Canada quadruples the budget to purchase and operate 88 F-35 fighters

TORONTO (Canada), November 2 (IF).- The program to purchase and operate 88 F-35 fighter aircraft will cost Canada 73.9 billion Canadian dollars (53.681 million US dollars), almost four times the original amount, this report revealed. Thursday by the Parliamentary Budget Office.

Last January, the Canadian government announced the purchase of 88 units of the F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation stealth fighter, manufactured by the American company Lockheed Martin, and estimated the value of the acquisition of the devices at 19 thousand million Canadian dollars.

But the Parliamentary Budget Office, which works independently of the government and is tasked with analyzing all expenditures of the executive branch, published a report calculating the global cost, from the procurement cycle to the operation of aircraft.

The Director of the Budget Authority, Yves Giraud, announced this Thursday, when presenting the report, that the total amount for the acquisition of the 88 fighters will be 19.8 billion Canadian dollars. The remaining 53.8 billion represents fleet operation and maintenance expenses.

When the F-35 procurement program was started 13 years ago by the former Conservative government of Stephen Harper, the executive stated that it would cost C$20 billion to purchase and operate the hardware.

Canada will receive the first four F-35 units in 2026. From that date, Lockheed-Martin will increase the number of deliveries each year until completion of the contract in 2032. The service life of the last delivered fighters will extend until 2060. OR 2061.

The F-35s will replace Canada’s fighter aircraft fleet currently consisting of 72 F-18A and 31 F-18B aircraft, manufactured by McDonnell Douglas between 1982 and 1988.

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