FEDS GET OK FOR WARSHIP DEAL.

A federal trade tribunal has rescinded its order preventing the federal government from awarding a contract to Lockheed Martin Canada for a new fleet of warships for the navy.

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal ordered the government on Nov. 27 to postpone the awarding of the contract for the $60-billion Canadian Surface Combatant project while it investigated claims that Lockheed Martin’s proposed vessel doesn’t meet the military’s needs.

The firm is offering Canada the Type 26 warship designed by BAE in the United Kingdom.

Alion, one of the companies that submitted a bid on the project, filed a complaint with the trade tribunal alleging the process was flawed and that BAE’S Type 26 can’t meet Canadian requirements. Alion has also filed a legal challenge in federal court, asking for a judicial review of the decision by Irving and the government to select the BAE design. Alion argues the Type 26 cannot meet the stated mandatory requirements that Canada set out for the new warship, so it should be disqualified.

But on Monday the CITT lifted its order, even though it has determined it will examine the Alion complaint. The decision came after Andre Fillion, an assistant deputy minister at Public Services and Procurement Canada, wrote to request the order be removed. He noted that “the procurement of goods and services to which the Alion Complaint pertains is urgent, and that a delay in awarding contracts would be contrary to the public interest.”

Alion’s legal team objected, noting that “no reasons, nor any justifications, are provided to support this claim.”

THE LARGEST SINGLE GOVERNMENT PURCHASE IN CANADIAN HISTORY.

The CSC program, the largest single government purchase in Canadian history, will see the eventual construction of 15 warships at Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax. Lockheed Martin Canada says the Type 26 will meet all of Canada’s requirements. The government hopes to be in a position to have a contract ready for signature by early next year.

The CITT hearings into the Alion complaint could take as long as 90 days.

Alion had offered Canada the Dutch De Zeven Provinciën Air Defence and Command frigate, which the firm says meets all of Canada’s requirements. It also noted in its court application that the requirements and other parameters of the surface combatant project were altered 88 times during the process and that the changes diluted the requirements for a new warship, allowing the government and Irving to pick “an unproven design platform.”