There are many, many economies, of course, by buying off the shelf. In every case where the Department of National Defence can buy an existing piece of equipment that has been tried and true, used by allied services, they will buy off the shelf. It's a very important feature. The cost of designing and developing a new piece of equipment to meet specific Canadian needs is very, very high and should be avoided wherever possible.
On February 13th, 2007. See this statement in context.