Ukraine are gifted for free to the commies by a POTUS, this huge, Blatant betrayal of the WEST + USA must be debated in advance, in full.
The commies already out witted the inner beltway clowns before. The Russkie sex traders easily convinced a dumb POTUS to donate all of Ukraine’s heavy bombers and nuclear warheads to exactly who: the Cold War enemy of NATO, of the WEST: the Russkies. No NAMES mentioned.
The US Aviation industry is under attack from within. While MIC idiots try to coerce Iceland to buy a fleet of F-35’s, the real action is with the Han CCP Zi regime. Yes, that Zi who controls the prime enemy aviation industry.
Zi’s CCP regime understands that the control of Ukraine’s industry is beyond the cognitive capacity of the Yankee Aviation industry. Zi knows , that he just gets his vassal Putin to show the idiot Yankees some fake redlines and the Yankees will pee their pants and scream its 1939-40-41-42 motto. “Give up now to the Stalin-Hitler partnership”!
Putin showed off the old, old redline from 1986. That when the Serbians stated that the only concern the Serbians will recognize is that the minority rights of Serbians is recognized. This psych trick worked in the Balkan War. Even in 2025, I question big Yankee brains + they have no recall, no clue in 2025 what happened, when + mostly why the USA was in Yugoslavia.
Same thing here. The big Aviation brains will get the Avro Arrow scam. Every Yank in aviation remembers that. The best jet engine made in the last century, the “Orenda”, was a few seconds away from meeting official certification. Suddenly, the huge industrial complex assembling this plane/engine was told never to come back to work next day, get out. Tens of thousands of skilled Canadians were thrown out into the snow, unemployable, as there was nothing else high skilled in the whole country.
MAGA POTUS Trump has this Zi schedule for the USA aviation industry to be approved in a few days. The Han CCP Zi regime has a willing vassal who sends captive ethics to genocide Ukrainians every day.. At first, the suitcases of cash said 3 days. But..
MAGA POTUS Trump has refused to counter, let alone fight the Han CCP Zi vassal regime of Putin. No arms or ammo for Ukraine is his tough MAGA guy motto. Hey, that no-ammo con really worked with the independent Country of China from 1944 to 1950. No ammo (even for double the price) for the ancient Chinese as POTUS Truman’s USA is rooting for Stalin’s new stooge, redliner Mao Tse-tung. And, the aviation fellas are so, so in agreement with that no-ammo Trump policy for Ukrainians. No one hears a MSM peep otherwise from the Aviation MIV fellas.
In 3 years plus, as 2025 Ukraine fades from any AI data bases, the aviation brains will be told, just like the “Orenda” fellas, that the real ( that is next) fighting jets will be made next door, next to ALASKA, say in Commie run Ukraine. Unless, the Aviation fellas want to donate Alaska back to Putin, and those parts of California the Russkies still own. What is their price today + then?
Yes, keep skilled jobs in the WEST. Or, let MAGA POTUS Trump’s Cabal give-away all the intellectual ability of Ukraine to the Han CCP Zi regime vassal Putin! Allow MAGA POTUS Trump to do that scam trick on US aviation today and pretend real, real hard that you have not just killed the USA aviation military sector, tomorrow.
-30-
Donald Gillies
August 11, 2025 at 2:42 am
^^ this (get through the next 3.5 years after which the USA will abandon rule by incompetence).
Canada doesnt have the money and i just can’t see the land of “attack frigates” ponying up money for F-47 fighters!
Bishnoi
August 11, 2025 at 8:26 am
Can these F-47 ngad fighters stand up to the Lawrence bishnoi gang fighters which today have gone international, especially to Canada.
Answer is….no.
JingleBells
August 11, 2025 at 9:14 am
The lawrence bishnoi fighters are now active in at least three Canadian provinces.
Alberta, British Columbia and, Ontario.
So willa mark Carney purchase US-made strykers to combat this latest threat.
Or will Carney prefer more US-made f-35 fighters.
Brian
August 12, 2025 at 2:00 pm
The next war will only last 30 min. So why bother? I am 76 now and this is 1 old white man not prepared to send 1 young man of to die for nothing!
Chris Tutor
August 12, 2025 at 7:37 pm
This article is devoid of any kind of understanding relative to the Canadian military, and in particular the Canadian perspective. The f-35 is an extremely expensive luxury aircraft for the Canadian needs. One just need to look at the f-18 and how it is used in Canada. As far as the f-47 is concerned it would be a fiasco should any government of Canada again make the mistake of relying on the United States of American’s military industrial complex. The reasons simply are;
– Over budget platforms which underperform and then require massive additional funding to bring them up to spec.
– delays after delays after delays with no cap on the final amount to be paid.
– perhaps in a dream world the Americans are going to provide to any country there eventual NGAT f47 the same way they have provided every country in NATO with an f-22 platform…oops I was daydreaming that the USA trusts the members in its alliances.
– POTUS #47 has shown Canada and every Canadian exactly why the time is now to look elsewhere. Yes NATO May survive the 47th however with Sweden France both able to provide a bridging very qualified aircraft there is no rush especially as it is very possible Canada will be invited to be part of the development team of the European Union’s NGAT with Great Britain, france, and Italy. That program will definitely be compatible with NATO’s
– the biggest factor being range fuel and reliability. Those 3 already tax the f-35 and by our reports so far the f45 would be worse.
– the Canadian government have made it clear Canada’s independence of The sovereign Nation takes precedent. We forgot that as a country in the late 50s when we sold out to the Americans and their promises. That is not going to be history repeating itself. Canada is no longer going to be the Junior partner in North America but in equal in respect and in trade.
Personally I would love to see a vibrant and effective manufacturing industry in aerospace field here in Canada. Both Sweden and South Korea have already provided that as a possibility and I suspect France will soon follow suit.
Being ex military Honour and respect mean a lot as does keeping ones word. Yes, Canada helped fund the f-35 and we’re still waiting for the first shipment. However I applaud the decision not to buy more and to procure from other sources.
🇨🇦 ELBOWS UP 🇨🇦
Gene
August 13, 2025 at 8:22 am
What Canada really needs is to rebuild it’s technology and to become great again. The last fighter jet designed in Canada was built in mid-50s, 70 years ago. Since then, smart engineers leave the country and move to the States.
Much smaller countries (such as Sweden) design and build their own planes. Canada still has brains and technology. It just need a will to do it.
Same stays with the new-gen patrol planes. Instead of buying Boeing’s P7, Canada can use its own CS3/A220 or Q400. Again, smart people invest in their future, not into the future of “not so friendly” other country.