Whilst the Canadian tender to acquire a new fleet of 88 fighter aircraft goes on, Airbus announced its withdrawal from the competition on August 30. Dassault Aviation having also backed down, only three industries stay in the race: Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Saab.

The British Ministry of Defense and Airbus Defense and Space have decided to withdraw after having reviewed in detail the definitive request for proposal. “First, a detailed review has led the parties to conclude that NORAD security requirements continue to place too significant of a cost on platforms whose manufacture and repair chains sit outside the United States-Canada 2-EYES community”, reports Airbus. It concludes: “Second, both parties concluded that the significant recent revision of industrial technological benefits (ITB) obligations does not sufficiently value the binding commitments the Typhoon Canada package was willing to make, and which were one of its major points of focus.”

Thus, the tender keeps going on with the three remaining manufacturers and should end in 2022, with a first delivery expected by the Canadian government for 2025. Meanwhile, in order to maintain its air capability and face the aging of its CF-18 fleet, Ottawa turned toward Canberra which provides second-hand F-18s.