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Canada to order military plane fleet from Sweden in shift from US suppliers

618 points by tosh

by nl

3 subcomments

The Saab GlobalEye is based on the Bombardier Global 6500 airframe. Bombardier Aviation is a Canadian company.
For those who aren't aware, the Boeing E7 is yet-another-delayed-Boeing project.
The UK has bought it but it has been continually delayed: https://breakingdefense.com/2026/03/uk-defense-official-boei...
Australia flies it (an earlier version) but today announced they are also buying three Bombardier Global 6500: https://www.australiandefence.com.au/news/news/bombardier-de...

by bluegatty

5 subcomments

This is actually more likely a non-political procurement decision that looks like a political one.
This is the 'right size' for Canada and other nations - the US doesn't offer a true comparable, and, looks like the US balked at buying the 'kind of comparable' Boeing E7 putting it in jeopardy.
With European military renaissance and the SAAB gear proving itself in Ukraine ... well, you see the shift.
This is the shift writ large.
This is going to happen across all industries.
I don't think it's going to 'fundamentally' alter the landscape, but it will be a shift we don't come back from.

by hnburnsy

5 subcomments

Boeing and Airbus have tremendous backlogs...
>As of March 31st, 2026, Airbus reported a commercial aircraft backlog of 9,031 aircraft. Based on the company’s 2026 delivery target of 870 aircraft, this represents approximately 10.4 years of production coverage.
>Boeing’s commercial backlog stood at approximately 6,719 aircraft at the end of March. Using Forecast International’s production estimates, Boeing’s backlog equates to roughly 10.1 years of production coverage.
https://flightplan.forecastinternational.com/2026/04/14/airb...

by hermitcrab

1 subcomments

In related news:
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/05/21/italy-moves-to...
I guess insulting and threatening your allies isn't great for arms sales.

by Waterluvian

1 subcomments

I feel a deep sense of pride and hope, palpably in my chest, when I get a week of news about how we're developing much closer ties with our European allies and divesting ourselves of the abusive American relationship.
Carney's Davos speech was powerful, but those words needed to be followed by actions, which I think we are seeing. I'm used to being so disappointed by politicians.

by xattt

2 subcomments

It helps that the base plane is built in Canada, and that the PM made commitments to the Swedish king in November 2025.

by jerlam

0 subcomment

The US doesn't even use the Wedgetail, and has cancelled and then un-cancelled it:
https://aerospaceglobalnews.com/news/pentagon-e-7-wedgetail-...

by bigyabai

3 subcomments

Saab makes excellent AWACS systems, this strikes me as a good choice. It'll be interesting to see if Canada also invests in the Gripen long-term, as a replacement for the aging CF-18 fleet.

by gchokov

2 subcomments

The world is slowly moving away from the US. It's interesting because this administration main goal was to MAGA.. but it happened quite the opposite thing. It turns out, the world doesn't need much of the US products and services.

by e40

3 subcomments

Over the last few months we've seen announcements of shifts from US-based supply chains to non-US-supply chains. As an American, I think this is prudent, based on what has happened in the last year and change. The US is no longer a reliable partner and this is what you do when that happens.
100 years from now, the last 15 months will be written about in no uncertain terms: this administration has loaded many footguns and pulled the trigger, over ideologies which are just plain stupid. "America First" indeed. Soft power is power. "Forever" wars are wars we shouldn't be in. Retribution by POTUS acting like a 5 year old is disgusting no matter what party that person came from.
It will take decades to recover from what has and will happen during this administration's run. Let's hope the power they have ends in November 2026 and not Nov 2028.

by carlosjobim

0 subcomment

Countries always use the threat of buying Swedish war planes as a bargaining chip to get a better deal from the US, or whoever they're really going to buy from. So these news are best believed when everything is signed, sealed, and delivered. This has been going on for at least 20 years with SAAB fighters.
From the article: "Saab is also in the running to sell Canada some of its Gripen fighters. Canada has a deal to buy 88 F-35 jets from Lockheed-Martin, but last year, after the US slapped tariffs on key Canadian imports, Carney asked the military to investigate whether it could cut back the order and buy some planes from another manufacturer."
Ask yourself: Why would a nation spill military secrets like this to the media? They're trying to put pressure on the US. Those Gripen fighters are in all likelihood staying in Sweden after all is said and done.

by ge96

2 subcomments

Bring back the Arrow

by jmclnx

0 subcomment

> as the country seeks to reduce reliance on US defense firms
I wonder why ? I think we may be seeing a lot more of this.
Maybe we will get to see what US Corporations value more, real paying customers or large tax cuts w/stock buy back curtsy of US Gov Monetary Support.

by khriss

14 subcomments

I can understand why this change happened. Even if American equipment is superior, there is a lot of value to not depending on a supposed 'ally' which
* Arbitrarily slapped high tariffs on all goods from Canada while exempting Russia and Belarus.
* Threatened to take over the country by force.
* Officially suspended the Permanent Joint Board on Defense between US and Canada because of criticism of US foreign policy by the Canadian PM

by standardUser

5 subcomments

As an American with mostly headline-level knowledge of Canadian politics, this Mark Carney seems unusually competent and effective, as far as heads-of-state go.

by jschveibinz

0 subcomment

While $3.6 billion is a big order, Boeing stock price is up 2% so the market (which has global participation) doesn't seem to view this as very negative in the short term?

by Bender

0 subcomment

Awesome, the more suppliers, sources and competition the better. Might this bring prices down and quality up?

by jameson

0 subcomment

Trust matters in business because it provides a sense of predictability

by LightBug1

0 subcomment

Completely understandable.
It's like when your favourite restaurant gets taken over by new management, and you discover cockroaches and maggots in your Trenette al Pesto
You switch restaurants.

by stuaxo

0 subcomment

Is this the "multipolar world" that Russia keeps talking about.

by jleyank

0 subcomment

We can also have a chuckle and imagine the kerfuffle in the US West Coast wanted to be the 11th provinces...

by bushbaba

1 subcomments

Saab uses the Bombardier Global 6500 here. Which is entirely manufactured in Canada. This is less politics and more about economics

by winfredJa

1 subcomments

Trump's damage to the USA will be studied extensively in the future.

by moltar

10 subcomments

Now the interesting question to me is why is that a country with a tenth of population can have car, truck and military plane manufacturing yet Canada can’t, even with virtually all resources for inputs, including energy can’t.

0 subcomment

by sourcegrift

0 subcomment

[flagged]

by thegrim33

11 subcomments

[flagged]

by throwaway85825

0 subcomment

The US wedgetail order was canceled and Canada can't afford to fund the program on its own. But slop journalists will spin a geopolitical angle because it gets clicks.

by throw8756

1 subcomments

Canada will pay for this