Features Military Procurements
Feds met with rival OEMs over CH-148 replacements

The attempt to chart a new course for the long-delayed Sea King
replacement program took place in Ottawa on Thursday at an unusual
meeting that involved not only government officials and executives of
AgustaWestland and NH Industries, but also Cyclone manufacturer
Sikorsky.

Details of the meeting were provided to The Canadian Press by
multiple sources with knowledge of the meeting, all of whom spoke on
condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the
matter with the media.

The companies were told the military needs a maritime helicopter
capability, and the government has instructed officials to develop a
backup plan, the sources said.

Each company, including Sikorsky, was handed an abbreviated set of
requirements, asked whether their aircraft could meet the criteria and
told to respond within three weeks.

Government officials are calling it a data gathering engagement, a
mini-version of the process they undertook in the politically explosive
F-35 stealth fighter program, which was put on hold last year pending a
detailed market analysis that's still ongoing.

Both procurements have been huge political headaches for the Harper
government, including scathing reports by the auditor general that
dented the money-management credibility of the Conservatives.

The Harper government has made it clear it's looking at options
"other" than the Cyclone, even sending an air force team to Britain last
summer to check out the Royal Navy HM-1 Merlin helicopters built by
AgustaWestland.

NH Industries, which was representing Eurocopter at the meeting, was asked about its NH-90 chopper.

Sikorsky was also asked for information about its other maritime
helicopter, the MH-60 Sea Hawk, which is in service with the U.S. Navy.

No one from the Department of Public Works was immediately available
for comment Friday. No decision has yet been made to scrap the Cyclone
program, the sources insisted.

But critics, including defence expert Michael Byers, are wondering
what the government is waiting for — and why it is has taken so long to
shut down a program that's clearly not working.

"This reflects a systematic lack of oversight on the part of our
elected representatives because this is a procurement that has been in
trouble for a very long time," said Byers, a University of British
Columbia professor who has studied the Cyclone woes.

"The job of the defence minister and the job of the public works
minister is to oversee these things, and when there are problems, to
call the bureaucrats and generals to account. And I've seen no evidence
of this happening up to now."

A spokesman for Sikorsky said the company is focused on meeting its
obligations and remains confident the program is still alive.

"We have a large team of highly skilled, experienced and
knowledgeable people dedicated to completion of the program," said Paul
Jackson in an email late Friday. "We are absolutely committed to
delivering the Cyclone with all of its highly advanced capabilities to
the Canadian Forces."

Sikorsky has been under contract since 2004 to deliver 28 helicopters to replace Canada's 50-year-old Sea King fleet.

Thus far, however, only four "test" Cyclones have arrived at the military air base in Shearwater, N.S.

The government and the company have been engaged in a public
tug-of-war over when a final version of the helicopter would be ready
for service, despite two contract extensions and more money for engine
improvements.

Air force engineers who are evaluating the test Cyclones recently
expressed concern when issuing a temporary flight certificate about the
aircraft's ability to withstand high electromagnetic radiation fields,
like those produced by military-grade radar.

The abbreviated set of requirements given to the aircraft makers on
Thursday does not ask whether they can meet that requirement, nor if
their helicopter has the ability to run on one engine in case of
emergency, said the sources.

The government is, however, insisting on so-called "run dry" ability,
which allows the engine to continue to operate in the event of a loss
of fluid. The Cyclone's civilian counterpart — the S-92 — was involved
in a fatal crash off Newfoundland where the gear box suffered a massive
loss of oil.

If the Conservatives were to cancel the Cyclone in favour of the
Merlin, it would bring a 20-year-old political decision full circle.

In the early 1990s, Brian Mulroney's government ordered 50 EH-101s to
replace the air force's Sea Kings, but the deal was cancelled by Jean
Chrétien's Liberals shortly after they were elected in 1993.

The Merlin is a variant of the EH-101.

It was Paul Martin's Liberal government that signed the Cyclone deal
with Sikorsky for $3.2 billion — a figure that has since ballooned to
$5.7 billion. The aircraft were supposed to be in service by 2008.

So far, Sikorsky has accrued $88.6 million in liquidated damages for its failure to meet the contract.

Last spring, former public works minister Rona Ambrose asked for an
independent analysis of whether Sikorsky could deliver what it promised.
That analysis, completed at the end of August, recommended the
government decide within 90 days whether to dump the Cyclones.