Canada's air force chief blasted lobbyists and aerospace industry players Friday for "beating" on the Defence Department for its handling of the $3-billion plan to buy a new fleet of fixed-wing search-and-rescue planes.
"We're getting beat up too much on fixed-wing SAR," Lt.-Gen. Angus Watt said Friday afternoon at Defence Department headquarters.
"The problem is we haven't been able to tell our story because normally it's 'advice to government.' Until the government approves our program, we try and keep things internal to the department," said Watt, who then launched into a Power Point presentation of the detailed specifications of Canada's new fleet of 15 search-and-rescue planes -- specs that have yet to be made public, including to the consortiums that will eventually bid on the airplane contract.
"Everybody else has had a free rein to pitch their view of what Canada's needs are," said Watt, saying the slides were his "advice to government on what our next planes should look like."
Watt said he had the blessing of Defence Minister Peter MacKay to discuss the specifications of what he believes the air force needs to replace its ageing fleet of Hercules and Buffalo aircraft that date back to the 1960s. The fixed-wing search-and-rescue procurement has been mired in government and industry infighting that has frustrated the military and led lobbyists to level a familiar accusation that has bedeviled many lucrative military aircraft purchases: That the government has tailored its specifications to favour one particular airplane.
"Unlike certain accusations that have been floating around, we did not design these high-level capabilities to match a specific airplane. We designed for the mission," said Watt. However, Watt allowed that the Alenia C-27J, an Italian plane that would be built at a U.S. plant, meets the specifications. "That's one, but there's other possibilities," said Watt.
In January, the Ottawa-based Aerospace Industries Association of Canada complained in a letter to MacKay and Industry Minister Tony Clement that the military reliance on U.S. manufacturers was depriving Canadian companies of jobs. The accusation incensed MacKay, who insisted that the government's regional benefits policy would be respected -- that for every dollar given to a foreign company, one dollar in regional benefits for Canadian industry would be spent.
Earlier this week, reports emerged that Industry Canada was determined to draw a "line in the sand" with the Defence Department to ensure that the aircraft purchase did not discriminate against Canadian companies. "I'm after an airplane that will provide an equivalent level of service to that which Canadians currently enjoy with the Buffalo and the Herc. I'm not looking to gild the lily. I'm not looking to do anything beyond anything Canadians have a right to expect," said Watt.
