Canada

F-35 dominated the Gripen in terms of military capabilities.

…And?

In WWII, the German Tiger absolutely dominated the American Sherman. To the point where an average of 8 Shermans were needed to reliably take out a Tiger. There were frequent reports of Sherman ordinance just bouncing off of the Tiger’s armament like rubber balls, and it took a precise hit in just a handful of hard to target places in order to disable a Tiger, much less destroy it. Shermans needed to get stupidly close - frequently just a few tank lengths away - to make those shots count. Which means most were destroyed just trying to get close enough to actually be useful in the first place, or as distractions for other tanks to slip in.

And yet, America helped win that war. Because when 10, 20, or even more Shermans came boiling out of the woodwork for every Tiger that was fielded, the tide turned very quickly.

Canada’s initial quote for 88 F-35 fighter aircraft could obtain about 420 Gripen aircraft at current market prices.

Combine the gratuitous F-35 cost overruns, the maintenance that costs many multiples of what Gripen maintenance costs, and the massive cost savings inherent in building Gripens domestically, and we could conceivably field 7× or 8× as many Gripens as we could F-35 aircraft for the exact same cost.

Plus, Gripens can be fielded from many more places in Northern Canada than F-35 aircraft can. Sometimes as little as a straight section of highway.

And numbers win wars. Always.