Canada has now paid $916.91 million for the development of the F-35 warplane with nuclear strike capabilities
As World Beyond War Canada has tweeted today:
“Did you know the first #MothersDay was an antiwar protest? A few years later Julia Ward Howe’s 1870 Mother’s Day Proclamation said “Arise, then, women of this day! Disarm, Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.” Happy Mother’s Day — protest on! #MothersDay2022”
Just two days ago, the Canadian Press reported that the Government of Canada has made a US $99 million payment towards the development of the Lockheed Martin F-35 warplane.
US $99 million is about CAD $127.49 million.
The news article highlights: “[This is] part of a renegotiated deal that is expected to see Canada foot more of the bill for developing the F-35 than in previous years.”
Previous payments were US $70.1 million per year.
The payment in 2021 was slightly higher at US $71.7 million.
By 2020, Canada’s payments towards the development of the F-35 totalled US $541.3 million. With its latest payment, that total is now US $712 million (CAD $916.91 million).
Funding nuclear strike capabilities
And while Canada does not have nuclear weapons, it is financing – with these payments now totalling about CAD $916.91 million – the development of a warplane with the capacity to drop nuclear bombs with an explosive yield of 50 kilotons (the bomb dropped on Hiroshima had an explosive yield of about 13 kilotons).
Pension investments
Beyond these payments, Canadian pension funds are also supporting the development of this warplane.
On February 14, 2020, Fintel, which “provides advanced research tools for data-driven investors”, posted that the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) now holds USD $53.7 million in holdings in Lockheed Martin as of December 31, 2019.
As of May 21, 2020, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan owned 6,283 shares in Lockheed Martin valued at USD $2.13 million.
According to Security and Exchange Commission information, the OTPP has owned shares in Lockheed Martin dating back to at least September 30, 2011.
Contract to be signed in October
And beyond these investments, Canada intends to buy 88 of these warplanes.
The overall cost of purchasing and maintaining them is estimated to be $76.8 billion over a 30-year period.
The Government of Canada has suggested it could sign the contract with Lockheed Martin for the purchase of these warplanes by October of this year.
On March 18, Peace Brigades International issued this statement that highlights: “The dominant security discourse associated with the militarization of societies is a setback. Billions more spent on weapons will not make the world safer.”
On April 22, PBI-Canada took part in the Global Mobilization to Stop Lockheed Martin in front of their corporate head office in Ottawa, as well as at Parliament Hill and at the Prime Minister’s Office on Wellington Street.
On May 31, we will be raising the issue of the CANSEC arms show (sponsored by Lockheed Martin) in Ottawa, the implications of militarization of territory on human rights, as well as the stationing of the Canadian F-35s on Dene lands in Alberta.
To register for that webinar, click here.
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