SARF - It's been mentioned here before: If Canada wants to drag out the decision, fine, but it risks losing a large proportion of its secured industrial participation in doing so. Every partner has now placed firm orders for aircraft, except Canada, and Canada has already lost precious 'intelligent customer' status within the partnership. Relegation to the back benches is not where they wanted to be, and, if that industrial share goes, the offer becomes a lot less attractive to Canada.
ORAC - Canada may indeed be holding out but from where I sit it's a dangerous game. As far as capability is concerned, the USAF will probably declare their IOC earlier than planned and LM have turned a massive corner with a few of the Program's issues to enable that. After all, the USAF are the Program's biggest and best customer. But I also don't believe that a Super Hornet 'Band Aid' - to see Canada through to an F-35 commitment - will wash with Mr Trudeau and his Govt. Delaying any orders too far shallows the gradient on the F-35 cost curve and the US and other partners won't be appreciative of that. It's like Canada is the last in the pub round to buy, but hopes last orders will be called before they're expected to dip into their pockets. Finally, the comparison between Canada and Australia is quite invalid - on one hand you have Australia, which has already bought (and has placed further orders to buy) F-35s, as well as F-18Es to bridge their fighter gap. On the other hand you have Canada, which hasn't ordered a thing from any fighter manufacturing company yet and, as they say, money talks.