What if Canada bought stealth fighters from China?

Let's make that "strategic partnership" do some work!

The Shenyang J-35A is displayed by the Chinese military on a tarmac before Airshow China 2024. The J-35A is a land variant for the Chinese air force, as opposed to the naval-focused J-35 which features folding wings and a catapult launch for naval use. | Copyright © Ministry of National Defense of the People’s Republic of China, licensed under fair dealing.

Despite public concerns, Deputy Defence Minister Stefani Beck was clear when testifying to MPs at a House of Commons committee hearing: Canada is proceeding “full-steam ahead” with the F-35 procurement, unless told otherwise.

This includes building infrastructure and training pilots for the arrival of at least 16 Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning III stealth fighters, and if the go-ahead is given by Carney next summer—absent a snap election—Canada will proceed with all 88 F-35A jets.

But with the F-35A/B/C variants all relying upon regular software updates from the United States in order to fly, Canadian defence analysts have raised a valid point: America could disable our fleet remotely, if not through a direct kill-switch, then by withholding necessary hardware and software.

The only F-35 customer immune to this is Israel, which has received unique permission from the United States to modify the land-based F-35A into the F-35I. The Israeli F-35I, known as the Adir, features an indigenous electronic warfare suite, shielding Israel from such vulnerabilities. Canada is not nearly so lucky.

Ultimately, however, Canada is limited in options when it comes to procurement of a fifth-generation fighter jet, known for their stealth capabilities. There is the United States with the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II, and we’re already in on the F-35A.

There is also Russia, which has scaled up production of the Sukhoi Su-57, but considering we are ardent supporters of our friends in Ukraine, we won’t be purchasing from them anytime soon. But there is another country with stealth aircraft, and Canada is now calling them a “strategic partner”.

So, what about China?

Now, many people may ask: “Why not the Saab JAS 39E Gripen E, from our friends in Sweden?” The unfortunate answer is that while it is a very advanced fourth-generation jet, it is still fourth-generation, and does not have sufficient stealth capabilities.

You can significantly upgrade a fourth-generation jet, as the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet has been with advanced radar and sensors, but as a senior United States Air Force pilot remarked in 2007 to Aviation Week:

“If you fly into heavy IADS with a great radar and sensor fusion, but no stealth, you will have complete situational awareness of the guy that kills you.”

That was nearly two decades ago, in the context of the F-22 and F-35 which would shortly obsolete the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. But Canada does not actually even have the Super Hornet. We fly the CF-18 Hornet, an older version of that jet which roughly corresponds to the F/A-18C/D.

Needless to say, it is far out of date and close to the end of service life. We do need new multirole or swing-role fighter jets, and the F-35A does fit the purpose we’re looking for. It’s useless if we’re fighting America or an American-backed proxy, but not when we’re fighting someone outside America’s sphere like Russia or China.

That’s a big gap, but we also have a fairly obvious opportunity to fill that gap. While Russia is obviously an enemy state at the current point in time, this is not the case for China. Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand has recently announced after a meeting in Beijing that Canada and China are renewing the “strategic partnership” initially agreed to between both countries two decades ago in 2005.

It’s clear that under the context of American threats to our sovereignty, their main rival China proves a clear counterbalance in our multipolar world. So if China has fifth-generation stealth fighters that can serve as multirole or swing-role jets, there’s a logical argument to be made that we should make an offer to purchase them in addition to all 88 of F-35A jets.

Now, I am not naive. I am certain any Chinese jet would have similar compromises to hardware and software that any American jet would. But by operating a mixed fleet, where at least one of the two jets can reasonably be assumed to always be operable by virtue of the jets coming from two rival nuclear powers, we provide ourselves with valuable insurance.

Even if we’re not talking about buying jets from China, but just military hardware in general, we would have the capacity to enable aggressor squadrons to better simulate the tactics of opposing militaries in war games, by providing them with a wider variety of equipment.

The first stealth fighter that China introduced into service is the Chengdu J-20 Weilong, manufactured by the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation in Sichuan Province and deployed in 2017.

Further variants of the J-20 have been introduced, including the modified J-20A with improvements to the engines and flight manoeuvrability, and the twin-seat J-20S which enables a second operator to fly along and coordinate electronic warfare systems and allied UAVs.

However, the J-20 series is an air superiority fighter rather than a multirole or swing-role fighter, and as a result places emphasis on air-to-air combat. Most countries prefer multirole or swing-role aircraft due to the versatility they offer in both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions, but those which can afford to combine an air superiority fighter with a multirole fighter can achieve strong synergy between the two, as the United States does with the F-22 and F-35.

China, however, is now the only other state to also achieve this synergy with fifth-generation fighter jets, introducing the Shenyang J-35 multirole stealth fighter, manufactured by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation in Liaoning Province and first operated by the Chinese military in 2023.

The J-35 variant is carrier-based for naval usage, featuring an electronic catapult system. The J-35A variant, however, is in a very similar category to the F-35A which Canada has ordered. It is a fifth-generation fighter jet targeted for multirole applications, intended for land-based operations in all-weather environments.

And the best part of the J-35A? China has already shown an interest in selling it to friendly nations. Pakistan reached an understanding with China this June to purchase 40 of the J-35A, and Egypt has also openly considered procurement of a J-35 variant for their own military.

If the Shenyang J-35 is intended for export, as China appears to be doing with Pakistan and potentially Egypt, then it is worth exploring the opportunity as to whether China will sell Canada an export variant.

Operating a mixed fleet of two different fifth-generation multirole fighter jets will give Canada a unique strategic advantage, while also allowing China to create a counterweight to American influence in our portion of the globe.

There are significant benefits to be had here. But the most important bit?

It would make Donald Trump really, really mad. And that would make me happy.