Tories now seeking chopper backup plan
Officials ask aircraft makers to pick up the pieces if Cyclone program axed
OTTAWA— Senior national defence and public works officials have informally asked rival aircraft makers if they can step in to pick up the pieces if the troubled CH-148 Cyclone helicopter program is cancelled, The Canadian Press has learned. The attempt to chart a new course for the long-delayed Sea King replacement program took place in Ottawa on Thursday at an unusual meeting that involved not only government officials and executives of AgustaWestland and NH Industries, but also Cyclone manufacturer Sikorsky. The companies were told the military needs a maritime helicopter capability, and the government has instructed officials to develop a backup plan, said multiple sources with knowledge of the meeting. Each company, including Sikorsky, was handed an abbreviated set of requirements, asked whether their aircraft could meet the criteria and told to respond within three weeks.
Sikorsky has been under contract since 2004 to deliver 28 helicopters to replace Canada’s 50-year-old Sea Kings fleet.
Thus far, however, only four “test” Cyclones have arrived at the military airbase in Shearwater, N.S.
The Harper government has made it clear it’s looking at options “other” than the Cyclone, even sending an air force team to Britain in the summer to check out the Royal Navy HM-1 Merlin helicopters built by AgustaWestland.
NH Industries, which was representing Eurocopter at the meeting, was asked about its NH-90 chopper.
Sikorsky was also asked for information about its other maritime helicopter, the MH-60 Sea Hawk, which is in service with the U.S. navy.
No one from the Department of Public Works was immediately available for comment Friday. No decision has been made to scrap the Cyclone program, the sources insisted.
But critics, including defence expert Michael Byers, are wondering what the government is waiting for — and why it is has taken so long to shut down a program that’s clearly not working.