In this episode of Vanguard Radio, Canada sends a CC130J to Texas to aid in Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, another delay for the Canadian Surface Combatant project, and Canadian-based aerospace companies are calling on the Prime Minister to stop blocking the purchase of the Super Hornet fighter jets.
Show Notes:
A Royal Canadian Air Force CC130J Hercules left Canada recently for the Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, carrying humanitarian supplies including baby formula, blankets, cribs, and similar items to aid in Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.
The Government of Canada offered to assist with relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and the offer was accepted by the US.
Hurricane Harvey has caused a mandatory evacuation of approximately 750,000 people with an additional 1.1 million people who are under a voluntary evacuation order along the Gulf Coast.
Hurricane Harvey was the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Wilma in 2005, ending a record 12-year drought in which no major hurricanes made landfall in the country. Harvey caused at least 71 confirmed deaths; 1 in Guyana, and 70 in the United States. Harvey is considered the worst disaster in Texas history, and the recovery will take many years. Economic losses are preliminarily estimated at between $70 to $200 billion, with a large portion of the losses sustained by uninsured homeowners.
CSC delays again
The Canadian Surface Combatant program is heading into another delay, the deadline for the RFP for this program is now expected to be in November, moving from August. That means the decision on which off-the-shelf design to go with for the CSC project is being delayed until next year late winter or early spring.
Lisa Campbell, assistant deputy minister of defence and marine procurement, said the delay will not affect the overall timeline for the program.
“It’s not going to affect ship construction, which is still planned to start in the early 2020s,” Campbell told CBC News in an interview.
According to reports, the procurement plan was more complex than initially advertised and needed to be rewritten. Some of the 12 prequalified bidders complained about tight timelines.
For the August/September issue, go here.
Super Hornet
Ten Canadian-based aerospace companies are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to stop blocking the purchase of 18 Super Hornet fighter jets. These companies are arguing they stand to suffer from the government’s unwavering support of Bombardier Inc. in a trade dispute with Boeing Co.
A letter sent recently by senior executives from firms such as L-3 MAS, CAE and GE Canada, reads, “Prime Minister, we ask for your co-operation as we work with Boeing to keep our collective growth and innovation story unfolding here in Canada. Our partnership is deep and enduring, but it needs your engagement.”
The letter, which calls on the government to advance “aerospace for all of Canada,” is the most recent development in an increasingly bitter dispute between the Canadian government and Boeing.