U.S. will have to send its own fighter jets into Canadian airspace if Ottawa doesn't buy 88 F-35s, Hoekstra says

Canada is likely to see more F-35 fighter jets one way or another, according to U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra.

If Canada doesn’t go ahead with purchasing 88 of the jets, that would mean the United States would have to buy more of the advanced fighter aircraft for its own air force, Hoekstra told the CBC during a recent interview at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. And it would fly them more often into Canadian airspace to address threats approaching the U.S.

“If Canada is no longer going to provide that (capability), then we have to fill those gaps,” Hoekstra told the CBC.

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Last March, in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, Canada announced it was reviewing its $19 billion order for 88 F-35 stealth fighter jets. Canada signed the deal with U.S. defence giant Lockheed Martin in 2023 after years of delay, and put down money for the first 16 jets, due to be delivered starting this year. While Canada would take the 16 jets, the military would look at alternatives elsewhere for fighter jets.

In his recent interview, Hoekstra warned that if Canada doesn’t buy the 88 F-35s, there would be consequences for North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the Canada-United States military partnership that tracks inbound threats and can scramble armed jets to intercept them.

“NORAD would have to be altered,” Hoekstra said. If Canada decides “they’re going with an inferior product that is not as interchangeable, interoperable as what the F-35 is, that changes our defence capability. And as such, we have to figure out how we’re going to replace that.”

In an interview last month with National Post, Hoekstra seemed much more laissez faire about the F-35 deal.

With Sweden courting the Carney government to consider instead purchasing its Gripen fighter aircraft, made by the Swedish company Saab, the U.S. ambassador was asked in a Dec. 8, 2025, interview at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa whether the U.S. regards Canada’s review of the F-35 purchase as a trade irritant.

“Canada can do what it wants on the F-35, OK?” Hoekstra said.

The ambassador expressed how he welcomes the commitments Canada has made over the past year when it comes to its military, such as the boosting of its timeline to reach its NATO defence spending targets and its recent agreement on Arctic cooperation.

Hoekstra said last month the U.S. will put forward “a strong case” as to why Canada should move forward with plans to purchase the F-35s and why they believe the American-made fighter jet to be “the best option for Canada.”

He pointed out that Canada stands out among allied countries in not flying the F-35, which he added would change in the months ahead as it receives its first deliveries of the fighter jets.

“It would be nice if Canada made a commitment,” Hoesktra said last month. “But if they want to go through another review, they can go through another review.”

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