Cyclones: It's all Jean's fault/New maritime patrol aircraft

This really is partisanship at its stupid worst:

Today's Canadian Forces are feeling the effects of former prime minister Jean Chrétien's "flippant and callous" 1993 decision to cancel the $4.8-billion contract to replace the military's aging fleet of Sea King helicopters, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said yesterday.

In an interview with the Citizen, Mr. MacKay blamed delays in delivering the first in a new fleet of Sikorsky Cyclone ship-borne helicopters squarely at the feet of previous Liberal governments.

One of Mr. Chrétien's first acts as prime minister in 1993 was to cancel the previous Conservative government's EH-101 contract to replace the Sea Kings, after deriding the Cormorant chopper as a "Cadillac" and a waste of taxpayers' money during the federal election campaign that brought him to power [actually it was the EH101 CH-148 Petrel naval helicopter that was cancelled along with the EH101 CH-149 Chimo, a simpler search and rescue version; the Cormorant is the new name for the SAR version that the Liberals finally did buy--note the delicate wording at the link].

The Sea King replacement was a political albatross for Mr. Chrétien during his 10 years in power. It wasn't until his successor, Paul Martin, announced the $5-billion Sikorsky contract in 2004 that it looked like the air force would finally get new maritime helicopters to replace the 1960s-era fleet that has become prone to breakdowns and a periodic embarrassment to the military.

The first new Sikorsky aircraft was due in November [January, actually--see Upperdate], but that deadline has come and gone, sparking reports that the delivery is now three years behind schedule.

Mr. MacKay said the delay has been more like nine to 11 months [emphasis added], but that, he said, is still not acceptable.

"It's a tremendous, tremendous disappointment to see once again this vital piece of equipment may be delayed. And it can all go back to a single, solitary decision and a flippant and callous stroke of the pen," Mr. MacKay said by telephone from Victoria, referring to Mr. Chrétien's cancellation of the Cormorant contract shortly after he was sworn in as prime minister...

The government is assessing whether it is prudent to start seeking financial penalties from Sikorsky for late delivery, MacKay said. His priority is to push Sikorsky to get "back on schedule," and perhaps add choppers to the one-a-month delivery schedule specified by the contract.

"We're going to continue working with Sikorsky. We're going to try to pin them down a little bit further on what the timelines are. There are penalties and clauses that will kick in."..

I agree that M. Chrétien's cancellation of the EH101 contract was utter political callousness; but that has zero to do with the current Cyclone delay. Zero. The government had better come clean very soon indeed about what exactly the problem(s?) is and how long the delays will be.

Note this fascinating tidbit:

MacKay disclosed the Defence Department is in the initial stages of looking at "about a half a dozen possible replacement" options [emphasis added] for eight of 18 old Aurora coastal patrol planes.

The air force is going ahead with structural upgrades of remaining Auroras...

Interesting that the Chief of the Air Staff has said that only two possible replacements had been examined previously. Suggestions for the "half a dozen" candidates now? Maybe UAVs are among them. More here.

Update: More on the Cyclone fly-by-wire issue as the possible reason for the delay.