Although Canada was the first to raise concerns about the dangers of purchasing American weapons and is already reviewing its acquisition of 88 F-35 fighters, the River-class destroyers may cause even more problems due to the policies of the new U.S. administration.
While the Canadian F-35 were contracted for 14.2 billion, henceforth U.S. dollars, the destroyers cost $77 billion to construct. The plan was to have 15 missile destroyers built from 2030 to 2050, with the project in general dragging on, with regular scandals, since the mid-2000s. The final design of the ship was presented in the late 2010s.
The construction of the first three ships started in the summer of 2024, but the official contract signing only took place the other day, in mid-March 2025.
From the moment BAE Systems revealed the project details on the new Type 26 frigate, the parent class of River destroyers, it was clear that the Canadian variant would also have many American-sourced parts.
To begin with, the brains of the ship — command-and-control (C2) and weapons control system — is the Aegis from Lockheed Martin.
This centralized automated system is responsible for controlling all the sensors, fire, and a multitude of other operations. It’s like the OS on a personal computer or smartphone. And of course, it requires regular updates which need to be provided by the U.S.
The destroyer’s main radar, the SPY-7, is also from Lockheed Martin. The principal strike capability is Tomahawk cruise missile, and air defense is ensured by SM-2 and RIM-162 ESSM missiles — all from Raytheon.
Furthermore, the communication systems are from L3 Harris, the engine is partly made by General Electrics, and one of the sonars is supplied by General Dynamics.
With such a deep level of integration, discarding all American components and replacing them, for example, with European alternatives (if one can find, that is) is tantamount to redesigning the ship from scratch.
That is, the future of this project is in the hands of the United States, so is the destroyers’ combat capability if Canada decides to go through with finalizing it.
Meanwhile, the Canadian military and experts don’t pay this issue as much attention as to the F-35 fighters. This makes sense, after all, the first aircraft supplies should already arrive by 2026, whereas the first River destroyer is to reach initial readiness in the early 2030s. On the other hand, if Donald Trump decides to use this lever for pressure, delays are inevitable.
Last but not least, we should recall that despite the statements of the 47th U.S. President Donald Trump about the absorption of Canada into the “51st state,” there were indeed strategic plans developed for U.S. invasion of Canada back in the 20th century.
