The United States wants to kick-start efforts to interest Canada and other nations in the F-35 fighter by driving down costs through boosting its production.
The Pentagon has proposed a bulk purchase of 450 of the stealth jets over three years, a move it hopes would drop the cost of the planes and make them more attractive to foreign governments. The proposed purchase would include orders of the aircraft from foreign countries as well as the U.S. military.
A number of nations are committed to the F-35 but Canada and Denmark, both partners in the U.S.-led venture, still have not indicated how they would proceed.
A commitment to buy 450 planes over three years would also highlight to foreign nations that the program is solid and there are benefits to committing to it, said Frank Kendall, the U.S. defence undersecretary for acquisition.
Discussions about the controversial aircraft have all but disappeared in Canadian political circles, and the federal government is reluctant to outline its actual plans for replacing its fleet of aging CF-18 fighter jets.
“No decision on a replacement for the CF-18 fleet has been taken,” said Public Works spokesman Pierre-Alain Bujold, repeating a government talking point that has been used for at least the last two years. “Until a decision is taken on the path forward, all options remain on the table.”
Those options include an outright purchase of the F-35 or a competition involving various aircraft.
“To ensure continued safe and effective operations during the transition to a new fleet, Canada has extended the life of the current fleet of CF-18 fighters to 2025,” Bujold added.
The bulk purchase being proposed would begin in 2018. Congress still has to approve the plan.
Lockheed Martin official Jack Crisler said the company plans to deliver 45 of the aircraft this year. The firm, which builds the F-35, is now trying to determine how much the bulk buy would drop the overall cost of each plane.
“Obviously everyone wants to see an economic benefit,” Crisler told the Citizen.
The version of the plane that Canada is interested in, the F-35A, currently costs $108 million U.S., he said.
Crisler, vice-president of F-35 business development, said although Canada has yet to make a decision on how to proceed on replacing the CF-18s, it is still fully involved in the F-35 process.
The F-35 stealth fighter had become a major political headache for the Conservative government. Although the Liberal government originally signed on to a research-and-development program for the plane, the Conservatives significantly expanded Canada’s role and committed to purchasing the aircraft, making it a linchpin of their defence policy.
But to deal with the ongoing controversy over the cost of the F-35 and allegations the government tried to hide the real pricetag of the aircraft, the Conservative government launched an extensive review of the proposed fighter jet purchase. By the end of December, it had received all the reports and advice from that review.
The controversy surrounding the purchase of the plane has centred on technical and cost issues, as well as the acquisition process. The Department of National Defence originally claimed the project would cost around $14.7 billion, but then-Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page estimated the price tag for 65 aircraft at around $29 billion.
Auditor General Michael Ferguson also issued a report that concluded DND officials withheld key information from Parliament about the fighter jet purchase, underestimated costs and didn’t follow proper procurement rules.
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