With regard to the government’s discussions with the Australian government, leading up to the submission of the Expression of Interest of September 29, 2017, regarding the potential purchase of F/A-18 fighter aircraft and associated parts: (a) how many aircraft has the Australian government made available for purchase; (b) how many aircraft has the government expressed an interest in purchasing from Australia; (c) when does the government expect to receive the first used F/A-18 fighter aircraft from Australia; (d) when does the government expect to receive the last F/A-18 fighter aircraft from Australia; (e) what is the anticipated acquisition cost per aircraft; (f) when did each aircraft available for purchase become operational within the Royal Australian Air Force; (g) what is the anticipated life-span of the Australian fleet of F/A-18 fighter aircraft; (h) how many flying hours has each of Australia’s F/A-18 fighter aircraft intended for purchase accumulated; (i) were the economic benefits to Canada discussed; (j) what are the economic benefits to Canada from the potential purchase of F/A-18 fighter aircraft and associated parts from Australia; (k) what type of repairs, upgrades and modernization will Australia’s F/A-18 fighter aircraft require before being operational within the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and, for each repair, upgrade and modernization (i) what is the anticipated timeline, (ii) what is the anticipated cost, (iii) will the manufacturer of Australia’s F/A-18 fighter aircraft be involved in any of them; (l) has any analysis been done to determine if any spare parts from currently active or recently retired aircraft can be used in the repairs, upgrades and modernization of Australia’s F/A-18 fighter aircraft; (m) if the answer in (l) is affirmative, what were the findings of this analysis; (n) will Canadian CF-18 pilots require additional training before flying Australia’s F/A-18 fighter aircraft; (o) if the answer in (n) is affirmative, what is the timeline for the additional training; (p) what analysis was done to determine that Australia’s F/A-18 fighter aircraft could (i) be operational within the RCAF, (ii) satisfy the RCAF’s commitments to domestic security, NATO, NORAD, and other international obligations; and (q) what are the details of communications which have been received from the Australian government from November 1, 2015, to date, related to the purchase of F/A-18 fighter aircraft, including the (i) date, (ii) sender, (iii) recipient, (iv) title, (v) relevant file number?
In the House of Commons on December 4th, 2017. See this statement in context.