Harper's $16 billion boondoggle

The Ottawa Citizen:

Ottawa - The Canadian military does not have the ability to conduct aerial refuelling of the F-35 fighter jet it wants to purchase and is now looking at ways to get around that problem.

Options range from paying for modifications to the stealth jets to purchasing a new fleet of tanker aircraft that can gas up the high-tech fighters in mid-air. That option could cost several hundred million dollars, depending on how many new tankers are needed.

In addition, because the F-35 would not be able to safely land on runways in Canada’s north because those are too short for the fighter, the Defence Department is looking at having manufacturer Lockheed Martin install a “drag” chute on the plane.

But the acquisition, estimated to cost between $16 billion and $21 billion, has come under fire from a variety of critics as being unnecessary and too costly.

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Geoff Stevens, The Record:

Pressure from Washington is clearly a factor. The Americans want their allies to participate in its JSF (Joint Strike Fighter) program — meaning everyone would buy and fly a version of the same aircraft. A U.S.-made aircraft, naturally. Washington selected the single-engine F-35, built by Lockheed Martin (coincidentally the same people who built the star-crossed Starfighter).

Canada, like the other allies, had no voice in the decision to go with the F-35. There was no competition for the contract, no evaluation here of other aircraft, and no bidding on price. The price is staggering. No one seems to know for sure, but it looks at least $20 billion for 65 aircraft. (This compares to $2.4 billion for twice as many CF-18s, admittedly three decades ago.)

That $20 billion is a huge commitment to make without a debate in Parliament, without examination by a parliamentary committee — and without, in fact, any considered explanation to the Canadian public as to why the country needs this particular plane at this immense cost.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay brushed off the safety issue when he was asked last summer what would happen if the F-35’s single engine failed on patrol in the Far North. “It won’t,” he replied.

His confidence is unnerving. Here’s a comment from a former Conservative cabinet minister who knows the North extremely well: “Single engine? In the Arctic? I wouldn’t put my worst enemy in one!”

Yet the Harper government, trying to please the Americans, is proposing to do just that. But it’s not a worst enemy who will be flying the plane. It’s Canadian aircrews who will be put in harm’s way by their own government.

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