BREAKING: Canada Close to Deal With Sweden to Manufacture GRIPEN Fighter Jets After Signing MASSIVE Trade/Security Pact
Thanks to Donald Trump, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney can't be stopped.
November 15, 2025
This was the week Canada stopped being “nice” about who defends our skies and who we’re allowed to build/buy/manufacture when it comes to our (fully funded) Military revolution.
Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed the King and Queen of Sweden, flanked by the largest Swedish business and defence delegation ever to visit Canada, to tell Trump we’re seeing someone else. “It’s not us, it’s you.”
Swedish defence giant Saab is openly talking about building Gripen fighter jets in Canada, in partnership with Bombardier, creating up to 10,000 Canadian jobs if Ottawa pulls the trigger.
At the same time, Canada is quietly reviewing our massive F‑35 deal with Lockheed Martin, just as Trump ramps up tariffs, threatens to annex us as the 51st state, and talks casually about buying and/or taking Greenland “one way or another.”
You don’t need a PhD in geopolitics to get what’s happening here.
This is a giant, polite, maple‑scented
“GTFO, Trump’s America. We’re done being your captive market.”
Northern Allies, Not 51st States
Canada and Sweden just formalized a Strategic Partnership that basically says:
We’re both Arctic nations.
We’re both NATO allies.
We care about democracy, the rule of law, and not casually invading our neighbours for content.
And we’re going to build stuff together instead of just buying American forever.
The partnership runs across five big pillars, but in human language it boils down to this:
Make & trade more stuff together
Critical minerals, forestry, modular housing, mining, resilient supply chains. Less dependence on an unstable U.S. market, more trade with a reliable EU partner.Defend together – for real
Deeper NATO cooperation, joint training, and defence industrial co‑operation in land, sea, and air. That phrase is how you politely say, “We might build fighter jets together. In Canada.”Team Arctic
Joint work in the North: security, research, Indigenous trade and culture, infrastructure. Keep the Arctic peaceful, but don’t leave it undefended.Innovation & health
AI, quantum, 5G/6G, space, life sciences, pandemic preparedness. The future‑tech pillars that actually create good jobs instead of just more condos.Climate & clean energy
Climate action, clean electricity, nuclear safety, critical minerals, green industrial tech. Less oil‑dictator dependency, more clean power and industry.
If you strip away the diplomatic prose, it’s basically:
“Let’s be the grown‑ups in the room: smart trade, smart defence, smart climate, and no one’s trying to annex anyone.”
Already sounds better than whatever the hell is happening south of the border.
The Gripen Temptation: 10,000 Jobs and Actual Control
Now to the juicy part: jets.
Canada is currently on the hook for F‑35s from Lockheed Martin. The official plan is 88 jets, with a total acquisition tab in the tens of billions and eye‑watering lifetime costs.
But here’s the twist:
So far, Canada has only fully committed to the first chunk of aircraft. The rest of the program is politically exposed — and Carney’s government has launched a review, because Trump decided to crank up tariffs and muse about Canada as a 51st state.
Enter Sweden.
Saab’s CEO has now publicly confirmed they’re in talks with Canada and Bombardier to build the Gripen fighter jet in Canada under licence. Their estimate?
Up to 10,000 Canadian jobs in manufacturing, research, and the supply chain if Ottawa goes the Gripen route.
That’s not “we’ll let you assemble a few wings and call it a jobs plan.”
That’s: “We’re willing to put an actual production line on Canadian soil.”
Gripen vs F‑35: The Short Version
F‑35
U.S.‑designed, U.S.‑controlled software, U.S. export controls.
Stealth, bleeding‑edge tech, but insanely complex and expensive.
Most of the high‑value work lives in the U.S. You get subcontracts and offsets, but not true control.
Gripen (made in Canada with Sweden)
High‑end “4.5‑generation” fighter designed to be affordable, rugged, and easy to maintain.
Saab is offering serious technology transfer and Canadian final assembly.
A Canadian line could build jets not just for us, but potentially for Ukraine and other allies, making us a net exporter—not just a lock‑in customer.
You don’t have to be a defence nerd to see the difference:
With the F‑35, you’re basically leasing your own air force from Washington.
With a Canadian‑built Gripen, you’re actually owning it.
And in a world where the U.S. president openly talks about annexing Canada? That matters.
Living Beside the Guy Who Wants to Annex You
Let’s talk about our charming neighbour.
Trump has:
Floated invading Venezuela, repeatedly, like it’s a fun thought experiment.
Tried to buy Greenland, then escalated to openly musing about taking control by other means.
Launched a fresh trade war with Canada and Mexico, slapping tariffs on and off like a toddler flipping light switches.
And now, in his second go‑round, he has explicitly talked about Canada becoming the 51st state and framed our resources and trade surplus as reasons to bring us “under control.”
This isn’t subtle.
This is the guy we currently rely on for:
Our primary fighter aircraft (F‑35s).
A massive chunk of our defence supply chain.
And the software updates that keep those systems actually working.
Imagine any other country in that position.
If you saw some other democracy buying all its kit from a leader who keeps hinting at annexing them, you’d assume they were out of their minds.
