Ottawa to pay $1.24B for rescue helicopter upgrades — about $200M more than planned – National | 24CA News
Canada is planning to spend $1.24 billion to improve its fleet of army search-and-rescue helicopters — about $200 million greater than initially deliberate.
Defence Minister Anita Anand and Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek introduced the sole-sourced deal to improve the army’s Cormorant helicopters late Thursday.
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The federal authorities has been planning to improve the Cormorant fleet for years, which is able to embrace modernizing its 13 current helicopters and shopping for three new ones.
But negotiations between Ottawa and Leonardo, whose subsidiaries constructed the unique helicopters, broke down in 2019 after the European firm’s proposal was deemed too costly.
The authorities had initially budgeted $1.03 billion for the undertaking when it was introduced in 2018.
Asked about the price enhance, Defence Department spokeswoman Jessica Lamirande mentioned negotiations had been restarted in December 2021 “to attempt to reach an acceptable and affordable solution.”
The two sides ultimately determined that upgrading the prevailing fleet to Norway’s requirements for its model of the Cormorant was probably the most cost-effective strategy, she added.
It was not instantly clear how Norway’s variant, which the Scandinavian nation not too long ago acquired for its personal search-and-rescue providers, differs from what Canada initially needed.
However, Lamirande mentioned the Cormorants will meet the Canadian army’s high-level necessities.
Canada will contemplate including extra capabilities “as financial risks are retired, including inflationary and foreign exchange fluctuations,” she added.
The contract introduced Thursday additionally contains the acquisition of a simulator from Montreal-based CAE Inc.
Then-defence minister Harjit Sajjan first introduced plans to modernize the Cormorant fleet in August 2019, practically 20 years after the helicopters entered service.
The first plane was alleged to be delivered this yr.
But the Defence Department publicly revealed in an replace in May 2021 that “negotiations with the contractor were put on pause due to the proposals being unaffordable.”
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It warned on the time that different options might not meet the army’s full necessities.
The Cormorants are at the moment used to conduct search-and-rescue missions out of Comox, B.C., Gander, Nfld., and Greenwood, N.S. The addition of three extra helicopters is anticipated to see the fleet increase to incorporate operations out of Trenton, Ont.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
