The Torch: More on Cyclone woes

Stiff upper lip--but note the bolded bit:

The region’s new top military commander is downplaying delays to the Sea King helicopter replacement program.

Sikorsky Inc. was slated to start delivering 28 CH-148 Cyclones this coming January. But the military is now facing a delay of up to 30 months and as much as $500 million in cost overruns linked to the need for more powerful engines.

"As I understand it, the Cyclone project is delayed, however, we’re still on track here for having the first air frame here in Halifax some time in 2009," Rear Admiral Paul Maddison said Friday after assuming command of the region’s military forces [Joint Task Force (Atlantic) and Maritime Forces Atlantic].

The delivery date for the first Cyclone could slip to 2010, he said, and the navy will continue flying the Sea Kings, over 40 years old, for now.

"I do not have any concerns about the Sea King fleet," Rear Admiral Maddison said.

"I never have."

Earlier this week, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said he’s not prepared at this point to nix the $5-billion deal with Sikorsky. Most of the Cyclones will be based at 12 Wing Shearwater in Eastern Passage.

In an e-mail to The Chronicle Herald on Friday night, a spokesman for Mr. MacKay said that "the admiral is technically correct, the delivery of the first aircraft is slated for January 2009. However, Sikorsky is signalling that there could be a delay with the delivery of the aircraft [emphasis added]."..

And does anyone see a realistic alternative to what this editorial in the Halifax Chronicle Herald proposes?

BELIEVE IT or not, it seems the military’s ancient Sea Kings will now have to keep flying even longer.

Unwelcome as that news is to the Canadian Forces, there’s no other conclusion to draw from Ottawa’s public warnings this week to helicopter-maker Sikorsky – which won a 2004 $5-billion contract to replace the aging Sea Kings with 28 new Cyclones – that the federal government expects the firm to meet its contract or "alternate solutions" will be found.

Sikorsky was to deliver the first new choppers by the end of this November. That deadline was later moved to January 2009. But even that timetable is now in the shredder. Though the company has not confirmed how long the delay will be, observers say Sikorsky may be looking for as much as a 30-month extension.

The reasons for the delay are the source of much speculation. Government officials say the Cyclone’s specifications may need to be upgraded to be able to handle the tasks it’s intended to perform. A more powerful engine and fifth rotor blade have been mentioned. Others speculate technological advances since 2004 may have led to changes in the contract’s specifications.

The rub is that when Sikorsky won the contract, both the company and the governing Liberals rejected criticism there was no way the choppers would be ready in 48 months. Officials from one of the losing competitors predicted the new birds wouldn’t be delivered for six years, which now seems a more accurate prediction.

The contract sets penalties of $100,000 a day for late delivery, to a maximum of $36 million. But, from Ottawa’s point of view, the bigger problem is likely that Sikorsky is now seeking extra funds to deliver the helicopters, period – anywhere from a quarter to a half billion dollars more. But Public Works Minister Michael Fortier said Wednesday that Ottawa expects Sikorsky to find a way to meet its contract as signed.

Since the aircraft maker and the federal government have been quietly discussing the situation for months, Ottawa’s public ultimatum to Sikorsky is certainly not a sign those talks have gone all that well.

Despite the turmoil, however, it would seem Ottawa – and the military – would be best served by working it out with Sikorsky. Going to another manufacturer at this stage would likely mean lengthier delays in getting Sea King replacements airborne. And if a new tender had to be called, that delay would become even more untenable.

The ultimate fault for this mess lies with former prime minister Jean Chretien and his political, boneheaded decision in 1993 to cancel a $5.8-billion deal signed by the previous Tory government to replace the Sea Kings with EH101s. The Liberals then wasted a decade before ordering new choppers, while the aging Sea Kings – a number of which crashed, with loss of life – required more and more maintenance to fly.

There are questions about the Sikorsky deal, signed by the Liberals under Paul Martin, that deserve answers. But the priority now is getting the military a new helicopter – one that can do the job.