New Canadian Prime Minister committed to withdrawing from F-35 program

[LowObservable]

The Harper government's actions exuded confidence that the F-35 would prevail in any open competition.

//sdwoti, I know

 

[sferrin]

The Harper government's actions exuded confidence that the F-35 would prevail in any open competition.

//sdwoti, I know

We'll see if the new guy feels he has to specifically exclude the F-35 from his new "competition" or game it specifically to exclude it.

 

[Triton]

"Government sets up new office to buy replacement aircraft for CF-18s"
by David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: November 15, 2015 | Last Updated: November 15, 2015 6:14 PM EST

Source:
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/government-sets-up-new-office-to-buy-replacement-aircraft-for-cf-18s

The federal government has started taking action on a Liberal promise to dump the F-35 stealth fighter and purchase a cheaper aircraft to replace the military’s CF-18 jets.

Public Services and Procurement Canada has created a new office to oversee the purchase. Paula Folkes-Dallaire, a senior public servant from the Fisheries department, is slated to start Monday as senior director of the Future Fighter Capability project, sources told the Citizen.

So far, three employees are on the Public Services and Procurement team, but it is unclear how large it will eventually become.

Industry representatives say they expect the federal cabinet to look at the fighter aircraft replacement in early December and provide more details on how bureaucrats are to proceed.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his government will withdraw from the U.S.-led F-35 fighter jet program and instead hold a competition for a less expensive aircraft to replace the military’s CF-18s.

“The team will work closely with National Defence and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada to implement the government’s direction,” Michèle LaRose, a spokeswoman from Public Services and Procurement Canada, said in an email to the Citizen.

Trudeau has promised to quickly move on replacing the CF-18s.

“We will launch an open and transparent competition to replace the CF-18s, keeping in mind the primary mission of our fighter aircraft is the defence of North America,” he said during the election campaign. “This process will also ensure that bids include guaranteed industrial benefits for Canadian companies and workers.”

On Friday, the Liberal government released the mandate letters for its ministers, including those of the minister of defence and minister of public services and procurement. In the letters, Trudeau tells them to work together on launching “an open and transparent competition to replace the CF-18 fighter aircraft, focusing on options that match Canada’s defence needs.”

The Royal Canadian Air Force will co-ordinate with the Public Services and Procurement department on the new fighter jet and will be required to come up with a statement of requirements for the planes. The procurement branch at the DND will also assist the RCAF and be involved in the withdrawal from the F-35 program. There is no timeline yet for the withdrawal.

A Lockheed Martin spokeswoman said Canada continues to be a partner in the F-35 program. But the Liberal government isn’t expected to deviate from its plan to buy a cheaper alternative to the F-35.

Former DND procurement chief Alan Williams said the government can withdraw from the F-35 program without incurring any major penalties.

The F-35 became a major political headache several years ago for the then-Conservative government. Although the preceding Liberal government originally signed on to a research and development program for the plane, the Conservatives significantly expanded that involvement and in 2010 committed to buying 65 of the stealth aircraft.

But the program was dogged by controversy.

DND originally claimed the project would cost around $14.7 billion, but then-parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page put the price tag for 65 aircraft at around $29 billion.

Auditor General Michael Ferguson also issued a report that concluded DND officials withheld key information from Parliament about the fighter jet purchase, underestimated costs, and didn’t follow proper procurement rules.

An independent audit on the F-35 acquisition determined the purchase would cost Canadians $44 billion over the 42-year life of the plane. That figure includes everything from maintenance to fuel.

In addition, some U.S. lawmakers have raised concerns the aircraft is too expensive and won’t be able to fulfil its military’s requirements.

Trudeau said holding a competition for a new fighter jet would ensure Canadian firms receive work. Under the F-35 program, there were no guarantees Canadian companies would be entitled to a specific amount of work when Canada purchased the aircraft.

As of December 2014, 33 Canadian aerospace firms had been awarded $637 million U.S. in contracts on the F-35 program, according to the Canadian government.

Those companies warn they could lose that work when Canada withdraws from the U.S. initiative.

 

[sferrin]

"Paula Folkes-Dallaire, a senior public servant from the Fisheries department, is slated to start Monday as senior director of the Future Fighter Capability project"

Sounds like they got the right person for the job. *facepalm*

 

[Apophenia]

At least Paula will know a 'fish story' when she hears one

Anyway, it's not like the procurement 'pros' over at Public Works have been doing a bang-up job lately :

 

[Triton]

World | Thu Nov 19, 2015 11:36pm EST
Related: World
"U.S. military to sound out Canada's new government on jets, Iraq"
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia | By Phil Stewart

Source:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/20/us-usa-canada-defense-f-idUSKCN0T90CB20151120#uUHlE4OTRWEGDgwX.99

The Pentagon's No. 2 will sound out Canada's new government on Friday on its defense plans following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's election on promises to scrap purchases of F-35 jets and pull Canadian aircraft from strikes on Islamic State.

Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said on Thursday that Canada's stance on Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 program was not entirely clear.

"We're not certain exactly what the Canadian position is," Work told reporters shortly before landing in Halifax, where he will attend a security forum.

"The Prime Minister has said that he wants to review it. But they have an awful lot of companies in Canada who were going to do work. So we don't know exactly where they're going. So I'm here basically to ask them: 'What is your position?'"

Canada, one of the nine countries in the initial F-35 partnership, pledged to invest $150 million in the program's development when it signed up in February 2002.

Those funds would not be reimbursed if Canada exits the program. Many Canadian firms that supply parts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Lockheed each year could also lose those orders.

