National Defence expected to lose some F-35s before all 65 delivered

National Defence scientists predicted in 2011 that the military would have almost certainly lost several of its brand-new F-35 stealth fighters before all 65 were even delivered, Postmedia News has learned.

In December 2011, the Defence Department’s research arm, Defence Research and Development Canada, published a report in which it said “that the probability of having 63 or more (F-35s) remaining at this time (when the last one is delivered) is approximately 54 per cent.”

Canadian military planners had originally expected to take possession of all 65 of this country’s stealth fighters over a staggered six-year period ending in 2022.

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