Trucks for Army

Let's hope the competition is honest (though I bet regional industrial off-sets will be a really big deal (full text subscriber online):

The Canadian Forces is starting the process of purchasing more than $1 billion worth of new trucks to replace its fleet of rusting vehicles that date back to the 1980s.

By the end of the month, industry officials will receive a draft of the specifications for the vehicles to be bought in the first phase of the project. A contract to purchase 800 commercial trucks, which would have military components, is expected to be awarded some time in the fall, said Defence Department spokeswoman Tina Crouse.

A second phase to buy 1,500 medium-sized trucks built specifically for military missions would be launched later this year. That contract is expected to be awarded sometime in 2008, Ms. Crouse said. Another portion of the project calls for the purchase of specialized kits for some of the trucks as well as trailers and armour kits for added protection when operating in a war zone...

Chief of Defence Gen. Rick Hillier has called the truck purchase critical since the current fleet of medium-sized military trucks has reached the end of its service life. Those trucks were fielded in the early 1980s with an original expected service life of 15 years. But attempts to replace the trucks have been put on hold over the years because of other funding priorities and a lack of money, according to officers.

In 2003, the Canadian Forces was given tentative approval by then-defence minister John McCallum to move ahead with a deal to purchase 1,500 new Stewart and Stevenson trucks direct from the U.S. army at substantial savings. But that plan was scuttled after bureaucratic in-fighting between various government departments over concerns about industrial benefits for Canadian companies...

Some companies are already lining up to bid on the program. Mercedes-Benz Canada, of Toronto, is putting together a proposal to provide medium-sized trucks. Stanley Ing, manager of Mercedes-Benz Canada's defence programs, said the trucks would be built in Germany, but added that "the fair share of the significant work will be done in Canada."

Stewart and Stevenson, as well as the Oshkosh Truck Corporation, both of the U.S., are also expected to bid on the truck project.

Other plans are under way to buy armoured heavy transport trucks for use in Afghanistan. At least 100 armoured transport trucks would be bought as part of a project expected to cost $100 million.

Military officials say the winner of that contract should soon be announced.

How refreshing to have a story by Mr Pugliese that does not seem to have an agenda.