In a move that quietly redraws the map of allied defense cooperation, Canada has become the first outside observer in the Global Combat Air Program — the joint initiative by Japan, Britain, and Italy to develop a next-generation fighter jet. The designation is not symbolic: Canada is weighing a future purchase, and its presence signals that GCAP aspires to be something broader than a trilateral project — a platform where democracies with shared security interests build not just aircraft, but durable coalitions. How nations choose their weapons has always revealed something about how they imagi