Canada

Two officials, one from the European Union and one from Canada, with direct knowledge of the discussions said detailed talks were underway to incorporate Canada into the European Union’s new defense initiative. The goal is to boost the E.U.’s defense industry and eventually offer a credible alternative to the United States, which is now dominant.

Specifically, the officials said, Canada would be able to become part of the European military manufacturing roster, marketing its industrial facilities to build European systems like the Saab Gripen jet, a competitor to the American F-35, which is made by Lockheed Martin.

A good news day!

Glad to see Carney fast-tracking the important stuff. I knew we could count on him.

This is huge. If this grains traction it would be a substantial boost to our economy and our defense capabilities.

Can we knock the last three words off that title?

We should have started this back under the Trump version 1 term. But better late than never.

I think we should start to fortify our borders next. We're living above an unstable country. I'm tired of their guns crossing the border and killing Canadians. We need to lock this shit down now.

I have no expertise in military technology and cannot speak to the superiority of F-35s, the magnitude of their tactical advantage, nor the factors that justify or mitigate their operating cost. But the auxiliary benefits of buying into Saab's ecosystem are accumulating into quite the stack. Given that our military strength is somewhat predicated on economic strength, I like seeing us take a path that grows both. The latter pays dividends even if we fight no real wars nor avert any theoretical ones.

And ultimately, Lockheed Martin's technological advantage is built on capital investment and mindshare. With sufficient resources consolidating elsewhere, that can be eventually rivaled. Even before that point, we're looking at facing rivals with lesser tech than the Gripen, or rivals that control the F-35 program and its supply lines. The upsides are just too context-sensitive.

We are just fully in the buildup now, aren't we. What a horrifying time to be alive. I wonder what a global scale conflict would be like with social media.

Hell yah Canada someone gotta show the US that they can’t just bully the rest of the world

The EU is undergoing militization. To join, I think Canada will have to do the same. Conscription is a conversation Europe is having now, which is something Canada has never had to think about.

From March 9,

https://inews.co.uk/news/world/european-countries-military-conscription-3574509

This is ironically written by an American newspaper.

Wheeee gripens