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Carney says Canada will buy European surveillance planes over two American options

TORONTO (AP) — Canada will buy early warning radar planes built by Sweden’s Saab and Canada’s Bombardier over two American options, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Wednesday.

Carney said his government has entered negotiations to procure Saab’s Airborne Early Warning & Control Aircraft, which is built on the Canadian-manufactured Bombardier Global 6500 aircraft and will support domestic production.

Carney also noted it is made with 20% U.S. content. The federal government has previously said it’s in the market for six radar aircraft.

Carney has made a point of diversifying its military spending away from the United States.

Equipped with powerful radar, the Saab planes provide situational awareness about aircraft and missile movements for hundreds of miles (kilometers). They can detect hostile activity in the air or from ships are able to direct fighter jets to their targets.

“Saab’s GlobalEye will be a key resource for the Canadian Armed Forces to detect and deter threats across the Arctic,” Carney said.

The other options would have been to buy the E-7A Wedgetail surveillance planes built by U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing or the Aeris X by L3Harris.

NATO is also considering the Saab plane over the American options.

Carney has previously said that no more will over 70 cents of every dollar of Canadian military capital spending go to the U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s actions — including launching a trade war and suggesting Canada become the 51st U.S. state — infuriated Canadians and created the political environment for Carney to win the job of prime minister after promising to confront Trump’s increased aggression.

The Canadian government is reviewing the planned purchase of U.S. F-35 fighter jets to explore other options. Carney has said the potential for having more production in Canada is a factor. A proposal by Saab promised that assembly and maintenance of the Saab Gripen fighter jet would take place in Canada.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Canada’s decision on the early warning radar plane ties the two nations even closer together.

“As the GlobalEye is based on the Canadian Bombardier Global 6500 platform, GlobalEye is already creating jobs in Canada, and working with the Canadian supply chain,” Kristersson said in a post on social media.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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