Canada won't buy Black Hawks from the US? The government is putting talks on hold

The Canadian federal government has decided to suspend the order for American Black Hawk helicopters – CBC News reports. Specifically, the procurement reportedly involves 16 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters.

Procurement halted

As reported, the purchase had already been approved by the US State Department (via Foreign Military Sales, the agency responsible for international sales). The next step was to be the confirmation of the sale by Congress. This stage was never reached, as the Canadian government ordered the procurement to be halted even before the start of planned trade talks with the American side.

The suspension of the purchase of helicopters manufactured by the American company Sikorsky (a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin) is dictated by the difficult relations between the US and Canadian governments. Since Donald Trump’s return to power in January 2025, relations between the two nations have become increasingly strained. This translates not only into a deterioration of diplomatic ties but also into specific economic and defence decisions. American tariffs on Canadian goods and Trump’s rhetoric, describing Canada as the „51st state of the US,” have prompted Ottawa not only to join the EU’s SAFE programme but also to question further purchases of American military equipment.

What about the F-35s and HIMARS?

It is worth noting that this is not the only potential purchase of military equipment in Canadian-American relations. The fate of a much larger procurement – new F-35 aircraft – still hangs in the balance. In January 2023, the Canadian government signed a contract to purchase 88 fifth-generation F-35A multi-role fighter jets; however, due to numerous tensions between Ottawa and Washington, only the purchase of 16 aircraft of this type is currently confirmed.

F-35 aircraft are not the only American equipment mentioned in the context of potential Canadian purchases. It was only in June this year that Mark Carney’s government confirmed the decision to purchase 26 M142 HIMARS multiple rocket launchers.

Will they definitely abandon the Black Hawk?

Abandoning the Black Hawk purchase can hardly be assessed as a final decision. We are certainly dealing here with a form of political pressure from Ottawa. The question arises whether we are merely observing a temporary freeze on a transaction that will likely go through sooner or later anyway.

The Canadian Army has been using CH-146 Griffon helicopters for decades, and they urgently require successors. „We hold onto them for 20, 30 years. That’s why it’s important to buy the equipment that the Canadian Armed Forces need and to look at long-term rather than short-term political benefits,” retired Major General Denis Thompson told CBC News.

Considering the range of the Black Hawks alone, which enables them to operate efficiently in the harsh conditions of the Arctic (the maximum range of the UH-60, through the use of air-to-air refuelling options, can reach up to 2,250 kilometres, whereas for the Griffon, it will not exceed one thousand kilometres), there is a high probability that Canada will eventually purchase these aircraft following the diplomatic turmoil. The only question is whether this will happen during Donald Trump’s term or only after it concludes.