Boeing’s P-8 plane had unfair advantage in Canada tender, firms allege

VICTORIA, British Columbia — Boeing had an unfair advantage over other companies in Canada’s competition for new surveillance aircraft, executives at two major firms alleged.

Éric Martel, president of Bombardier, and Joel Houde, vice president of General Dynamics Mission Systems’ international division, wrote in a letter to Canadian Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos that the proposed replacement of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s CP-140 Aurora aircraft was biased in favor of the P-8.

The U.S. State Department on June 27 approved a foreign military sale to Canada for 16 P-8A aircraft and related equipment at an estimated cost of $5.9 billion.

But in the Oct. 23 letter to Duclos, seen by Defense News, both Martel and Houde said their companies, along with 22 other firms, responded in good faith to a 2022 request for information from the Canadian government.

The RFI asked for industry input on a new surveillance plane as part of the Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft project. The aircraft would need to be fully operational by 2040, according to the Canadian government’s request.

Bombardier of Dorval, Quebec, as well as General Dynamics Mission Systems-Canada of Ottawa, Ontario, proposed a Global 6500 special-mission aircraft.

But in their letter to Duclos, the two executives noted government procurement officials on Oct. 17 told lawmakers the request had the “hallmarks of deliberate activity to orchestrate a particular outcome.”

“Worse, their testimony also revealed that requirements were withheld from Canadian industry, thus providing an advantage to an American company and seemingly resulting in a biased outcome,” the letter added, citing testimony before a House of Commons defense panel.

Procurement officials acknowledged to the panel they never sought input from Canadian firms or examined aircraft other than the P-8.

“It is inexplicable how Canadian government officials can conclude there is no Canadian solution [to meet aircraft requirements] when they have not had a single aerospace expert meet with Canadian industry to review the detailed engineering behind Canadian industry alternatives,” Martel and Houde wrote.

Duclos’ office didn’t respond to the specific issues raised in the letter but noted a final decision on a new surveillance aircraft has not yet been made. That decision “will be based on the capability offered, availability, pricing and benefits to Canadian industry,” according to a statement from the minister’s office.

Boeing, which declined to comment, has conducted a public relations campaign to support the proposed P-8 deal, noting it has more than 550 Canadian suppliers across Canada, with 81 directly contributing to the P-8 program.

Political intervention

The Canadian military originally planned to launch a competition in 2024 to replace the Royal Canadian Air Force’s CP-140 Aurora fleet. The deadline to submit bids was set for 2027.

Apart from Boeing’s P-8 and Bombardier’s Global 6500, Japanese firm Kawasaki pitched its P-1 aircraft.

But in a surprise move in March, Canada requested pricing from the U.S. government for a fleet of P-8 Poseidons. Public Services and Procurement Canada, the federal contracting department, announced at the time that the P-8 was the only aircraft able to meet Canada’s needs.

That sparked a lobbying campaign by Bombardier and its industry partners, prompting the premiers of the country’s two largest provinces to call for an open competition that would allow Canadian vendors to bid.

Quebec Premier François Legault and Ontario Premier Doug Ford issued a joint statement July 12 calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to allow Canadian firms to compete to provide the Royal Canadian Air Force with a new maritime patrol aircraft.

“These domestic firms should be able to compete in open, transparent tenders for important Canadian procurements, such as Canada’s Multi-Mission Aircraft replacement,” the premiers noted. They also called on Trudeau and other ministers in the ruling Liberal government “to stand up for the Ontario and Quebec aerospace and defence sectors and allow our firms to compete in an open CMMA tender.”

Ontario has the largest economy in Canada, followed by Quebec. The latter is the largest of Canada’s 10 provinces in area and is second only to Ontario in population.

“It’s an important contract, and we can understand the U.S. government must put a lot of pressure on the Canadian government. But we have a Canadian company, Bombardier, having plants in Ontario and Quebec that can supply what is needed,” Legault told reporters July 10 in Winnipeg, where he was meeting with other premiers.

Industry sources anticipate the Canadian government will to review and approve the purchase of the P-8 in November. However, government officials have not provided details on the final decision or an announcement’s timeline.

David Pugliese is the Canada correspondent for Defense News.

