May 31, 2019 | Local, Aerospace
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Boeing Co is surprised Canada softened the rules of a competition for new fighters to allow Lockheed Martin Corp to submit a bid, but is still confident it has a chance, a top executive said on Wednesday.
Following a U.S. complaint, Ottawa this month said it planned to drop a clause stipulating that bidders in the multibillion dollar race to supply 88 jets must offer a legally binding guarantee to give Canadian businesses 100% of the value of the deal in economic benefits.
The original clause would have excluded Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter, the plane the Canadian air force wants. The contract is worth between C$15 billion and C$19 billion ($11.1 billion to $14.1 billion).
“I was surprised by the recommended change ... why would you deviate from a policy that's been so successful to accommodate a competitor?” said Jim Barnes, the Boeing official in charge of trying to sell the company's F-18 Super Hornet jet to Canada.
The change in the rules around economic benefits was the latest wrinkle in a decade-long troubled-plagued effort to replace Canada's CF-18 jets, some of which are 40 years old.
The final list of requirements for the new fleet of jets is due to be issued in July.
“Right now we feel like we can put a very compelling offer on the table even with this change,” Barnes told reporters on the margins of a defense and security conference in Ottawa.
Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains - in overall charge of the benefits aspect of procurement - said in response to Barnes's comment that Ottawa would ensure the competition was fair.
Compelling bidders to offer watertight guarantees of economic benefits contradicts rules of the consortium that developed the F-35, a group to which Canada belongs.
Boeing is offering a binding commitment and Barnes said the firm would stress to Canadian officials the potential economic disadvantages of entertaining a non-binding bid.
An official from Sweden's Saab AB, another contender, told reporters that Canadians could lose out by ignoring contenders that had made firm investment commitments.
“I am concerned that the ability to respond to a non-binding environment may not necessarily give Canadians the best value at the end of the day,” said Patrick Palmer, head of sales and marketing for Saab Canada.
Airbus SE, the fourth firm in the race, declined to comment.
Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Susan Thomas
June 18, 2019 | Local, Aerospace
Vision 2025: Beyond our Imagination is an industry-led initiative to start a new dialogue between industry, government, the public, and other stakeholders that will chart a course for Canada's future in the international aerospace sector. Full article: https://aiac.ca/vision2025/
July 19, 2023 | Local, Aerospace
Écoutez le président de l'entreprise discuter avec l animateur Louis Lacroix des appareils de surveillance dont a besoin le gouvernement canadien.
March 15, 2021 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
The Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering's Global Capability Programs Office scans for vendors in foreign countries that have innovative technologies that speak to: The US Department of Defense's Technology Modernization Priorities, including: AI; Biotechnology; Autonomy; Cyber; Directed Energy; FNC3 (Fully Networked Command, Control, and Communications); Microelectronics; Quantum Science; Hypersonics; Space; 5G; Readiness and Joint Lethality in Contested Environments; Technologies satisfying urgent operational needs on a relevant fielding schedule; and/or Technologies that provide significant life cycle savings. Interested vendors may send their product data sheets and an FCT template to Colonel Stephen MacDonald, Defence Cooperation Attaché at the Embassy of Canada to the United States, at Stephen.MacDonald7@forces.gc.ca NLT 30 April 2021. A blank FCT template and an example of an FCT template are attached. Colonel MacDonald will compile the data sheets and FCT templates, and will forward them to the Global Capabilities Program Office. The Global Capabilities Program Office will then disseminate the vendor product data sheets and the FCT templates to the U.S. Armed Services and Agencies to gauge their interest. The Global Capabilities Program Office will inform Colonel MacDonald of the technologies that have peaked the interest of the U.S armed services and agencies. The vendors of these technologies will be asked to prepare a 20-minute presentation (including questions and answers) on their innovative technologies. We are aiming to schedule the presentations for the last week of May. The plan for the presentations will be announced under separate cover. Following the presentations, U.S. armed services and agencies will contact vendors if they continue to have an interest in their technologies. At that point, the discussions will take place directly between the U.S. armed services/agencies and vendors. An information session from the Global Capabilities Program Office and U.S. Armed Service representatives may be held near the end of April, and is pending confirmation. The intent of the information session will be to provide an overview of the FCT program/process and the needs of U.S. armed services and agencies. Details of the information session will be announced under separate correspondence. In the meantime, a presentation on the FCT program can be found here. Questions may be addressed to Colonel Stephen MacDonald, Defence Cooperation Attaché, at Stephen.MacDonald7@forces.gc.ca and Mr. Bobby Tate, Trade Commissioner, Defence and Security, at robert.tate@international.gc.ca.