TORONTO—Canada is buying a sophisticated radar system from our friends in Australia … at a speed not seen in generations, and all that jazz.

First, the news: Canada will spend $2.6-billion to procure an “over-the-horizon” radar system that will (hopefully!) allow anything approaching North America from the North—aircraft, missile, or drone—to be tracked at long ranges. The Australian system is sophisticated and well-suited to Canada’s needs. That’s not a shock. Australia’s geography is, in a strategic sense, quite similar to ours. They also control a continent-sized mass with enormous air and sea approaches that must be monitored. Traditional radars have fairly limited range, which means that you don’t notice a threat until it’s almost on top of you—this is particularly true in an age of hypersonic weapons, and smaller, stealthy threats that are harder to detect. Though our climates are very different, we share Australia’s challenges of scale and distance. Their radars will work well for our needs.

To that extent, count me as completely pleased with this announcement. It’s another tangible sign of Canada stepping up to see to its own defence, and it will have the added benefit of satisfying the American demand—a correct and fair one, in this case—that we do more for continental defence.........

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