OTTAWA — Nationwide Defence is refusing to reveal the way it analyzed competing fighter jet bids after a Swedish media report steered the analysis was weighted towards Saab’s Gripen E.
Citing confidential sources, the Swedish enterprise publication Affarsvarlden reported that Ottawa added a danger coefficient to its evaluation that considerably undermined the Gripen’s take a look at scores as a result of it was nonetheless a brand new sequence plane.
The report comes after the federal authorities’s inner 2021 scorecard, revealing the topline totals from the evaluation, was leaked to Radio-Canada within the fall.
That doc exhibits the American F-35 blowing the Swedish Gripen out of the water, with the F-35 scoring 95 per cent on total navy capabilities whereas the Gripen scored simply 33 per cent.
The complete report will not be public and its partial leak kicked off an inner investigation to find out who launched it as a result of delicate business data was concerned.
When The Canadian Press requested Nationwide Defence if a big quantity of risk-weighting was utilized to the Gripen, spokesperson Kened Sadiku stated in an emailed assertion the federal government “can not touch upon, or disclose particulars, associated to the analysis of bids” and it should “protect the integrity of the procurement course of.”
Sierra Fullerton, Saab Canada’s communications and public affairs lead, stated the corporate wouldn’t touch upon the Swedish media experiences.
“We are able to verify that Saab met or exceeded the entire stringent necessities for functionality, interoperability and safety set out within the Canadian fighter analysis in 2021,” Fullerton stated in an emailed assertion. “We stay satisfied that Gripen could be an excellent match for Canada.”
She additionally stated the expertise for the Gripen has continued to evolve since 2021 and pointed to a 2025 take a look at flight that noticed the fighter jet flown autonomously utilizing a third-party AI agent.
In an announcement, a spokesperson for Lockheed Martin stated its F-35 was chosen in a good and open competitors.
Lockheed Martin’s assertion added that 20 nations have chosen the F-35, and “it has gained the potential evaluation for each fighter competitors it has been in up to now.”
At stake behind the cloak-and-dagger leaks and questions on grading is huge enterprise, worldwide reputations — and the essential query of whether or not Canada ought to plow forward with plans to purchase a big fleet of F-35s or go for a combined fleet that features a contingent of Gripens.
For almost a yr, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal authorities has been reviewing whether or not to purchase a fleet of 88 F-35s. The federal government had stated it will end that evaluation by the autumn however has supplied no updates.
Canada has solely dedicated financially to the primary batch of 16 F-35 jets.
Saab, which is making an attempt to promote the federal authorities on a fleet of International Eye radar-surveillance planes, was certainly one of two finalists within the fighter jet competitors.
That competitors led to 2023 when Ottawa signed the settlement with the U.S. authorities and Lockheed Martin.
The assessment was launched within the early days of the Carney authorities amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s commerce conflict.
Saab launched a attraction offensive final yr in Canada, reviving its earlier presents and floating the prospect of organising a Gripen manufacturing hub in Canada that would include some 10,000 jobs.
Alex McColl, who wrote his 2018 grasp’s thesis calling for Canada to purchase a Gripen fleet, stated the partial leak of the scoring doesn’t inform the total story.
“There was no clarification of how the scores had been made. There was no highlighting of any danger deduction. I consider that the low rating is defined by the chance deduction,” he stated.
McColl obtained paperwork in 2020 that confirmed how the federal government was drafting its analysis eventualities, which he stated he believes would have favoured the F-35.
Tom Lawson, a former chief of the defence workers who helps the F-35 deal, stated there’s little doubt the fight functionality of the Lockheed jet was effectively forward of Saab’s Gripen.
“What an exquisite factor to unload on Canadians, to say, ‘If we held the competitors once more in the present day, we might match up a lot better,’ as a result of they know we’re not going to have one other competitors,” he stated.
Lawson stated polling suggests a majority of Canadians could be on board with a combined fleet.
Whereas he stated he believes that’s a foul thought, he thinks the federal authorities is sensible to carry off on its choice as Canada and the U.S. are primed to enter negotiations this yr to resume the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Settlement on commerce.
Pete Hoekstra, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, instructed CBC Information in January that if Canada doesn’t purchase all 88 F-35s, the North American defence pact Norad must be altered. He additionally referred to as the Gripen an inferior product.
The F-35 procurement has been within the works for greater than a decade and has been suffering from politicization and delays.
The Conservatives need the Carney authorities to push forward with the total F-35 fleet order, whereas the NDP has argued for scrapping the contract fully and choosing the Saab jets.
It’s clear what the navy needs.
Air Drive Commander Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet instructed the Home of Commons defence committee in January that the F-35 was chosen for its “superior stealth capabilities, information and sensor fusion and elevated lethality.”
“The F-35 is the one fifth-generation superior expertise fighter plane obtainable to Canada, and it was chosen within the competitors that was carried out by the federal government of Canada,” she stated.
“It’s the just one, at this second, that may meet the entire most superior adversary threats we’re seeing which can be being promulgated and superior technologically by Russia and China.”
The primary Canadian F-35 are set to be delivered to Luke Air Drive Base in Arizona in 2026, and the primary sure for Canada is scheduled to reach at CFB Chilly Lake in 2028.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed March 1, 2026.
Kyle Duggan and Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press