"We'd like as many partners in the F-35 program as possible. But it's up for every country to decide what their defense needs are," Work said, stressing he was not going to lobby Canada's defense minister one way or the other when they meet on Friday.

Trudeau's Liberal party has said it would launch an open and transparent competition to replace Canada's aging CF-18 fighter jets, potentially offering hope to Boeing Co's F/A-18E/F fighters.

Trudeau held his first formal meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday in the Philippines, moving to repair relations that had become frayed over the past decade.

Trudeau is much closer politically to Obama than his right-of-center predecessor, Stephen Harper.

The two leaders agreed on the importance of the U.S.-led campaign against Islamic State but Trudeau vowed to stick to his promise to withdraw six Canadian jets that have been attacking the militants in Iraq and Syria.

Work said he would ask about those plans and about Canada's plans for the mission training security forces in Iraq.

"I'm not here to put pressure on anybody. I'm just here to say: 'Tell me what you're thinking. We're in this together," Work said.

 

[Triton]

"Defence Minister cautious on F-35 jets despite party pledge"
by Phil Stewart
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Reuters
Published Friday, Nov. 20, 2015 8:31PM EST
Last updated Friday, Nov. 20, 2015 8:32PM EST

Source:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/defence-minister-cautious-on-f-35-jets-despite-party-pledge/article27424850/

Canada’s new Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan on Friday said it was premature to discuss which aircraft would replace Canada’s aging CF-18 fighter jets, caution that just might offer a glimmer of hope to Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-35 fighter jet.

Sajjan’s Liberal Party pledged in its campaign to scrap planned F-35 purchases. But in an interview with Reuters, Sajjan said his fledgling government was still working to determine its requirements for the next jet and insisted the selection process would be “open and transparent.” “I’m focused on the requirements that we need ... as a nation that works with our allies as well, with NATO and our NORAD commitments,” Sajjan told Reuters, referring to the North American Aerospace Defence Command. Sajjan, a former police officer and veteran of military deployments to Afghanistan, said it would be “premature” to talk about the F-35.

He spoke at the Halifax International Security Forum shortly after meeting Deputy U.S. Defence Secretary Bob Work and said he delivered a similar message in private.

“I told the Deputy Secretary the same thing. I want to focus on making sure we have the right aircraft for Canada,” Sajjan said, without elaborating.

New Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the F-35 “didn’t come up” after his first formal meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday in the Philippines.

Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the F-35 program office, said Canada remained a partner in the program and was still slated to participate in a meeting of the program’s executive steering board in Italy early next month.

“Similar to actions taken by other nations, the Government of Canada is working to launch an open and transparent competition to replace their legacy aircraft,” he said.

“The F-35 Joint Program Office will continue to provide Canada with the data they need to make an informed decision that is in their best national interest.”

At the same time, Trudeau has vowed to stick to another campaign pledge: a promise to withdraw six Canadian jets that have been attacking the militants in Iraq and Syria, as part of a bid to refocus Canada’s military contribution.

Sajjan said it was too soon to estimate when those jets would be withdrawn.

“We have to do it ... in a responsible manner that does not decrease the capability of the coalition,” he said.

 

[Triton]

U.S. expects F-35 to be part of Canada's next jet competition"
Sat Nov 21, 2015 1:04pm EST
by Phil Stewart

Source:
http://ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idCAKCN0TA0SE20151121

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon expects the new Canadian government to allow Lockheed Martin Corp's LMT.N F-35 fighter aircraft to compete to replace Canada's aging CF-18 jets, despite the Liberal Party's stated opposition to the planes, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work said on Saturday.

But Work cautioned after talks in Canada that how the fledgling government sets its requirements for the competition would ultimately determine what jet the country gets.

"I think they're going to have another full and open competition. I think the F-35 will be part of that but the requirements from the competition may change. We don't know," Work told reporters traveling with him back from Canada.

Work's comments came a day after Canada's new Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan, in an interview with Reuters, said it would be "premature" to talk about the F-35 or any aircraft that might or might not be able to replace the CF-18.

"I'm focused on the requirements that we need ... as a nation that works with our allies as well, with NATO and our NORAD commitments," Sajjan said, referring to the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

A decision not to go with the F-35 could raise the prospects for Boeing Co's BA.N F/A-18E/F fighters.

Work said he only sounded out Sajjan when the two met in Halifax, Nova Scotia, adding: "I wasn't here to put any pressure on."...

 

[Grey Havoc]

Courtesy of Clave over at our sister site What if Modelers, a nice drawing of what a RCAF Eurofighter Typhoon might look like in service (h/t uk 75 for reminding me about the old thread in question):

 

[kaiserd]

Courtesy of Clave over at our sister site What if Modelers, a nice drawing of what a RCAF Eurofighter Typhoon might look like in service (h/t uk 75 for reminding me about the old thread in question):

View attachment 631029

Nice picture - isn’t this already a “what if” given that EADS (along with Dassault) have already withdrawn from this competition?

 

[GTX]

Indeed.

 

[Grey Havoc]

Thought they were rebooting the competition?

 

[Dragon029]

They rebooted it years ago, in this new competition Eurofighter and Dassault have both dropped out, leaving it to just the F-35A, Super Hornet or Gripen E. The RFP deadline was extended through to the middle of the year, but I don't see anyone else submitting proposals.

 

[Grey Havoc]

I was under the impression they were preparing to reboot it again after Eurofighter & Dassault had both pulled out and the RFP wasn't getting any further bites.