Ottawa is “very interested” in Swedish defence giant Saab’s offer of its Gripen fighter jets, but it needs “more details” on how Canada can benefit from the deal, Industry Minister Melanie Joly says.

Joly’s comments come as Canada’s plan to replace its ageing fleet of fighter jets with F-35s from American defence firm Lockheed Martin is on pause pending a federal review, and amid growing hesitation over deepening Canada’s reliance on the U.S.

“We need to have more details about it because we need to be able to do the analysis of how much we could benefit from it. But we’ll continue the conversations for sure,” Joly said at a joint event with Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba-Elisabeth Busch.

Saab’s offer of the fighter jets would create 10,000 jobs in Canada, Joly had said Tuesday

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