Canada continues to invest in F-35 stealth fighter with nuclear strike capabilities

Photo: The red tail of a B61-12 nuclear bomb is visible inside the bomb bay of the F-35 during a flight test in October 2019.

Last month, the Canadian Press reported that Canada made a US$71.7 million (CAD$89.85 million) payment to the United States military to remain a partner in the development of the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jet.

That article further notes that Canada has invested US$613 million (CAD$768 million) in the development of the F-35 since 1997.

The Canadian government says Canadian companies have secured more than US$2 billion in contracts as a result of this investment without acknowledging it is also helping to develop a stealth fighter jet with nuclear strike capabilities.

The F-35 has tested dropping a B61-12 nuclear free-fall bomb that would have an explosive yield of 50 kilotons (the bomb dropped on Hiroshima had an explosive yield of about 13 kilotons, while the bomb on Nagasaki had a yield of 21 kilotons).

Defense World reports: “The tests, carried out at Edwards Air Force Base in California, [with an inert bomb] were dated back to June 2019.”

CNN has also reported: “A US Air Force F-35 jet conducted a successful test drop of a mock nuclear bomb [in August 2020] while traveling at greater than the speed of sound.”

The Defense World article further highlights: “The test has proven that the nuclear bomb can be carried in the weapons bay of the F-35 thereby giving it the ability to take the bomb to its target undetected – a huge tactical advantage that flies in the face of global nuclear non-proliferation efforts.”

In their 2015 election platform, the Liberal Party of Canada stated if elected it would not buy the F-35 because “the primary mission of our fighter aircraft should remain the defence of North America, not stealth first-strike capability.”

Despite this, the Trudeau government has continued Canada’s investments in the F-35 (that began with Jean Chretien and continued under Paul Martin and Stephen Harper).

Significantly, Canada has not signed the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first legally binding international agreement to prohibit nuclear weapons with the goal of leading towards their total elimination.

In December 2019, the Canadian Press reported: “[The treaty] has no support among the countries that possess nuclear weapons — including the United States and its allies, including Canada. Canada doesn’t have nuclear weapons but its membership in NATO means it adheres to the 29-country military alliance’s nuclear-deterrent policy.”

The Lockheed Martin F-35 is one of the contenders for Canada’s $19 billion acquisition of new fighter jets next year.

Even if it is not chosen, Canada has to date invested US$613 million (CAD$768 million) in a fighter jet that has the “stealth first-strike capability” to deliver undetected a nuclear bomb with a yield almost four times that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.