Future fighter capability project: Committee of the Whole—July 8, 2020
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Context
As part of the Government of Canada’s reaffirmed commitment to invest in Canada’s military, as announced in the 2017 Canada’s defence policy: Strong, Secure, Engaged, the government launched an open and transparent competition in December 2017 to permanently replace Canada’s fighter fleet with 88 advanced jets—the future fighter capability project (FFCP).
Notes
- All questions related to capability gap, security and interoperability requirements, costs, and Canada’s participation in the Joint Strike Fighter Program should be answered by the minister of National Defence
- All questions related to the Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy and the assessment of bidders’ impact on Canada’s economic interests should be answered by the minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED)
- All questions related to trade issues should be answered by the minister of Foreign Affairs
Suggested response
- The government is committed to ensuring that members of the Canadian Armed Forces have the equipment they need to do their jobs and protect Canadians, while maximizing economic benefits for the country
- The government delivered on its promise to launch an open and transparent competition to replace Canada's fighter fleet with 88 advanced jets, and we are making great progress
- The proposals are due on July 31, 2020 (following a one-month extension from the original June 30 deadline) and officials are actively planning for the upcoming evaluation during the pandemic in order to minimize any impact on the project schedule
- This extension supports the government’s commitment to conduct an open, fair, and transparent competition, maximizing the likelihood that Canada will receive competitive proposals that meet Canadian requirements
- We continue to anticipate awarding a contract in 2022, with delivery of the first replacement aircraft as early as 2025
If pressed on which supplier requested an extension and on how many proposals will be received:
- we do not disclose information about which suppliers make requests during active procurements
- Canada anticipates receiving proposals from all 3 eligible suppliers by July 31, 2020
Background
In June 2017, Canada’s defence policy confirmed a fleet size of 88 advanced fighter aircrafts to replace the current CF-18s. The government launched a procurement process for the future fighter aircraft in December 2017. Officials conducted extensive industry engagement with suppliers to maximize the likelihood that Canada receives competitive proposals, and with Canadian industry to ensure that they are well positioned to participate in the procurement.
In November 2018, France-Dassault Aviation officially withdrew from the competitive process.
In July 2019, the request for proposal was shared with the eligible suppliers.
In August 2019, UK-Airbus also withdrew from the competition.
On October 4, 2019, Canada received preliminary security offers from the remaining 3 eligible suppliers, outlining how the suppliers intend to meet Canada’s security and interoperability requirements. Canada has completed the first security acceptability assessment on the offers and provided significant feedback to suppliers on January 31, 2020. The feedback will help suppliers to understand the scope of information that is required in their proposals in order to submit an acceptable security offer to Canada.
Next steps
A dialogue phase may be conducted with 2 or more compliant bidders in 2021 so they can address, in revised proposals, any issues and risks that are identified during the evaluation phase. Canada will finalize the contract terms with the preferred bidder prior to contract award which is anticipated in 2022.
Officials are actively planning for proposal evaluation during the pandemic to minimize any impact to the project schedule.
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