Canada to order military plane fleet from Sweden in shift from US suppliers
by tosh on 5/27/2026, 4:53:25 PM
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/27/canada-sweden-saab-globaleye-aircraft
Comments
by: khriss
I can understand why this change happened. Even if American equipment is superior, there is a lot of value to not depending on a supposed 'ally' which<p>* Arbitrarily slapped high tariffs on all goods from Canada while exempting Russia and Belarus.<p>* Threatened to take over the country by force.<p>* Officially suspended the Permanent Joint Board on Defense between US and Canada because of criticism of US foreign policy by the Canadian PM
5/27/2026, 7:19:41 PM
by: hnburnsy
Boeing and Airbus have tremendous backlogs...<p>>As of March 31st, 2026, Airbus reported a commercial aircraft backlog of 9,031 aircraft. Based on the company’s 2026 delivery target of 870 aircraft, this represents approximately 10.4 years of production coverage.<p>>Boeing’s commercial backlog stood at approximately 6,719 aircraft at the end of March. Using Forecast International’s production estimates, Boeing’s backlog equates to roughly 10.1 years of production coverage.<p><a href="https://flightplan.forecastinternational.com/2026/04/14/airbus-and-boeing-report-march-2026-commercial-aircraft-orders-and-deliveries/" rel="nofollow">https://flightplan.forecastinternational.com/2026/04/14/airb...</a>
5/27/2026, 7:06:00 PM
by: xattt
It helps that the base plane is built in Canada, and that the PM made commitments to the Swedish king in November 2025.
5/27/2026, 6:06:56 PM
by: jerlam
The US doesn't even use the Wedgetail, and has cancelled and then un-cancelled it:<p><a href="https://aerospaceglobalnews.com/news/pentagon-e-7-wedgetail-funding-usaf/" rel="nofollow">https://aerospaceglobalnews.com/news/pentagon-e-7-wedgetail-...</a>
5/27/2026, 6:03:24 PM
by: ge96
Bring back the Arrow
5/27/2026, 6:46:04 PM
by: bigyabai
Saab makes excellent AWACS systems, this strikes me as a good choice. It'll be interesting to see if Canada also invests in the Gripen long-term, as a replacement for the aging CF-18 fleet.
5/27/2026, 6:28:30 PM
by: moltar
Now the interesting question to me is why is that a country with a tenth of population can have car, truck and military plane manufacturing yet Canada can’t, even with virtually all resources for inputs, including energy can’t.
5/27/2026, 6:44:33 PM
by: jmclnx
> as the country seeks to reduce reliance on US defense firms<p>I wonder why ? I think we may be seeing a lot more of this.<p>Maybe we will get to see what US Corporations value more, real paying customers or large tax cuts w/stock buy back curtsy of US Gov Monetary Support.
5/27/2026, 6:55:24 PM
by: sourcegrift
[flagged]
5/27/2026, 7:38:58 PM