Interoperability is key to mission effectiveness in NORAD. The F-35, by providing for a common airframe, will not only allow us to sustain interoperability in those terms, but all of the ancillary equipment—communications, everything else for avionics that will be modernized over time as those airframes are updated because there is a common airframe, because these other projects will be able to go forward on a collaborative basis—provides for a foundation for interoperability that I believe is going to be extremely valuable.
Knowing that program managers need to continue to drive down the cost of the F-35, knowing that each nation, including Canada, is going to make a sovereign decision ultimately on participation in the program, I believe that the interoperability value of this program is extremely important.