Government Operations committee  There is an annual schedule for a selected acquisition report. Our current numbers are based on what's called SAR 09. The SAR 10 figures came out recently, but they will be revised later this year based on what I referred to as the detailed technical baseline review that my count

Government Operations committee  Thank you, sir, for the question. We have contributed about $200 million to the program through the memorandums of understanding with our eight partners. Just to be clear, it is a United States government program; we're not buying from Lockheed Martin. The only way to purchase t

Government Operations committee  On the National Defence website there's a detailed cost breakdown chart. It is largely extrapolated from the unit price that's available at the time Canada or a partner purchases its aircraft. There are obviously estimates of how much a current price will decrease as it gets to t

Government Operations committee  Thanks, sir. No, there is no intention. The airframes are not common in configuration to the SAR aircraft that we use. Extensive modification would be required. We made it clear in our purchase that there was no intention of bringing them into service. The nine airframes will

Government Operations committee  There was no analysis done of that. There's been no stated intention to do that. The current plan is to continue using Griffons, which have been configured for SAR out of Trenton.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, earlier this spring we negotiated a purchase from the U.S. Navy of the entire remaining material from the VH-71 program, which included several hundred thousand spare parts, the majority of which are common to our version of the EH-101 Cormorant. There were nine aircra

Government Operations committee  With the latest version of the selected acquisition report from the Pentagon, it is estimated to be between $75 million and $80 million. That estimate is being very rigorously revised by the Pentagon, based on the technical baseline review they did through the second half of 2010

Public Accounts committee  We carry contingency in our project overall approval levels to accommodate any risk of currency fluctuation. So if you see an overall figure of $2 billion, that includes the acquisition price, contingency currency fluctuation risk, project management costs, and everything.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, sir. We begin estimates of the cost of ownership immediately--in this case with the air staff--in the options analysis right at the beginning. We work with our allies. We work with our experience in having operated helicopters. In this case we had operated the Chinook

Public Accounts committee  It doesn't take 12 years to purchase a helicopter based on a best-value, performance-based process. I think it does when you take three of four years just to write the specifications—very detailed specifications—in a lowest-price-compliant process. Right off the bat, lowest-pric

Public Accounts committee  Perhaps I'll let General Deschamps talk to the operational requirement that the Chinook performs. To answer your questions more specifically about whether we considered other options in the fall of 2005 and the spring of 2006, the answer is yes. We very, very diligently looked a

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Fonberg. When we at the Department of National Defence began working on the Chinook program, as is normal in the process we went out to industry with a price and availability. When that price and availability information comes in, it is normally

Public Accounts committee  Perhaps, Mr. Chairman, I can start. I think, sir, you're referring to what we call our project approval guide, the PAG. The PAG is a guide; it is not a mathematical, scripted, “you must do every step”.... We periodically amend that guide, and I'll let Admiral Donaldson comment

Public Accounts committee  Yes, Mr. Chairman. The Cyclone program was a lowest-price compliant program with serious interest by three companies globally, based on a very detailed and specific specification, and that contract, as you know, was signed in December 2004. The Chinook was at the time, accordi

Public Accounts committee  Yes, sir, I can take that one as well. Over the past four or five years, the government has made a number of significant changes in defence procurement. The most basic one has been going to performance-based procurement, therefore best value--best value of both the acquisition c