F- 35 Jet Update

F-35 not the only plane that meets stealth requirements: Lawson

By Colin Horgan | Nov 29, 2012 6:50 pm | 0 Comments

The F-35 might not be the only plane that could meet Canada’s requirement for stealth as currently set out, according to Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Tom Lawson.

Lawson told the national defence committee Thursday evening that the F-35 is not the only plane that meets the level of stealth set out in the statement of operational requirements (SOR). The terms of the SOR do not mean the F-35 is the only fighter aircraft Canada can to buy.

“Is there only one airplane that can meet the standard of stealth that’s set out in the statement of requirements?” Liberal MP John McKay asked.

“No,” Lawson said.

And, he said, later, the stealth provision in the SOR is not hard and fast.

“The necessary element of stealth is not written in. The requirement for some level of stealth is what’s written into the statement of requirements,” Lawson told reporters afterward.

Lawson’s statement seems to contradict what Defence Minister Peter MacKay said shortly after the government announced it would buy 65 jets in July 2010.

“As a fifth-generation aircraft, it is the only plane that can fill the requirement laid out in Canada First Defence Strategy,” MacKay told the national defence committee in September 2010. He also added that, “it is the most affordable option.”

“This is the right plane. This is the right number. This is the right aircraft for our Canadian Forces and for Canada,” MacKay said. “In fact, it’s the best plane for the best air force.”

Despite the suggestion that the F-35 is not necessarily the only option for Canada, Lawson would not speculate on whether that means there is another plane available to Canada that meets the terms of the SOR.

“That is a question we will leave to the process that’s going on right now. We’re providing our input to whatever that secretariat comes up with,” Lawson said.

That process is the analysis being undertaken by the National Fighter Procurement Secretariat at Public Works, which is overseeing the procurement of Canada’s replacement for the CF-18 fighter. That secretariat was established as a response to the spring auditor general’s report on the F-35 procurement which found that both Public Works and the Department of National Defence did not practice due diligence in all aspects of the process.

In the House of Commons, Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose has said lately that the SOR would be “set aside” while the secretariat undertakes an options analysis, but has not expanded on what that means.

On Thursday, Lawson provided some insight.

“I think what it means is there is going to be a complete survey of everything that could possibly compete to replace the CF-18,” he said. After that, he said, the secretariat will bring the SOR back in and match it against what it has established in its analysis phase.

Further, Lawson told reporters, National Defence has not yet been asked to re-write the SOR.

“So far, we’ve not been asked to do that, but I don’t know where the secretariat will go in terms of the statement of requirements,” he said.

The New Democrats were heartened by Lawson’s testimony.

“He’s saying all options are on the table for him. I think that that does mean that the SOR has to be set to one side, they have to look at all other options,” said NDP MP Jack Harris. “If they really are going to consider all options, they do have to go back to the drawing board.
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