Australia’s ‘biggest defence export’ was meant to go to the US first, but Canada snuck past Donald Trump

News HomeShareAustralia’s ‘biggest defence export’ was meant to go to the US first, but Canada snuck past Donald TrumpExclusive by defence correspondent Andrew GreeneTopic:Federal Government54m ago54 minutes agoMark Carney standing behind a podium delivering a speech in front of the Canadian flagRecently installed Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed the $6.5 billion JORN purchase overnight. (AP: Justin Tang)In short:Canada was always meant to follow the United States in acquiring world-leading Australian radar technology but “things moved quickly” after Donald Trump won the US presidency.Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed the $6.5 billion JORN purchase overnight, after a conversation with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.What’s next?Defence Minister Richard Marles says there are still some hurdles to clear, but the sale of the technology would be the biggest defence export in Australia’s history.Link copiedShareFor months, senior officials have been discussing exporting Australia’s world-leading radar technology JORN to the United States, but after Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Canada saw an opportunity and leapt.Overnight, new Canadian leader Mark Carney spoke to his counterpart, Anthony Albanese, then flew to his country’s Arctic territory of Nunavut to announce a $6.5 billion high-tech Australian military purchase.”Today, I’m announcing that our government will be working with our long-standing defence and security partner Australia to build a new, long-range, over-the-horizon military radar system,” he said.”[It] will enable Canada to detect and respond to both air and maritime threats over our Arctic both faster and from further away. It will most fundamentally keep all Canadians safe.”Following President Trump’s repeated threats to annex Canada and Greenland, Ottawa is purchasing the Australian-developed technology known as the Jindalee Over-the-Horizon Radar (JORN) to build its new Arctic Over-the-Horizon Radar system