Federal government scraps plan to buy Boeing jets, turns to Australian military instead
The federal government will officially punish Boeing Co. for its trade dispute against Canada's Bombardier Inc., replacing the planned order of 18 new Boeing jets with the purchase of up to 30 second-hand fighters from the Australian military, sources said.
Government and industry sources said the Australia deal will be announced as early as next week, with the Royal Canadian Air Force needing 28 to 30 used F/A-18 fighter jets to meet its international commitments.
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has said Canada cannot meet all of its obligations to the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with its current fleet of CF-18s, arguing new fighter jets are needed before the entire fleet is replaced in the next decade.
"We are going to fill that interim capability gap," he told reporters on Tuesday. "I look forward to making the announcement at the appropriate time."
The government's decision to buy Australian fighter jets stands to increase tensions with Boeing, which has repeatedly warned that billions of dollars in business activity in Canada are at stake in the ongoing dispute.
Speaking to The Globe and Mail in September, Boeing International president Marc Allen said the federal government should not forget that Boeing does $4-billion a year of business in Canada, with 560 suppliers and an overall impact of 17,000 jobs.
"If Canada kicks Boeing out, I think that will be deeply unfortunate for us both. It would be a deeply unfortunate outcome," he said. "It has to be a two-way street, there has to be this mutually beneficial relationship for it to be one that grows, one that both sides are happy and excited about."
In addition, industry sources said it remains an open question whether Ottawa will be saving money by buying second-hand Australian jets that are nearly as old as Canada's CF-18s.
The U.S. Department of Defence said in September that the contract for the Super Hornets could be worth up to $6.4-billion.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/new...-australian-military-instead/article37218857/
The federal government will officially punish Boeing Co. for its trade dispute against Canada's Bombardier Inc., replacing the planned order of 18 new Boeing jets with the purchase of up to 30 second-hand fighters from the Australian military, sources said.
Government and industry sources said the Australia deal will be announced as early as next week, with the Royal Canadian Air Force needing 28 to 30 used F/A-18 fighter jets to meet its international commitments.
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has said Canada cannot meet all of its obligations to the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with its current fleet of CF-18s, arguing new fighter jets are needed before the entire fleet is replaced in the next decade.
"We are going to fill that interim capability gap," he told reporters on Tuesday. "I look forward to making the announcement at the appropriate time."
The government's decision to buy Australian fighter jets stands to increase tensions with Boeing, which has repeatedly warned that billions of dollars in business activity in Canada are at stake in the ongoing dispute.
Speaking to The Globe and Mail in September, Boeing International president Marc Allen said the federal government should not forget that Boeing does $4-billion a year of business in Canada, with 560 suppliers and an overall impact of 17,000 jobs.
"If Canada kicks Boeing out, I think that will be deeply unfortunate for us both. It would be a deeply unfortunate outcome," he said. "It has to be a two-way street, there has to be this mutually beneficial relationship for it to be one that grows, one that both sides are happy and excited about."
In addition, industry sources said it remains an open question whether Ottawa will be saving money by buying second-hand Australian jets that are nearly as old as Canada's CF-18s.
The U.S. Department of Defence said in September that the contract for the Super Hornets could be worth up to $6.4-billion.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/new...-australian-military-instead/article37218857/
