Canada’s top flight aviation industry and aerospace expertise makes it an ideal place to expand aircraft production, including Saab’s Gripen jet fighter, to meet the needs of Ukraine’s fledgling air force, said Sweden’s defence minister.

Pal Jonson made the comments on Wednesday ahead of a meeting with his Canadian counterpart, David McGuinty, and amid the ongoing debate about whether Canada will choose to fill out its own warplane order with Gripens, as opposed to U.S.-manufactured F-35s.

Saab and Montreal-based Bombardier are already deep into a partnership involving the GlobalEye early warning surveillance and control aircraft.

Building Gripen fighter jets outside of Sweden is an important consideration in light of the country’s limited capacity and labour pool. WATCH | Swedish min

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