Unfair, Say Three Aerospace Firms
And the winner of the $3.2 billion contract to replace the
Canadian military's aging Hercules transports is -- Lockheed
Martin, and its C-130J.
That decision by the Canadian Defense Department is being called
into question by a number of aerospace firms, including Airbus,
Snow Aviation, and now Italy's Alenia North America, which claim
that Lockheed was the predetermined winner, reported the Ottawa
Citizen Friday.
Canada will spend $3.2 billion to acquire 17 C-130Js, as well as
on infrastructure, training, and other related project
expenses.
Alenia contends it was kept out of the Canadian military's
competition and its aircraft, the C-27J, can do 80 percent of the
job of a C-130J and more, and at a third of the cost, saving
taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
Alenia North America president Giuseppe Giordo said its C-27J
competed in a US military program against the C-130J -- and
won. (Editor's Note: Lockheed did field a
version of the C-130J in the initial stages of the US Army and
Air Force Joint Cargo Aircraft competition, but the
Lockheed plane was soon rejected due, in part, to a
JCA requirement the aircraft be certified by the
FAA.)
As ANN reported, Alenia won a
multi-billion dollar US military contract just last week to provide
more than 150 transport aircraft. The first C-27J will be delivered
for the US program in a year, according to Alenia.
Giordo also noted that the C-27J costs about one-fifth the price
to maintain.
"If you have an aircraft availability that is much more
accelerated, if you have something that costs much less, and if you
have something than performs 80 percent of the mission of the
C-130J, I believe that somebody should at least take into account
that option," he said.
Lockheed Martin helped Alenia develop the C-27J and provides the
avionics for some of the aircraft.
As ANN recently reported, Canada's
National Defense has formally requested to jump ahead of the US
military to secure delivery of 17 C-130J Hercules by 2009 -- a full
year ahead of schedule.
But Wait, There's More
Not only can the C-27J perform most of the same missions of the
Lockheed craft at a third of the purchase price and a fifth of the
maintenance cost, Giordo added -- it can also be used to replace
Canada's aging search-and-rescue aircraft, saving even more
money.
Alenia officials submit that the military's airlift needs would
be assured with a fleet of C-27Js combined with the larger C-17
transport aircraft that Canada is purchasing.
While Alenia, Airbus, and Snow Aviation, a small US aerospace
firm, claim their proposals were either not given a fair hearing or
that the contest was pre-designed to select the C-130J, the
response from the Conservative government was that last year's
competition to select a tactical transport plane for the Canadian
Forces was fair, open, and transparent.
Lockheed Martin spokesperson Peter Simmons said the C-130J meets
Canada's tactical airlift requirement and was selected under a fair
and open process. The requirements for a new fleet were demanding
and precise and the C-130J met all nine mandatory requirements set
out, he added.
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