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NORAD pact would change if Canada pulls back from F-35 order, warns U.S. ambassador
U.S. Ambassador Hoekstra says abandoning Canada’s $19 billion F-35 deal would force the U.S. to adjust NORAD and increase its own F-35 deployments, affecting continental defense.
- On Dec. 8, 2025, U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra warned NORAD would have to be altered if Canada retracts its promise to buy 88 F-35 fighter jets during a U.S. Embassy in Ottawa interview.
- Last March Canada announced a review of its $19 billion F-35 order after U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats, while Saab courted the Carney government with Gripen E jets and GlobalEye aircraft.
- Canada signed the Lockheed Martin deal and funded 16 jets, due this year, while its military examines alternatives for fighter jets.
- The United States would have to buy more F-35 fighter jets, Hoekstra said, and operate them more frequently over Canadian airspace to fill capability gaps if Canada cancels its purchase.
- Those comments signal planners must map replacement options if Canada diverges, as Hoekstra warned choosing a non-F-35 platform raises interoperability questions requiring new operational planning.
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NORAD Pact Would Change if Canada Pulls Out of F-35 Deal, Trump Envoy Tells Ottawa
The U.S. ambassador to Canada warned that the arrangements involving the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) may have to change if Ottawa doesn’t follow through on a deal to purchase 88 American-made F-35 fighter jets, in an interview published on Jan. 26. “NORAD would have to be altered,” U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra told CBC News. He said that if Canada did not move ahead with the full order, the United States would probably …
·New York, United States
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Total News Sources18
Leaning Left3Leaning Right3Center1Last UpdatedBias Distribution43% Left, 43% Right
Bias Distribution
- 43% of the sources lean Left, 43% of the sources lean Right
43% Right
L 43%
14%
R 43%
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