Will F-35s include engines?

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This article was published 17/04/2011 (5570 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The multimillion-dollar F-35 stealth fighter the Conservatives want to purchase comes with all the accoutrements of a high-tech aircraft — everything except an engine.

The government will be required to provide them for the 65 planes to be delivered by U.S. manufacturer Lockheed Martin, according to newly released Defence Department documents.

The proposed F-35 purchase, estimated to cost between $14 billion and $29 billion, depending on what figures are used, has been controversial. Opposition parties are calling for a review or cancellation of the program, while the Conservatives have made it a key part of their defence policy.

The records, obtained through the access-to-information law by peace activist Tamara Lorincz, are from a series of meetings last fall when defence bureaucrats and military officers toured the country to promote the F-35 deal.

“Engines are provided as gov’t furnished equipment,” noted the documents.

The term “government furnished equipment” signifies that the engines are being provided separately by Canada.

It is unclear how much extra the engines will cost or whether there would be additional costs for installing the power plants into the fighters.

But in an email late Friday, the Defence Department stated that Canada is purchasing the least costly variant of the F-35 and suggested the cost of the engines is included in the overall price.

DND did not provide an explanation about why the government is required to provide the engines. It also did not provide details on the price of the engines or the cost to install them.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has labelled the F-35 as a good deal for Canada and noted that the aircraft will cost around $75 million per plane.

The Conservatives say the entire purchase will cost around $14 billion but a report from Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page puts the number at $29 billion.

The Government Accountability Office, the U.S government’s equivalent of the auditor general, has also warned about serious ongoing problems with the aircraft and rising costs. Mike Sullivan, a senior official with the Government Accountability Office, estimated that the F-35 model that Canada is buying will cost between $110 to $115 million per plane.

The Defence Department documents, which outline answers to questions about the F-35, also note that the stealth fighter could be used, in a secondary role, for search and rescue.

The Defence Department records highlight the F-35’s capabilities, pointing out that it will be easy to fly and the purchase will provide contracts for Canadian aerospace companies.

“Fighter aircraft (are) not a primary SAR asset, but can play a secondary role — and would,” the documents state.

But Steve Staples, a vocal critic of the F-35 purchase, calls that claim ludicrous.

He said the billions of dollars earmarked for the fighter jets have helped delay other more important projects, such as the air force’s much-delayed plan to buy fixed-wing search-and-rescue planes.

“The concern here is that the F-35 eats everybody’s else’s lunch and there will be no money left,” said Staples, president of the Rideau Institute.

According to the Defence Department presentations from the documents, the first F-35 will be delivered to Canada in 2016. The final delivery will take place in 2022.

 

— Postmedia News