Federal Conservatives are calling on both the auditor general and the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) to investigate whether proper procurement rules were followed in the Liberal government’s plan to acquire up to six Saab GlobalEye surveillance aircraft.
In a statement late Friday, Conservative defence critic James Bezan said Canadians need reassurances that the Defence Investment Agency (DIA) did its homework before embarking on the process.
“Canadians deserve to know if politicians, Liberal staffers and bureaucrats were putting political decisions ahead of national security, defence and operational readiness,” Bezan said. “The auditor general and PBO must determine whether due consideration was given and protocols were observed.”
The demand follows revelations that the GlobalEye, chosen as the air force’s preferred aircraft, meets only a handful of the military’s requirements and will need significant modifications. Sources told CBC News earlier this month that none of the three planes under consideration met the air force’s requirements, and that competitors had not been shown those requirements before Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the preferred aircraft at CANSEC, Canada’s largest arms expo, at the end of May.
The DIA, in a statement responding to the initial CBC News report, said it knew none of the three planes met the requirements and that the GlobalEye was the best choice.
Sources have told CBC News the military is concerned the plane, under its current design, lacks 360-degree radar coverage, and there are also concerns about the range and frequency of its radar. Saab has proposed modifications, including adding radar sets in the nose and tail. Additional concerns include the number of crew stations and connectivity equipment to plug the plane into the NORAD network, which would limit its “control” function during operations. The military is also seeking a radar plane that can be refuelled in flight to cover the Arctic, a feature not currently on the GlobalEye.
Sofiya Sapeha, spokesperson for the Secretary of State for Defence Procurement, said the GlobalEye meets the “government’s requirements” and that the government has been negotiating a term sheet — a non-binding preliminary document — over the past few months.
“There have been conversations about which additional capabilities beyond the Saab baseline could be added to the aircraft, the level of technical and financial risk, operational utility and whether to proceed now, later or not at all,” Sapeha said. “These are normal discussions, and do not indicate Saab’s aircraft had shortcomings or failed to meet the government’s requirements.”
Saab has said it is prepared to meet customer demands and is aware of the Canadian military’s expectations, and has been actively working through the engineering issues.
The request to examine the plan falls within the auditor general’s remit to investigate whether protocols were followed, while the PBO is better positioned to examine cost, financial assumptions and fiscal risks once an agreement with Saab is reached.
Sources: Ottawa Citizen · CBC Politics