I'll admit that I'm biased here... of the three sides of the procurement triangle (provider [the contractors], users [the Wing], and "Ottawa") I've set at two and closely advised the third, but...
I think we would actually spend less money in the long run paying for the "Cadillac" or "Buick" or whatever it is we already bought. Fund the contractors to complete the currently required mods a higher amount than what it would otherwise cost to make their bottom line less smelly, on the condition that they deliver in a operational effective and timely manner.
For reference, those mods are:
- Multi-Fleet Air Traffic Management Avionics, consisting off:
- Mode 5 and ADS-B transponder (absolutely essential for current ops given the retirement of Mode 4 codes)
- Mode 5 Interrogator
- Heli-TAWS (Terrain Avoidance Warning System)
- Mk-54 Torpedo (Mk-46 "upgrade) integration
- Link-16 (overdue given the retirement of Link-11 capabilities including crypto)
- AIS (Automatic Identification System) integration
As well, do a better job of delinking flying hours from contractor payments, given the Wing isn't flying the predicted hours at this point, so that fixed costs are paid, allowing the contractors to bump the spares pools.
Finally, pay for contracted people (not civil servants, they will become permanent) to help the Wing complete the transition.
Caveat to all of this is if one of the contractors pulls out then we need to replace the fleet for sure.
... but I'm fully aware this path won't be taken in the current contractual and fiscal environment.
By the way, the only aircraft that meets the Canadian CONOPs and SOR that I know are the Cyclone and the Merlin (given the UK CONOPs is broadly similar), which isn't to say we couldn't change said CONOPs and SOR. But that should come before we talk about the aircraft, crewing, etc.
My 2 cents...