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The U.S. will have full control over upgrades and software improvements necessary to keep the Canadian military’s new fleet of F-35 fighter jets flying.

The Department of National Defence has dismissed claims the U.S. has a “kill switch” that can disable the $19-billion aircraft fleet, but it did acknowledge the Americans control the software and hardware upgrades needed for continued operations of the plane.

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Previously, that wasn’t seen as a significant issue. But now, as the U.S. becomes increasingly hostile to Canada, the amount of control the Pentagon will have over Canada’s F-35 fleet is a significant strategic vulnerability, some defence analysts warn.

“This is a very serious issue,” said Bill Sweetman, a former defence executive and author of the book, Trillion Dollar Trainwreck: How The F-35 Hollowed Out The U.S. Air Force. “Certainly the situation makes it difficult to sustain operations without continued support.”

The Liberal government announced in early 2023 that it would purchase 88 F-35s in a project costing $19 billion. DND officials also confirmed the full life-cycle cost for the F-35 project would eventually tally $70 billion.

The first of Canada’s F-35s will be first delivered to a U.S. military base in 2026 and then into Canada in 2028. Canada plans to operate the aircraft until 2060.

In recent days, some Canadians have voiced concerns online that the U.S. has installed a specialized kill switch that could disable the Royal Canadian Air Force’s F-35 fleet.

DND spokesperson Kened Sadiku said no such switch existEd on the aircraft, but he did acknowledge that the U.S. was in charge of both software and hardware upgrades for the planes. Asked whether there were guarantees the U.S. would continue to provide those upgrades to Canada, Sadiku responded: “Upgrades are available to all nations that participated in their development.”

Asked whether Lockheed Martin had received assurances from U.S. President Donald Trump that he wouldn’t cut Canada off from future F-35 software upgrades and initiatives, the company responded with an email statement to the Ottawa Citizen. “Lockheed Martin is committed to helping our customers strengthen their airpower and security with the F-35. As part of our government contracts, we deliver all system infrastructure and data required for all F-35 customers to sustain the aircraft,” the statement from media-relations director Rebecca Miller noted.

Miller also noted that the F-35 program recently surpassed one million flight hours and that the company remains committed to providing affordable and reliable services to its customers. “Foreign military sales are government-to-government transactions, so anything further will be best addressed by the U.S. or respective customer governments,” Miller’s statement added.

Sweetman pointed out there were no guarantees the U.S. would supply Canada with the upgrades. That highlights a significant strategic vulnerability for Canada, he added. Any American decision to “unplug” Canada from the F-35 technical updates could eventually render the planes inoperable, he added.

“Until (Donald) Trump was elected nobody gave a thought to the idea that the U.S. president would be cutting off Europe or trying to annex Canada or take over Greenland,” Sweetman said. “It was a completely crazy idea — you couldn’t have sold it as fiction. But here we are.”

Alan Williams, the former head of procurement at DND who signed the original deal to have Canada contribute to funding F-35 development, confirmed the U.S. had full control over aircraft software. (The development initiative signed by Williams did not include the actual purchase of the aircraft.)

Williams said the decision, first by the Conservative government and later by the Liberals, to buy the F-35 had made Canada vulnerable. “Now we find ourselves having to be careful and under the threat of potential chaos,” Williams said. “Trump can undermine everything we want to do.”

Sweetman said Britain had requested control over specific data systems on the F-35, but the Americans rejected that idea.

Supporters of Canada’s F-35 purchase point to the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of contracts that Canadian companies have earned by supplying parts for the U.S. aircraft. That, in turn, has sustained or created Canadian aerospace jobs.

But on Feb. 28 the National Post reported that Trump had told Lockheed Martin he wanted those jobs back in the U.S. when the Canadian contracts came up for renewal.

The F-35 program has had a controversial history in Canada. The Liberal government originally committed funding to the development of the aircraft, but did not commit to purchasing the stealth fighter.

At a high-profile news conference in 2010, featuring then-defence minister Peter Mackay sitting in the cockpit of a F-35 mock-up, the Stephen Harper government announced it was purchasing the plane. But increasing costs and technical problems dogged the F-35 program. In a 2012 interview with CBC, Conservative MP Chris Alexander claimed the government had never said it would buy F-35s despite obvious evidence of the contrary.

During the 2015 election campaign, Justin Trudeau vowed his government would never purchase the F-35.

As prime minister, Trudeau continued to point out the Canadian military had no need for the F-35 and he blamed the Conservatives for agreeing to purchase a problem-plagued fighter jet. But, with the 2023 announcement, the Liberals not only committed to the acquisition, but also increased the number of jets to be bought to 88 from the 65 the Conservatives had wanted.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, including exclusive content for subscribers only, sign up here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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