Amnesia in acquisition: the parallels of the F-35 procurement and the Sea King replacement projects

The procurement of the F-35 has quickly become one of the most publicly debated acquisitions in Canadian history. While its proponents maintain that it is the only aircraft capable of meeting Canada's requirements, its detractors assert that its rising price tag and obvious scheduling delays due to its developmental nature will mean poor value to Canadian citizens in the end. The fact that the aircraft was selected without competition has compounded this fear. Indeed, they have seen similar situations happen before. As a result of the cancellation of the Navy's Sea King helicopter replacement project in 1993, the Liberal government could not justify purchasing the very same aircraft years later even though it was obvious that it was the best choice for Canada. The cancellation of the previous replacement effort had already cost the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. As a result, they selected another aircraft that was still in development due to partisan politics and that decision has led to what has been the longest and most poorly-run procurement in Canadian history. There are many parallels between the Maritime Helicopter Project and the F-35 acquisition and they all lead to the conclusion that Canadian taxpayers will end up, once again, waiting longer and paying more than expected for a platform with a very uncertain future.