The government's proud to have awarded the competitive best-value contract that's going to provide a new fleet of modern and effective sensor-equipped aircraft that meets the Royal Canadian Air Force's needs. The contract is valued at $2.4 billion. It will deliver 16 C-295 fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft, a support system, and five years of maintenance and support across four main operating bases in Canada: Comox, B.C.; Winnipeg; Trenton; and Greenwood, Nova Scotia.
If Canada chooses to exercise all of the maintenance and support options, the contract value would increase to $4.7 billion. This contract maximizes the participation of Canadian industry, and Canadian companies are going to perform a significant portion of the in-service support work.
I'm proud of the way this procurement was done as well. We are facing some legal challenges, so I won't speak to those. Those matters are before the courts.