We’re not out of our minds. We’ve just been lazy and comfortable — until Trump forced the issue.
The Carney–Sweden pivot is Canada finally saying:
“We’ll stay in NATO. We’ll honour NORAD. But we will not leave our national defence dependent on a rapist/felon conman with dementia who talks about invading neighbours on cable news.”
The American Military‑Industrial Hangover
There’s also the part that will really sting south of the border: money.
If Canada walks away from the bulk of the F‑35 program and leans into a Saab Gripen line instead, here’s what happens:
Lockheed Martin loses a major, long‑term customer for 70‑odd jets plus decades of sustainment, upgrades, and spares.
Investors and other countries watch a G7 NATO ally say, “You know what, we’re not doing this U.S.‑dependent model anymore.”
The myth that you have to buy American to be a “serious” NATO partner starts to crack.
Add the Germany deal on top of that (more on that in a second), and you get a clear picture:
Trump’s “America First” tantrums are pushing allies to quietly build an alternative ecosystem where the U.S. is optional, not mandatory.
Ironically, that hurts exactly the thing Trump worships most: the U.S. defence industry’s bottom line.
Meanwhile, in Germany: Canada Becomes the Supplier
While everyone is gawking at fighter jets, Canada quietly logged a billion‑dollar win with another reliable European ally.
Germany has just chosen Canada’s CMS 330 combat management system—built by Lockheed Martin Canada—for its navy, in a deal worth over C$1 billion.
Quick version of what that means:
CMS 330 is basically the brain of a warship.
It’s the software and integration that ties together sensors, weapons, radars, sonar, comms—the whole nervous system.Germany picking a Canadian system means:
German warships will literally run on Canadian‑designed brains.
Canada has moved up from “customer” to serious exporter of high‑end defence tech inside NATO.
So in the same week:
Canada is flirting with building Swedish jets in Canada for us and for allies.
Germany is buying Canadian naval brains for its fleet.
And Trump is busy threatening tariffs and fantasizing about ownership of other people’s countries.
Someone’s winning here. It’s not him.
Northern Allies, Arctic Spine
There’s another layer people are sleeping on: the Arctic.
Canada and Sweden are both:
Arctic or near‑Arctic nations.
Deeply aware that Russia isn’t going anywhere.
Watching the same U.S. president talk about taking Greenland and treating the Arctic like a real‑estate listing.
The new Canada–Sweden Strategic Partnership puts big weight on:
Arctic security and civil safety
Polar research and infrastructure
Indigenous culture, language, and trade
This is exactly the kind of grown‑up, multilateral Arctic policy you build when you’re planning to be here for a century, not just for the news cycle.
If Canada goes ahead with a Canadian Gripen line, plugs that into a more European‑leaning defence network, and keeps selling systems like CMS 330 to allies like Germany?
We stop being the quiet kid in the corner of the classroom and start becoming a proper northern power.
Not America’s little brother. Not a side character. A real player.
Why We Should Probably Thank Trump (…No, Seriously)
Here’s the part that’s going to drive MAGA world nuts:
If Trump had just shut up, respected allies, and not weaponized tariffs and annexation threats, none of this would be happening this fast.
Without Trump:
Canada probably keeps sleepwalking deeper into the F‑35 program.
We keep taking U.S. dominance of our air force as “just the way it is.”
The urgency to diversify trade and defence partners with Europe wouldn’t be nearly this intense.
Instead, his:
Tariffs,
51st‑state nonsense, and
Venezuela/Greenland invasion cosplay
handed Mark Carney and the new government a giant, flashing political permission slip that says:
“You are absolutely allowed—morally, economically, and strategically—to get Canada the hell out of this mess.”
So now we’re looking at:
A five‑pillar strategic pact with a like‑minded Arctic ally in Sweden.
A potential 10,000‑job Gripen manufacturing and R&D bonanza in Canada.
A billion‑dollar deal putting Canadian naval brains into the German fleet.
And the beginnings of a non‑U.S.‑dependent defence and trade architecture that actually treats Canada like an adult country.
All because Trump couldn’t stop himself.
So yeah, in a deeply twisted way:
Thank you, Donald.
Not for making the world safer.
But for finally pissing Canada off enough that we decided to build something better with people who actually respect us.
Final Thought
We’re still in NATO. We’re still in NORAD. We still share a continent with the U.S. That won’t change.
What is changing is this:
Canada is no longer content to be a branch plant in Trump’s version of America’s empire of customers.
We’re choosing to be something else:
A northern ally, not a 51st state.
A builder, not just a buyer.
And a country that finally understands that who you buy your jets from is a national security decision, not just a shopping trip.
If that means Trump’s defence buddies lose a few billion along the way?
That’s not a bug.
That’s the point.





As an American, I say, "You go, Canada!" Lots of us here in the US have your backs.
P.S.: Would you think about annexing us? We could be your 11th province.
This sounds great but I am zeroing in on Lockheed Martin Canada selling systems to Germany. It is still an American company, right? So could a petulant leader not just put on the pressure to have them close shop in Canada and move everything to the US?
As for our partnership with Sweden...fantastic! I hope it happens in full. Not because I am a military procurement expert but because we need allies we can trust.