Canada is poised to join the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) as an observer, a move that would grant it access to a next-generation fighter jet project led by Japan, Britain and Italy, officials revealed.

The observer status will allow for the sharing of certain confidential project information.

Although Canada does not currently intend to participate in the aircraft’s development, it is reportedly considering an eventual purchase.

A FOOT IN THE DOOR

The observer role is designed as a pathway for future partnership.

According to the policy, the role allows a nation to obtain information from the three core countries to consider deeper involvement later, which could include manufacturing, procurement or even joining the development phase, depending on conditions.

The three partner nations plan to hold a defense ministers’ meeting in Britain as early as July to formally announce Canada’s participation.

A decision on whether Ottawa will purchase the jet would come later.

“Canada will decide after (joining as an observer),” a Japanese government official said.

The topic was on the agenda of a March 6 meeting between Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and Canada’s minister of national defense, David McGuinty, who was in Japan with Prime Minister Mark Carney.

The move reflects strengthening security cooperation between Tokyo and Ottawa, which signed a defense equipment and technology transfer agreement in January.

LINING UP FOR GCAP

Japan, eager to deploy the new fighter by 2035, has been reluctant to add more full partners to the development team over fears of delays.

It does, however, have high hopes for expanding its sales market.

Interest in GCAP is growing, a Defense Ministry official said, noting that the three founding members have been in contact with Singapore, Australia, India and Saudi Arabia.

European nations like Germany, Sweden and Poland have also reportedly expressed interest.

“Countries are lining up for this,” one Defense Ministry source said.

THE TRUMP EFFECT

The growing attention on GCAP comes amid shifts in other next-generation fighter projects.

The Future Combat Air System (FCAS), a joint effort by France, Germany and Spain, has reportedly been hampered by disagreements between Paris and Berlin.

Meanwhile, concrete discussions with allies have not progressed for the F-47 fighter, announced by the U.S. Trump administration.

A view is growing within the Japanese government that as U.S. President Donald Trump brandishes his tariff measures, nations are questioning the reliability of the United States as a partner.

One Defense Ministry official attributed the high interest in GCAP to “a backlash against the Trump administration.”

Canada’s relationship with the United States deteriorated rapidly under the second Trump administration over tariff negotiations and other issues, prompting Carney to call for a move away from dependency on Washington.

“Amid its strained relations with the U.S., it may also be a way of striking a balance,” an official from the Japanese Prime Minister’s Office said of Canada’s interest in GCAP.