Finally...

This contract took longer to consummate than two horny porcupines, or so it seemed. I'm sure for the teams working on it, the C-130J purchase moved at a better pace than it did for those of us observing from a distance.

First out of the blocks with a story on this is Murray Brewster at CP:

The air force's long-awaited purchase of the Super-Hercules cargo plane became a reality Wednesday as the Conservative government formally signed a contract with U.S. defence giant Lockheed Martin.

The purchase of 17 C-130J planes is worth $1.4-billion, with delivery of the first aircraft in the winter of 2010.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Public Works Minister Michael Fortier said at a news conference that a maintenance contract is still being negotiated, for completion by 2009.

I wish - oh, how I wish! - that Brewster and his colleagues in the paid press wouldn't write lines like this without context, though:

Critics have complained that the contract should have been opened up to competition, and rival Airbus Military went as far as to plead its case with the House of Commons defence committee.

Those "critics" can't point to another aircraft that would do what the Jerc can do, on the same timetable. As we've said many, many, MANY times around here, we would absolutely love for Airbus to come up with an alternative to the Hercules in the tactical transport arena. Unfortunately, they don't have a flying plane right now, just a project in development that's running horribly late.

Kinda forces our hand, that.

The good folks who flack for LockMart have given me a press release that fleshes things out a bit more:

The Canadian Forces’ new Super Hercules will be the longer fuselage or "stretched" variant of the C-130J, similar to those being delivered to the U.S. Air Force. Deliveries to Canada will begin in 2010. Canada joins the growing number of nations with C-130J fleets – allied operators include the United States, Australia, Demark, Italy Norway and the United Kingdom.

“This contract begins the process for working with Canadian industry to establish a 20-year In-Service Support (ISS) program for the new fleet,” says Grant. Under the terms of the agreement, Lockheed Martin is required to conduct a series of competitions to select the Canadian companies that will make up the ISS capability in Canada. “We look forward to utilizing this acquisition to further strengthen our relationship with Canada. This program represents an outstanding opportunity to grow the capabilities and expertise of the Canadian aerospace industry,” continued Grant.

The new C-130J generates much greater operational efficiency than the older C-130s, such as Canada’s E and H model, by flying further, faster, with more payload and higher reliability. Additionally, the C-130J only requires three crew members for most missions so fewer flight crew members are exposed to potential threats in-theatre. C-130Js are currently deployed in several theatres and are operating at a very high tempo efficiently and reliably. C-130Js are being used daily for troop and equipment re-supply via ground delivery and airdrop, for air-to-air refuelling, ground refuelling and humanitarian relief.

Anyhow, good on the guys and gals who finally got this done. I can't wait to see the new stretched Jercs on the tarmac at Trenton (hint, hint - since I missed the arrival of the C-17 due to a bureaucratic SNAFU).