What's Canada Buying? November 26, 2012

• F-35 Tug o’ War (1)  “National Defence received a slap on the wrist (last week) for its handling of the F-35 stealth fighter program after a parliamentary committee studying the $25-billion project called for more transparency and accountability going forward.  But the committee stopped short of laying any blame for what Auditor General Michael Ferguson found was a determined effort by defence officials to twist rules, downplay problems and withhold information to ensure Canada purchased the plane.  Opposition parties are now accusing the Conservative government of trying to sweep years of misinformation and questionable decision-making under the rug even as it continues moving ahead on plans to buy the F-35 ….”
• F-35 Tug o’ War (2) F-35 occasionally needs reboot on the ground?  “Initial feedback from US Air Force pilots and maintainers operating the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter at Eglin AFB, Florida, suggests the aircraft is performing better than its predecessors did at a similar stage of development. The F-35 is in its infancy, but the stealthy type is already proving to be relatively stable from a maintenance standpoint, says Col Andrew Toth, commander of the 33rd Fighter Wing.  “The system right now is behaving as advertised, [although] occasionally, we will have some issues with it on the ground,” he says. However, this is usually easily fixed by shutting the aircraft down and then restarting it….”
• Wanted:  “a firm quantity of 1,125 units of Coveralls, Flyers, Combat, Flame Resistant blue and 100 units of special sizes” - some of the specs here
  
• “The Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) Centre for Security Science (CSS) has a requirement for professional support services ….”

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