Harper and those fighter jets: bought on U.S. orders?

On Friday, Defence Minister Peter MacKay made it official, publicly committing Canadian taxpayers to a $16 billion deal for the purchase and maintenance of 65 F-35s.

The contract will not be put out for tender because the Harper government has determined that only one plane fits its operational requirements. Or, more accurately, the Harper government has drawn up the operational requirements to exclude everything but the F-35.

The F-35 is a stealth fighter designed to penetrate radar defences on the first day of a war. It's the sort of plane you would use to create “shock and awe” in Baghdad or Tehran.

Unless Canada is planning on being the sharp end of the American spear, we don't need stealth technology.

The F-35 is designed for short takeoff and landing, with two of the three versions destined for aircraft carriers. Canada, of course, doesn't have aircraft carriers.

And all that stealth technology and short takeoff and landing capacity comes at a cost. In addition to the price tag of about $135 million per plane, the F-35 has a relatively short range.

This makes it an odd choice for a large, sparsely populated country.

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