Canada’s Liberal government said on Tuesday it would launch an open competition to replace an aging fleet of fighter jets and made clear it wanted to buy 18 Boeing Corp Super Hornets as a stop-gap measure.
The decision on how to replace Canada’s CF-18 jets – some of which have been flying for 35 years – is politically sensitive and has been repeatedly put off.
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said the fighters could no longer meet Canada’s international military commitments.
“Because they were not replaced, we now have a capability gap … we need additional planes as soon as possible for an interim period,” he told a news conference.
The former Conservative administration said in 2010 it would buy 65 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 jets for C$9 billion. During last year’s successful election campaign, the Liberals vowed not to buy the planes on the grounds they were too costly.
The F-35 jet will be able to take part in the “open and transparent competition” which will take five years, Public Services and Procurement Minister Judy Foote said.
The choice of the Super Hornet on an interim basis could be interpreted as giving Boeing an advantage in the open competition, a defence contractor source said.
However, Sajjan said Canada would remain a member of the nine-nation consortium that helped fund development of the F-35.
Lockheed Martin said that while it was disappointed with the choice of an interim fighter jet it was “confident the F-35 is the best solution”, according to a statement.
Foote said talks would start immediately with Boeing about acquiring the Super Hornets and a final decision would only be made once the discussions were over.
