Big-ticket items such as the planned F-35 purchase tend to get the headlines, but smaller examples of wasteful military spending are also important.
Tag Archives: Military procurement
Where are the helicopters?
More details have emerged about the controversial Maritime Helicopter Program, which looks more and more like a money pit.
Pentagon's F-35 director says production should be slowed
The U.S. Department of Defense’s top officer on the F-35, Adm. David Zenlet, has recommended that deliveries of the aircraft be delayed because of the discovery of cracks and “hot spots” during fatigue testing and analysis (Gloria Galloway, “Tories face fresh hurdle with U.S. call to slow F-35 jet production,” Globe and Mail, 2 December […]
Aviation Week: Are there alternatives to F-35?
Further to this post, doubts about the future of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter have now grown to the point where even aviation industry insiders like Aviation Week are asking whether there are alternatives to the troubled aircraft (David A. Fulghum & Bill Sweetman, Are There Alternatives To The F-35 Program? Aviation Week, 29 November […]
Fantino to fix military procurement?
Jane Taber reports on the role of new Associate Minister of National Defence Julian Fantino, who is expected to focus on military procurement issues (Jane Taber, “Peter MacKay gets a wingman on military procurement,” Globe and Mail, 19 May 2011): Dimitri Soudas, the Prime Minister’s director of communications, explained that Mr. Fantino – the former […]
Auditor-General: F-35 purchase poses "risks"
Auditor-General Sheila Fraser’s latest report describes the acquisition of Cyclone and Chinook helicopters as “troubling”, and details how government agencies presented the purchases as simple and low risk while continuously lowballing estimated costs in order have them approved. This resulted in seven- and five-year-long delays, respectively, and huge price increases — of approximately 80% in […]