Canada chooses Swedish warning planes over US model | Business and Financial Issues

Canada has announced plans to buy early warning aircraft from Sweden’s Saab instead of competing with Boeing as it seeks to reduce its reliance on the United States.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Wednesday that Canada will choose Saab’s GlobalEye, which is based on the Bombardier Global 6500 aircraft. The Boeing E-7 Wedgetail aircraft – which has been delayed due to delays and high costs – was also in contention.

Recommended Articles

list of 4 itemsend of series

“With a suite of advanced sensors and mission systems, Saab’s GlobalEye will be a critical tool for the Canadian Armed Forces to detect and deter threats across the Arctic,” Carney told a defense conference in Ottawa.

The prime minister pledged in March that Canada would take full responsibility for protecting its vast Arctic territory, after years of relying on an agreement with the US to manage its more than 4.4 million square kilometers (1.7 million square miles) of land and sea, a larger area than India.

Carney’s Liberal government last year announced plans to increase defense spending. The US and its allies have complained for years that Canada is not meeting NATO’s military objectives; Carney announced in March that Canada had met its goal of spending 2 percent of its GDP on defense last year.

In a statement, Saab said it plans to invest in research and development in Canada as part of any partnership.

Although Carney did not provide details on the size of the fleet or the cost of the potential contract, military officials have previously said they are interested in purchasing six early warning aircraft.

Philippe Lagasse, associate director of international affairs at Ottawa’s Carleton University, said Canada’s decision to buy GlobalEye planes “is an important test of the Carney administration’s intention to abandon American military power”.

He said in his speech that the decision affirms the relationship between Canada and Sweden, a new member of NATO that has been eager to strengthen its relationship with the Canadian military.

Canada has previously said that it wants to work with the Nordic countries in the Arctic on security and other issues, in an international environment where the US has become a reliable partner.

“GlobalEye is already creating jobs in Canada, and working with Canadian manufacturing companies. This decision brings our two countries together,” said Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in a post.

Saab also wants to sell Canada some of its Gripen fighters.

Canada has a contract to buy 88 F-35 jets from Lockheed-Martin, but last year, after the US cut prices on important Canadian products, Carney asked the military to investigate whether to reduce the order and buy planes from another manufacturer.

Carney later told reporters that Ottawa would make a decision on the military soon and declined to comment when asked if the military would use two jets.

Last week, a Pentagon official, speaking after Washington suspended scheduled bi-annual talks with Canada, said the delay in making a decision on the F-35s reflected Ottawa’s political priority over defense issues.

However, Carleton University’s Lagasse said he hopes Canada will eventually decide to maintain a fleet of F-35 fighter jets instead of splitting the fleet by buying Saab Gripens.

“If the government was determined to buy Gripens, I would have expected them to announce it together with this proposal (GlobalEye),” he said.

Commercial dispute

The announcement came amid tensions between the US and Canada after US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canada after taking office last year, as well as several comments threatening to annex the country and make it the 51st US country.

In the past, about 80 percent of Canadian exports have gone to the US. Although most of them were protected under the USMCA, the trade agreement between the two countries that includes Mexico, which is now subject to review, which begins on July 1, and Trump said that the US does not really need that agreement.

Although the US has announced bilateral talks with Mexico, there has been no mention of Canada.

Deputy US Trade Representative Jeffrey Goettman will lead bilateral talks in Mexico City on Thursday and Friday that will focus on “economic security and basic industrial goods regulations,” the department said Wednesday.

The USTR said the US and Mexico will hold a second round of talks in Washington on June 16-17, which will focus on agriculture and “a place of prosperity,” with a third round of talks in Mexico City scheduled for the week of July 20.

The first Trump administration held talks with Mexico and Canada to create the USMCA that replaced the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement in 2020.

But so far, there have been few talks between US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and his Canadian counterpart, Canada-US Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc, since early March, and no official launch of US-Canada talks.