The Canadian military plans to buy 88 F-35 fighter jets from American manufacturer Lockheed Martin, worth $19 billion.

Contracts for F-35, Lockheed Martin fighter jets flying out of Europe. Canada is preparing to sign a contract with the United States to buy 88 aircraft to replace its aging fleet of F-18s, Armed Forces Minister Anita Anand announced Monday.

“The F-35 is used by our NATO partners around the world. It has proven to be a mature, suitable and interoperable aircraft, which is why we are moving into termination,” she said at a press conference. Referring to the “new global reality” and the conflict in Ukraine.

According to the Canadian press, the two governments have begun final negotiations on this contract, which is worth 19 billion Canadian dollars (about 13.8 billion euros). Canada is part of the consortium that funded the development of the F-35.

Nothing is closed yet. In the event of a dispute over the terms of the contract, the federal government can still turn to Saab’s Gripen, which came second in the competition.

“Transformation for Justin Trudeau”

But if it were to sign with Lockheed Martin, it would be a “transformation for Justin Trudeau,” he notes Radio Canada Noting that when he took power in 2015, he promised not to buy F-35s, which he considered too expensive at the time. It was decided to replace the F-18s in 2010 and the budget was then 9 billion dollars for 65 aircraft.

In December, Canada announced that Boeing was no longer among the competing suppliers. The European Union Hurricane Airbus and Dassault’s Rafale of France had already left the operation, now leaving only the F-35 of the American aircraft Lockheed Martin and Gripen of the Swedish company Saab in the race.