Former military procurement chiefs slam Liberals’ fighter jet plan
OTTAWA — Two former heads of military procurement have slammed the Liberal government’s plan to buy 18 Super Hornet fighter jets as a legally dubious waste of taxpayer dollars.
The Liberals announced this week that the government will launch an open competition next year to replace all 77 of the air force’s CF-18s — a process that’s expected to last up to five years.
In the meantime, they say they will enter negotiations to purchase Boeing Super Hornets without a competition because the air force is facing a critical shortage of warplanes, which poses an “urgent” need.
Such a need is one of the few exceptions in the federal procurement law that lets the government purchase new military equipment as a stop-gap until a full competition can be held.