Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/111458
S sit rep Lockheed Martin says F-35 costs dramatically decreasing As the National Fighter Procurement Secretariat continues to review the options for Canada's CF-18 replacement, Lockheed Martin executives were in Ottawa in early February to reinforce the case for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Among their key arguments was cost. Steve O'Bryan, the vice-president of F-35 Program Integration and Business Development, said the company has driven down the learning curve on the three-variant aircraft and made "progress on reducing the cost of the airplane." He said the costs have decreased dramatically from the first year of production to the fifth, and noted that a fixed-price contract signed last November was 13 percent below the U.S. government estimate of $67 million for a combat mission aircraft with its Pratt & Whitney engine, based on a buy year of 2017 and delivery in 2020. "When I hear things like the F-35 cost is increasing, nothing could be further from the truth." O'Bryan wouldn't speak to the Canadian estimated price per plane, but said the company had recently responded to the Secretariat's draft questionnaire. "What we have seen so far is a very transparent, very open process. The draft questionnaire was very in-depth on capabilities of the airframe, on the value of those capabilities, and we were impressed with the detail and thoughtfulness of it." Ed O'Donnell, Jr., Pratt & Whitney's vice-president of International Business Development for its military engines, said the company had embarked on an initiative to drive down costs, strengthening its relationships with its supply base, especially its critical suppliers, through long-term agreements. It also reorganized its internal processes for both its military and commercial engines. O'Bryan also emphasized that the F-35 had conducted 80 more flight tests then originally planned in 2012 and that the company had delivered 30 airplanes in the calendar year. 6 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2013 www.vanguardcanada.com RCAF needs fifth C-17 to meet tasking demands The Air Force Association of Canada released a paper in January urging the government to acquire at least one additional CC-177 Globemaster III aircraft. The association argues that the Royal Canadian Air Force has been heavily using its four Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft for a wide range of domestic and international operations since it acquired the planes five years ago. With a tasking level of approximately 80%, "meaning that roughly three out of its four CC-117 aircraft are expected to be available for operations at any one time," RCAF will be challenged to meet and abide by the rules of the Global Support Program, which requires the fleet to be "maintained and upgraded to a common standard, requiring that they undergo a 'heavy maintenance' program approximately once every five years." The association notes that all four aircraft will undergo the program during the next two years. And because the maintenance and upgrade process takes about five months, "this means ... that the tasking rate the RCAF has maintained in the past will not be attainable over the next two years – and this same situation will present itself every four to five years thereafter. In other words, Canada will face periods where the availability of strategic air mobility will be severely curtailed and the CF's ability to respond to a crisis potentially jeopardized." Both the United Kingdom and Australia have recently expanded their fleets of C-17 aircraft. Pioneer Acting Sub-Lieutenant Nicole Shingoose became the first cadet from the Aboriginal Leadership Opportunity Year program to receive a commission from the Royal Military College of Canada. She accepted her official Commissioning Scroll from Canadian Army Commander LGen Peter Devlin (right) and Army Sergeant Major CWO Michael Hornbrook. Shingoose is from the Plains Cree Moosomin Reserve in Saskatchewan. The ALOY program was created in 2008 to provide a military education and learning experience for members of aboriginal communities. Photo: MCpl Steve Bogue