Vanguard Magazine

16 JUNE/JULY 2025 www.vanguardcanada.com F E AT U R E – approximately 300. There are some who have suggested Canada should only take delivery of the 16 F-35s that have been paid for but then cancel the remainder of the contract to purchase a second type of fighter like the Gripen. Any realistic ex- amination of the maintenance, logistics and training limitations for a bifurcated approach such as this would prove this option to be logistically unaffordable and operationally untenable in both the short and longer terms. The overwhelming number of F-35s already in service and still on order com- pared to the Gripens means the future sup- ply chain for Gripen parts and maintenance will be much more limited compared to the F-35. This makes the options for the future sustainment and/or operational de- ployment of the F-35 far more realistic and for far longer. According to Lockheed's own estima- tion the F-35 global supply chain involves 1,450 U.S. suppliers and 80 suppliers in 11 other countries. Large components of the jet are made in Texas, Italy, and Japan. Soware & Mission Programming More so than any of its predecessors, the F-35 is essentially a flying computer. So, software and software logistics is another key issue. The F-35 fighter relies on a pro- prietary system called the Autonomic Lo- gistics Information System (ALIS) and the forthcoming successor Operational Data Integrated Network (ODIN), a cloud- based networking system that manages a lot of the jet's systems. ALIS / ODIN is Canadian Suppliers in the F-35 Program Canada has been an industrial partner in the Joint Strike Fighter (F-35) program since 1997, which allowed Canadian companies to compete for and win subcontract work on the F-35's development and production. As a re- sult, at various times more than 110 Canadian firms have participated in the F-35 supply chain, delivering high-tech components and services. These contracts have spanned the gamut of aerospace manufacturing, electron- ics, soware, and tooling, engaging suppliers across multiple provinces. Some key examples include: • Magellan Aerospace (Winnipeg, MB & Toronto, ON) – Builds major structural components such as the F-35A's horizontal tail assemblies (contract valued around $1.5 billion), and produces engine and li system parts for the F-35B variant. Magellan has been involved since the pro- gram's early days and delivers about half of all F-35A tail assemblies • Avcorp Industries (Delta, BC) – Sole-source supplier of the outboard wing assembly for the F-35C (carrier variant) under subcontract to BAE Systems. This provides a long-term workshare building specialized wing structures unique to the naval carrier model • Héroux-Devtek (Montreal, QC & Kitchener, ON) – Produces landing gear uplock assemblies for all variants of the F-35 and assembles compo- nents for the jet's Power Thermal Management System (cooling system), in partnership with Honeywell. These parts are installed on every F-35 airframe • CMC Electronics (Montreal, QC) – Supplies advanced avionics compo- nents, such as optical transceivers used in the F-35's communication and targeting systems • Celestica (Toronto, ON) – Manufactures printed circuit boards for the F-35's power and thermal management controllers (supplied via Honey- well's Canadian division) • Composites Atlantic (Lunenburg, NS) – Fabricates composite fuse- lage skins and weapons bay inserts for the F-35, under subcontracts to Northrop Grumman • GasTOPS (Ottawa, ON) – Designs specialized sensors for the F-35's Pratt & Whitney F135 engine to monitor engine health, as well as similar sensors for the vertical li fan system on the F-35B • Soware & Tooling Firms – e.g. NGRAIN (Vancouver, BC) developed soware for the F-35's low-observable maintenance system, and Han- dling Specialties (Burlington, ON) produced custom assembly tooling for F-35 wing and final assembly lines This widespread involvement means the F-35 program touches many re- gions of Canada. It has been credited with creating hundreds of high-skilled jobs well before Canada even ordered any jets. By 2013, there were already 70+ Canadian companies with F-35 contracts totalling $450 million, and a pipeline of about $10 billion in potential opportunities over the program's life. Today, the government estimates acquiring and sustaining the F-35 will contribute about $425 million CAD to GDP annually and roughly 3,300 jobs per year (direct and indirect) over a 25-year period. These jobs include manufacturing roles, engineering and R&D positions, and long-term main- tenance and support work for the fleet. All these companies have built up specialized capabilities and infrastructure to meet the F-35's challenging requirements. Some critics have incorrectly asserted that the F-35 aircra contains a kill switch that would allow the U.S. to control their use. But any remote control or blocking of the F-35A fighter jets through external interventions in the electronics, is simply not possible.

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