Liberals look at alternatives to Super Hornet fighter jets

OTTAWA — It once appeared the Liberal government would almost certainly buy Super Hornet fighter jets from U.S. aerospace giant Boeing Co. — but it’s now clear that other options are on the table.

Aside from the Super Hornets, the government is also pondering used jets and could even end up extending the lives of Canada’s CF18s as its dispute with Boeing continues to escalate.

Speaking to reporters in Kelowna, where Liberal MPs are meeting before the return of Parliament, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said the government is actively looking at alternatives to the Super Hornets as an interim fighter.

“We had identified that the Super Hornets could potentially fill that gap, but . . . Boeing has not been a partner, especially when it comes to dealing with our aerospace sector,” Sajjan said Wednesday.

“So we are looking at other options.”

Those alternatives include deploying a team of defence officials in the past few weeks to look at some of Australia’s used F/A-18s, which the country is selling as it prepares to receive new F-35 stealth fighters.

Several retired air force officers say the F/A-18 is very similar to Canada’s CF-18s, and buying the used planes from Australia would be much more cost effective than new Super Hornets.

“It’s a far better idea than buying Super Hornets because you’re at least conceptually using the same airframe,” said former chief of defence staff Tom Lawson.