COVID-19 further delaying some overdue military procurements
Posted September 27, 2020 2:02 pm.
Last Updated September 28, 2020 1:02 am.
OTTAWA — The Department of National Defence’s top procurement official says the federal government is working overtime to buy billions of dollars worth of much-needed equipment for the Canadian Armed Forces, but that COVID-19 is slowing down some already delayed purchases.
Troy Crosby says his staff has been able to move ahead on a number of fronts despite the shift to remote work after the government ordered the majority of federal public servants to stay home back in March.
Officials are currently reviewing three bids received from fighter-jet makers hoping to sell up to $19 billion worth of new aircraft to replace Canada’s aging CF-18s while the Air Force officially unveiled the first of 16 new military search-and-rescue planes last week.
The Royal Canadian Navy also received the first of six new Arctic offshore patrol vessels from Halifax-based Irving Shipbuilding in late July and some movement has been seen in the planned purchase of new engineering vehicles for the Army.
Yet Crosby acknowledges COVID-19 has slowed work on a number of other files, including many of the more than 100 procurement projects that were already reported behind schedule before the pandemic.
Crosby says the department is still assessing the actual impact of those slowdowns, but that they have been most felt in the actual production of new equipment such as warships and aircraft due to physical-distancing measures and other safeguards against COVID-19.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2020.
The Canadian Press