The member likes to talk about the age of the Sea Kings. As I indicated earlier, the B-52 bomber is an example of an aircraft that is still in service in the United States and it is over 40 years of age. It is not a matter of age. It is a matter of how good the aircraft is, how good the frame is and how well it is maintained and upgraded. It is good to note the United States in terms of the Sea Kings or the B-52 because the United States has more money in its military than dozens of other countries combined. The Americans have every capability and opportunity to buy the newest equipment, yet they recognize that a machine that is working well, that is still functioning and can be well maintained is worth keeping in their inventory and they do exactly that.
The hon. member is absolutely right. There are in fact numerous Sea Kings that are still in operation.
We recognize that they are getting to the end of their useful life. It is not so much the question of age. Age is somewhat of a factor but it is mainly the question of their capability. It is time to upgrade that capability. We have modern state of the art frigates. We need to have modern state of the art helicopters on the back because the maritime helicopter on the back of the frigate actually extends the capability of patrol of the frigate some 12 times. For about one-tenth of the cost of the frigate, we get a helicopter that extends its surveillance area some 12 times and that makes a lot of sense. However we have to have the up to date equipment so we are into the procurement process.