Tag Archives: Mirabel

I saw the CBC news, then I saw a YouTube video and as there is some relation, I thought it important to illustrate this as I am a Commonwealthian, as such I stand with Canada. The news (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/lockheed-martin-officials-canada-tout-maintenance-plan-f35s-9.7168398) where we see ‘Lockheed Martin officials coming to Canada to tout maintenance plan for F-35s’ I the first degree I was clearly on the Canadian side (I still am, in case you worry). We were given “Canada ordered 88 F-35s in 2023, but began reassessing its options after Trump took office” with an additional “Canada has a firm order for 16 F-35 aircraft, to begin delivery later this year, to replace Canada’s aging fleet of CF-18s. As CBC recently revealed, Canada has discreetly begun to incur expenses toward acquiring another 14 F-35 aircraft. Several politicians have been invited to Tuesday’s event in Mirabel, but National Defence Minister David McGuinty and Industry Minister Mélanie Joly do not plan to attend. Senior American executives from Lockheed Martin and L3Harris are expected at the event.” It comes with the added “In its media advisory, Lockheed Martin said its agreement with L3Harris “will provide Canada with greater control over aircraft maintenance, reduce reliance on overseas logistics and enhance operational readiness.” L3Harris is still trying to convince the governments of Canada and Quebec to offer funding to help modernize its facilities in Mirabel. The company has said thousands of jobs in the region are at stake. L3Harris is hoping to transform its Mirabel facilities, which are currently used to service CF-18s, into a maintenance depot for Canadian and American F-35s.” As I see it, it is an act of desperation. The much larger setting of the Saab JAS 39 Gripen a Swedish solution, is cheaper, is more reliable in cold environments and it comes with added of economic settings for Canada. Lockheed Martin has no real answer and President Trump made the sale of 88 F-35 a liability and Canada is looking for a better solution, one that takes the pressures away from the United States giving Canada. The Swedish solution makes perfect sense for Canada and as such Canada is seemingly (I use seemingly as I have never seen the original sales documents) chasing Sweden and its Saab solution. The simple bottom line is that Canada can get 2 Saabs for every F35, as such it is quite the cost saving. As such Lockheed Martin is scared, its own president endangered the sale for billions and that is a problem, as such the options given to Canada is fluidic, more options and there is the fear factor, a fear factor for the United States, because Canada when it pulls out the American pillars of economy and taxation are almost certain to collapse. And Lockheed Martin is the first corporation to fae billion dollar losses because of the silliness of one particular person in Washington.

The setting that spending on nearly any kind in the United States are seen as the more risky spending is now seen as other spending settings is considered and there is a win for Sweden as well as the EU on other fields. There was a second setting, but it seems that there is a level of inaccurate settings by Today Canada stating that yesterday at 03:45 Trump stated “51st state soon”, it would be anger instilling, but I found no evidence that this actually happened and if it was on Trump social media, everyone would be shouting it. 

So that is not a factor, but the underlying setting is (which the media is ignoring too) the underlying setting is that the United States is (as I personally see it) almost completely out of cash. They are shifting all kinds of posts that they can pay later for what they need to pay now. I have given these views in the past (not interested in hashing out the same) but the setting adds up. As such I believe that CBC is reporting on the desperation of gaining the favour of Canada and they are willing to bend over backwards. And as a definite winner is not announced (not in the media) Lockheed Martin believes it has options for now. And whatever the actual sentimentality is towards Canada, there is a firm believe that President Trump has actually united the world. As far as I know the United States is now (for the most) the most hatred nation in the western world. So president Trump united all the nations. The fact that it is against the united States might be a mere blip on his radar. The problem is that the media is no help as they lost too much credibility and as such the influencers and doom speakers are now calling for out attention (players like Today Canada) and should they be right, then they should present the evidence, not just the images of old, with suiting dialogue. And as I usually check all the sources handed to me, Today Canada fell through the basket a fake news bringers.

But the setting is still of importance not directly what President Trump did or did not do, but the need to vetting the information we get must be vetted. Some (like CBC) get a pass through the credibility they earned over time, which means that there is credibility. 

So as we see the desperation of Lockheed Martin and the setting of the Saab Gripen, it would help if the world (and Canadians in particular) get a nice setting of what the story with Saab and Lockheed Martin is, what has been agreed upon and what is clearly set and what is still in tentative settings. We all get that there are tentative settings, but as I see it, with the United States any other option seems more reliable (as I personally see it). 

And whilst we can assume most things, we can at times presume a few things and those with reliability are more credible and with personal exposure to facts presumption gains more weight and those who blindly assume will lose whatever reliability they had.

Have a great day.