To jet... or not to jet!

Allan:

Regarding Canada's 'next gen' fighter jet purchase!

The original order was 88 F-35s, a $27.7 billion program signed in 2022.

The first 16 are contracted and payment has started on 14 more.

The remaining 72 have been under review for a year and a half while the relationship the purchase assumed came apart.

What has changed is that a decision is now expected rather than hoped for.

Sources say an announcement will come after the American midterms in November, deliberately timed to avoid inflaming things beforehand. And Carney could use the fate of the program in CUSMA negotiations, with the final call resting with him!

So the comparison stops being theoretical!

Cost per flight hour is the number the whole argument turns on, and the published figures vary enormously depending on who produced them.

US Department of Defense data puts the F-35A at about $28,500. Other US Air Force figures are cited around $33,300. The GAO's sustainment estimate for the program grew from $1.1 trillion in 2018 to $1.58 trillion in 2023, with roughly $6.6 million per aircraft annually. Program operating and support costs exceeded $5 billion in 2023 alone.

Saab's own published figure for the Gripen E is about $22,100, covering maintenance, fuel, crew and logistics. An IHS Jane's study commissioned by Saab put the older C/D at $4,700. Independent analysts note Saab's baseline rests on a Swedish Air Force operating a single Gripen E, so these remain estimates.

The most useful number comes from a government that chose the F-35 anyway. In 2023 the Czech defence ministry costed 24 Gripen E/F at $174 million a year, or $7.25 million per aircraft. The same number of F-35s came to $231 million, or $9.6 million each. At 200 flight hours annually that is roughly $36,200 an hour against $48,000. Prague bought the F-35.

Unit price is closer than the operating figures suggest. Gripen E has been quoted in the mid-$80 million range. Lockheed puts F-35A unit cost at $98 million.

Now the capability difference.

The Gripen E has no stealth airframe. Its survivability rests on sensors and electronic warfare instead: "The Arexis suite built on gallium nitride, providing spherical coverage designed to detect, jam and spoof a threat before it can fire, plus a PS-05/A Mk4 AESA radar and an infrared search-and-track sensor that lets it hunt without emitting!"

It entered Swedish service in October 2025. The E model uses the General Electric F414 engine, with roughly 30 per cent more internal fuel than the C/D.

And the design premise is the part most relevant here.

Sweden built it knowing it could not outspend a larger neighbour, so it was engineered for dispersed operations.

A small ground crew can rearm and refuel one on a public road in under twenty minutes.

That is the argument for flying it on Arctic patrols and sovereignty flights, which is most of what the RCAF actually does, while keeping the F-35 for missions that need stealth.

Caution. There is no independent cross-platform audit covering both aircraft, which is why these figures disagree.