Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan says Canada considered buying used fighter jets from Kuwait to temporarily augment the military's aging CF-18 fleet, but the planes won't be available in time.
The revelation comes as the bitter dogfight pitting the Trudeau government and Montreal-based Bombardier against U.S. aerospace giant Boeing continues to heat up.
The Liberals had planned to buy 18 Super Hornets from Boeing to fill what they say is a critical shortage of fighter jets, but have since threatened to go another direction because of the dispute.
Sajjan won't say if the Liberals have officially walked away from the Super Hornets, which U.S. officials have said would cost about $6 billion, but he does say the Liberals are actively looking at other options.
Kuwait plans to sell its used F/A-18s after securing its own deal to buy Super Hornets and there had been speculation the aircraft, which are similar to Canada's CF-18s, would be in good shape.
But Sajjan says Kuwait won't be ready to sell fast enough for Canada and the government is instead working closely with the Australians, who are also offering used F/A-18s.
