Agree somewhat but I think Ontario’s industrial lobby isn’t really on the same page as Quebec (Doug the thug factor, Premier of Ontario, he’s not a fan of Quebec). IMHO, the only way a mixed fleet happens is if Trump totally pisses off the government and the Canadian electorate, not an impossible event. Militarily a disappointing outcome but one that I could accept as current IOTUS is a PITA and the subsequent leadership won’t be any better, just my two cents.
The Grippen conundrum is that in the process of setting up manufacturing and build out of them they are basically shuffling jobs and funds from the F35 programs that are already in Canada. It gives a on paper spike in funding but ultimately it’s Peter to Paul but with a ton of waste for a huge step down in capability.
Well the “Canad-Eye” makes sense primarily because the Trump Admin screwed up in procurement of it when it tried to cancel E7A for the even more inferior E2 as a gap filler until Space based capability comes on line. This destabilized the Cost incentive of a large American buy price offset. Something that would have made it more attractive to NATO and Canada.
Curtailing the F35 Order farther means that the RCAF has spent billions preparing for a large F35 fleet that will go wasted as they then have to replace and reconfigure and purchase new tooling and equipment to support the Grippen. It’s not just the planes but everything around the planes is affected by such a shift. It’s why these deals are go big. It’s a total package.
As to the political. The US is clearly unhappy with the course of events. Well Trump did in turn violate USMCA and not engage the built in conflict resolution process. Though being blunt considering that the Process does not seem to have resolved the Dairy dispute either there should be a question of what good it is.
The Canadian Government doesn’t seem to have taken any steps to launch the dispute resolution process either. Making things worse is the push made by the PM to seemingly try and replace the US trade with Chinese. A huge potential security risk for both and NATO. Plus the logistics of it would be hilarious. It’s easier to ship back and forth between the US and Canada via Rail and Road than container shipping across the globe.
Well PM Carny was pitched as a “Trump Whisperer” he seems to be antagonizing him.
Something Trump will happily reciprocate. It seems like the Canadian government hasn’t really changed that much from your “Beloved” “Junior”.
