BERLIN, March 19, (AP): Questions are mounting in Canada and in Europe over whether big-ticket purchases of high-end US weaponry, such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, are still a wise strategic choice for Western countries worried about their investment in US defense technology. In less than two months, US President Donald Trump has upended decades of US foreign policy. He has left NATO members questioning whether the US will honor the alliance's commitment to defend each other if other European countries are attacked by Russia.

He's also made repeat overtures to Russia and suspended most US foreign aid. And Pete Hegseth, Trump's defense secretary, last month told a gathering of European defense ministers "that stark strategic realities” prevent the US from being primarily focused on the security of Europe. That could impact foreign sales of the Lockheed Martin-produced F-35 and other advanced US jets like the F-16.

As the war in Ukraine continues into its fourth year, it's become clear that Eastern European NATO members still have vast stores of Soviet-era weapons in their stockpiles that were not interoperable with Western weaponry. A long-term plan to get all of NATO on similar platforms - by replacing old Soviet-era jets with Western ones, particularly the F-16 and in some cases, the F-35 - has gained momentum.

Some of the NATO countries are now re-thinking tying their defense to US-made systems and potentially considering European jets like the Saab Gripen, Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale instead. In Canada, where Trump has launched a trade war and has threatened economic coercion to make it the 51st American state, new Prime Minister Mark Carney has asked Defense Minister Bill Blair to review its purchase of F-35s.

Canada has been a partner with the U.S. in developing the F-35. Blair will see if there are other options "given the changing environment,” a defense spokesman said. Carney on Tuesday announced a radar purchase from Australia worth Canadian $6 billion ($4.2 billion). The Over-the-Horizon Radar system will provide early warning radar coverage from the Canada-United States border into the Arctic, and officials said it would have a smaller footprint than a similar American system.