Losing bidder takes feds to court
The group of companies that lost the competition for Canada’s new search-and-rescue aircraft is going to court to try to overturn the contract.
Procurement Minister Judy Foote and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced on Dec. 8 that the government had selected the Airbus C295W aircraft as its new fixed-wing search-and-rescue (FWSAR) aircraft. The RCAF will receive 16 C295Ws.
But the losing bidder in the competition, a group called Team Spartan, wants the contract with Airbus, already signed, to be overturned.
An application for judicial review has been filed in the Federal Court, Team Spartan said in a release on Thursday.
“Team Spartan’s main allegation is that the selected airplane is unfit to safely perform certain key Search and Rescue tasks and missions required by Canada and should have been, therefore, disqualified,” it said in the release.
Team Spartan, led by the Italian aerospace firm Leonardo, was offering Canada its C-27J aircraft. The group wants the court to issue “an order requesting that Canada cancel the contract with Airbus and award same to Leonardo.”
There are at least 165 C-295s flying with 20 countries or operators around the world.
Airbus Defence and Space is teamed with St. John’s-based Provincial Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney Canada, based in Longueuil, Que., CAE of Montreal, and Burlington, Ont.’s L-3 WESCAM to provide the search and rescue aircraft to Canada.
The new planes will replace the RCAF’s 40-year-old Buffalo aircraft and older-model C-130s currently assigned to search-and-rescue duties.
The federal government has not yet responded to Team Spartan’s claims.
The contract to Airbus was valued at $2.4 billion, which includes delivery of the aircraft, set-up of support systems including a training centre, initial spare parts, tools, support and test equipment.
It also includes the first five years of maintenance and support of the aircraft.
The contract could eventually be worth $4.7 billion to Airbus by 2043 if the Canadian government picks up all options for maintenance and support.