加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省维多利亚市——两家主要公司的管理人员声称，波音公司在加拿大新型侦察机的竞争中拥有相对于其他公司的不公平优势。

庞巴迪公司总裁埃里克·马特尔和通用动力任务系统国际部门副总裁乔尔·胡德在一封致加拿大公共服务和采购部长让-伊夫·杜克洛的信中写道，拟议的加拿大皇家空军CP-140“极光”飞机的替换方案偏向于P-8。

美国国务院于 6 月 27 日批准向加拿大出售 16 架 P-8A 飞机及相关设备，预计总价值 59 亿美元。

但据《防务新闻》报道，在 10 月 23 日写给 Duclos 的信中，Martel 和 Houde 都表示，他们的公司以及其他 22 家公司都真诚地回应了加拿大政府在 2022 年提出的信息请求。

作为加拿大多任务飞机项目的一部分，该信息征询书（RFI）旨在征求业界对新型侦察机的意见。根据加拿大政府的要求，该飞机需要在2040年前全面投入使用。

位于魁北克省多瓦尔的庞巴迪公司以及位于安大略省渥太华的通用动力任务系统加拿大公司提出了一款环球6500特种任务飞机方案。

但在给杜克洛斯的信中，这两位高管指出，政府采购官员在 10 月 17 日告诉立法者，该请求具有“蓄意策划特定结果的特征”。

“更糟糕的是，他们的证词还透露，加拿大工业界被隐瞒了某些要求，从而为一家美国公司提供了优势，并似乎导致了有偏见的结果，”信中补充道，并引用了在下议院辩护小组作证时的证词。

采购官员向小组承认，他们从未向加拿大公司征求意见，也从未考察过 P-8 以外的飞机。

“加拿大政府官员竟然没有安排任何一位航空航天专家与加拿大工业界会面，审查加拿大工业界替代方案背后的详细工程设计，就得出没有加拿大解决方案（来满足飞机要求）的结论，这令人费解，”马特尔和侯德写道。

杜克洛斯办公室没有回应信中提出的具体问题，但指出尚未就新型侦察机做出最终决定。部长办公室在一份声明中表示，该决定“将基于飞机提供的性能、可用​​性、价格以及对加拿大产业的益处”。

波音公司拒绝置评，但该公司开展了一项公关活动来支持拟议的 P-8 交易，并指出其在加拿大拥有 550 多家供应商，其中 81 家直接参与了 P-8 项目。

政治干预

加拿大军方最初计划在2024年启动一项竞标，以替换加拿大皇家空军的CP-140“极光”侦察机队。投标截止日期定于2027年。

除了波音公司的 P-8 和庞巴迪公司的 Global 6500 之外，日本川崎公司还推出了其 P-1 飞机。

但出人意料的是，加拿大在3月份向美国政府索取了P-8“海神”反潜巡逻机的报价。加拿大公共服务和采购部（联邦政府的合同部门）当时宣布，P-8是唯一能够满足加拿大需求的飞机。

这引发了庞巴迪及其行业合作伙伴的游说活动，促使该国两个最大省份的省长呼吁进行公开竞争，允许加拿大供应商参与竞标。

魁北克省省长弗朗索瓦·勒戈和安大略省省长道格·福特于7月12日发表联合声明，呼吁总理贾斯汀·特鲁多允许加拿大公司参与竞标，为加拿大皇家空军提供新型海上巡逻机。

省长们指出：“这些本土企业应该能够参与公开透明的加拿大重要采购项目招标，例如加拿大多用途飞机更换计划。”他们还呼吁特鲁多和执政的自由党政府的其他部长们“支持安大略省和魁北克省的航空航天和国防产业，允许我们的企业参与加拿大多用途飞机更换计划的公开招标。”

安大略省是加拿大经济规模最大的省份，其次是魁北克省。魁北克省是加拿大10个省份中面积最大的省份，人口数量仅次于安大略省。

“这是一份重要的合同，我们理解美国政府必须对加拿大政府施加很大压力。但我们有一家加拿大公司——庞巴迪，它在安大略省和魁北克省都设有工厂，可以供应所需的产品，”勒戈7月10日在温尼伯告诉记者，当时他正在那里与其他省长会面。

业内人士预计加拿大政府将于11月审查并批准购买P-8巡逻机。然而，政府官员尚未透露最终决定的细节或宣布时间表。

David Pugliese 是《国防新闻》的加拿大通讯员。