By Moderator, 20 December 2023
In what could be seen as a lovey Christmas present to the federal government,
Bombardier has announced that it will not contest the decision to replace the
Canada’s patrol planes with Boeing's P-8A Poseidon aircraft. Despite being
‘deeply disappointed’ by the government decision, it won’t sue the government.
The government announced in November that it would buy Boeing’s P-8A
surveillance planes from the United States in a sole-source deal to phase out
Canada's CP-140 Auroras. In the announcement, the Minister of Defence said
the P-8A meets all the needs of the Air Force and presents the only choice
available – key word being available – as Bombardier's proposed aircraft would
not be ready until at least the early 2030s.
4 thoughts on “Not heading to court!”
Only two reasons why they’re not going to court. Either they knew they didn’t have a viable product to offer the GOC or the government promised them something in lieu of the contract, probably reminded them of their previous bailout.
It always sounded like an empty threat to me. Suing the GoC meant suing the taxpayer. Wonderful way to drum up future business.
Their, as yet not produced, Global 6500 so called MPA was just not “up-to-snuff” compared to the in production Boeing P-8A Poseidon. LRMPA and Bombardier knew that from the beginning! Nice try Bombardier, but no ‘kewpie-doll’!!
I am not especially surprised Bombardier is walking away from a potential court battle, they really didn’t have legs to stand on in the first place here. They are unhappy because the Canadian government brought forward its plans the replace the CP-140 Aurora from the mid to late 2030’s down to effectively the next few years, this meant they were caught without an opportunity to compete. Their various Global Express proposals are rife with risk and would likely be very costly to the Canadian government in time, resources and funding to develop. Any Bombardier proposal does not exist outside of computer renderings in comparison to Boeing’s P-8 Poseidon, effectively the best and only realistic option on the international market. With the requirements for an existing and proven design, Bombardier was ruled out with the stroke of a pen.
Perhaps the government will eventually throw them a contract or two to keep them happy, perhaps to replace something like the RCAF/Transport Canada Dash-8 fleet but otherwise, Bombardier’s prospects in this field are limited. Saab’s very similar Swordfish MPA concept was floated around for a few years but was eventually shelved due to a complete lack of interested customers. If Saab cannot sell this platform, Bombardier doesn’t have a chance at all. Bombardier’s claims regarding their proposal’s capability were also fairly laughable compared to Boeing’s P-8 but that was to be expected I suppose.