In the wake of a cross-country tour earlier this month to bolster it’s case for the F-35 Lightning II as the best replacement for Canada’s ageing F-18 fighter aircraft, Lockheed Martin is hosting a webinar on April 30 open to all Canadians.
Although media reports, political debate and academic studies have dominated headlines, especially since the release of a critical report on the acquisition process from the Auditor General in the Spring of 2012, Lockheed Martin is concerned that “while some of the information presented publicly has been accurate and factual, much of it has been inaccurate and incorrect.”
The webinar, which will begin at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, is intended “to set the record straight on several issues and provide Canadians with accurate and factual information on the F-35.” The F-35 has been a dominant media story since the Harper government first announced its intention to procure 65 Lightning IIs in July 2010.
Steve O’Bryan, vice president of F-35 program, Integration and Business Development, will be joined by Billie Flynn, the company’s senior F-35 test pilot and former Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 pilot. They will provide a briefing on the status of the program, including capabilities of the aircraft, challenges faced and overcome, unit cost of the aircraft, delivery schedule, and industrial opportunities and benefits the program has and will bring to Canada (at present, without a purchase agreement in place, the companies says more than 70 Canadian companies from across the country have won contracts totalling more than $450 million).
O’Bryan and Flynn will then open up the webinar to a 30-minute question and answer session.
To register for the webinar, visit: http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=606258&s=1&k=B3BDB1977DF28382A1A9B00FA24A693E