Photo: Collected
Canada on Friday signed a preliminary agreement to buy six GlobalEye radar aircraft from Swedish arms manufacturer Saab.
News agency AFP reported this.
Canada’s Defence Investment Agency said in a press release that the agreement is not binding. Through it, the scope and basis of subsequent detailed negotiations have been set.
Prime Minister Mark Carney formed this agency in October last year to make the process of purchasing military equipment easier and faster.
Talks between the Canadian government and Saab began on 27 May. Initially, the purchase of at least 40 aircraft was under discussion.
The GlobalEye radar aircraft will be built in Canada itself and will mainly be used for surveillance in the country’s Arctic or North Pole region.
Alongside the six aircraft, Canada also wants to buy various GlobalEye equipment and training. However, the schedule for supplying this equipment and training has not yet been fixed.
Canada’s Defence Minister David McGuinty said in a statement, ‘Together we are building capabilities that will strengthen our security and ensure greater value for the people of Canada.’
Canada has significantly increased spending in the military and defence sector in recent times.
The country has allocated 65 billion Canadian dollars (about 46 billion US dollars) for this sector.
In an interview with The New York Times earlier this week, Prime Minister Carney said he must be prepared even for an ‘extreme’ situation such as US military intervention on Canadian territory.
