Sea Kings revisited: extended deadline puts military no closer to completing helicopter purchase
And as has been the case from the very beginning, the helicopter replacement process remains mired in controversy over political interference in the procurement plan. Most recently, it has become clear that the key criterion for providing military aircraft is cost: the lowest bidder shall obtain the contract.
On the surface, obtaining the lowest cost for a government project seems a sound idea but when the purchase involves aircraft, one need not be an aeronautics engineer to recognize that lowest cost is not always the best alternative. Indeed, recent documents suggest that making lowest cost the most significant criterion is a ploy principally designed to further limit the chances of Team Cormorant- manufacturer's of the original cancelled helicopter purchase in 1993 - from providing the Canadian military with its superior Cormorant aircraft, a purchase that would no doubt make Chretien's decision to cancel the original contract even more expensively injudicious.
Critics have long accused Prime Minister Chretien of using the helicopter purchase for political ends, from the cancellation and subsequent contention that the contract be divided between two companies (one to build the airframe, the other to build the internal systems) to apparent favoritism shown to France based Eurocopter.
But there remains a much bigger question to consider in this acquisition process: why is the Prime Minister involved at all?
Prime Minister Chretien has no experience in the Canadian Armed Forces, on the ground or in the air. Indeed, he does not so much as hold a pilot's license, let alone have experience flying in combat or search and rescue operations.
What qualifies him, then, to determine which helicopter to buy?
Using our closest neighbor as a comparison, when the United States military requires new aviation equipment, the President does not decide which birds built, by which company, end up flying Old Glory on missions.
The reason is simple: President Bush is not a combat pilot. There are plenty of experienced, knowledgeable, even expert helicopter pilots within the armed forces better qualified to make the decision than the President.
Surely the Canadian Armed Forces has personnel more qualified than Mr. Chretien in the field of combat helicopters.
When new or replacement military equipment is required, military personnel ought to make that need known directly to their superiors. They, in turn, will request a budget to replace the equipment and will make a procurement decision that will generate the best operational use of the money provided. It stands to reason that those who command and operate the aircraft will surely desire to get the best equipment they can with the money available.
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