It's a delicate issue. We're not military experts when it comes to the needs of the Canadian Forces and it's difficult for us to determine whether these specifications are excessive or not. However, we can provide general statements or general observations when it comes to defence procurement.
There's clearly no single point of accountability that may explain the delays. For example, there are at least two ministers in two departments involved in major procurement processes. Major procurements are ultimately resting upon political decisions. There are also contracting approaches that favour industry partners and tend to cede control from the federal government.
When it comes to the specification aspect, there are obviously unique specifications required due to Canadian-specific characteristics, land-mass size and climate. However, there could probably be improvements, when it comes to specifications that would benefit from being clearly delineated from the get-go, as opposed to changing the specifications once the procurement process is launched.