Vanguard Magazine

6 DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 www.vanguardcanada.com s siT REP Canada asked to keep refueling aircraft, spy planes in battle against ISIS Lockheed's JLTV protest dismissed Allies in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) are asking Canada to keep its military aircraft in the battle against the ter- rorist group, according to Foreign Minister Ste- phane Dion. Speaking in an interview during CTV's Ques- tion Period, Dion did not say if the government has decided to keep its CP-140 Aurora recon- naissance plane and its 150 Polaris refueling tanker in Iraq and Syria. However, he reiterated that Prime Minister Justine Trudeau remains committed to his earlier promise to withdraw the country's CF-18 fighter jets from anti-ISIS bombing missions led by the United States. Dion said Canada is consulting with its allies "to identify the best way for Canada to be helpful." Meanwhile Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said Canada feels "no pressure" from a letter from U.S. Defence Secretary Ashton Carter ask- ing for more military contribution from allies. "There's no pressure at all," he said. "We have to look at the entire situation." "This letter is just the regular course of rou- tine," Sajjan told reporters. "We're having dis- cussions with the coalition partners in terms of what the current situation is, what are the resources that are needed to allow us to refine our options." Dion said Canada will be focusing on training Kurdish military troops and local police officers in Iraq and wants to expand involvement in rebuilding institutions like the justice system and public service in Iraq. "We are at the time now where we free a village or a town or a city, the first thing you need to do is professional police that will be perceived by the population as a protection for them, not as a threat," the foreign minister said. "The Italians are involved in it. They are asking us to be part of it. It's something we will consider." The hurdle thrown in the way of a Joint Light Tacti- cal Vehicle (JLTV) that is supposed to replace the popular Humvee was set aside this week when the United States Government Accountability Of- fice dismissed Lockheed Martin's protest of the U.S. Army's decision to award the replacement contract to Oshkosh Defence. In August, 2015 Oshkosh won a $6.75 billion contract to build almost 17,000 mine-protected light trucks to replace the 30-year-old High Mobil- ity Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) or Humvee. Snagging the contract puts Oshkosh at a prime position to bid for 55,000 vehicles worth over $30 billion. Oshkosh's entry the Light Combat Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle (L-ATV) is mine-protect- ed but is touted to have better off-road maneuver- ability and speed than an up-armoured Humvee. Lockheed, which was one of the contenders in the JLTV program, filed a protest with the GAO on September 8. The GAO was scheduled to release its ruling on that protest no later than December 17. However, Lockheed filed another protest in court in December. The GAO said it dismissed Lockheed's protest because the company decided to file a "notice of Post-Award Bid Protest" with the U.S. Court of Fed- eral Claims on December 11. The company will file its official protest on December 11, according to the GAO. "Our office will not decide a protest where the matter involved is subject to litigation before a court of competent jurisdiction," The GAO said in its decision. "Based on Lockheed's submission of its Notice to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims stating its intent to file a protest with the court involving the same subject matter as the protest pending out Office, we are closing our files without further action." In its September 8 protest, Lockheed said "We firmly believe we offered the most capable and af- fordable solution to the program." In an interview with news service Reuters, Jeff Bialos, a former Pentago official and partner with Sutherland Asbill & Brennan law firm, what Lock- heed had done was a "known and used tactic." He said it is usually done when companies think they have a better case with a judge than with the GAO. Lockheed said that at the moment, it will not discuss the GAO decision. Oshkosh said that following the GAO's decision, the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) Life Cycle Management Com- mand had directed the company to resume work on its L-ATV production. CP-140

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