# Helicopter Process-Fair?



## bossi (26 Sep 2000)

(from the Halifax Herald - perhaps the slogan of this helicopter replacement project should be "Smaller, Slower, Cheapest ... Anything except the Cormorant/EH101"?)

Personally, I feel it's a shame that political interests are running roughshod over the moral imperative of "looking after our service members" - by this, I mean to say for the millionth time "what's wrong with buying the best kit for our soldiers?" - we've got a budget surplus, let's spend some of it on those who protect the country (instead of musical fountains in the Prime Minister's riding.)


Only one chopper in running? 
Ottawa pushing firm in race to replace Sea King, opposition says 


 By John Ward / The Canadian Press

Ottawa - The process to find a replacement for the aging Sea King helicopter fleet is seen by many in both industry and politics as skewed in favour of one potential bidder. 

Careful study of the federal government's statement of requirements, issued in August, and the letter of interest, which came out this month, show there are major pitfalls for two of the three firms seen as the top contenders for the multibillion-dollar deal. 

While the government insists everything is above board, Tory Senator Mike Forrestal and Alliance MP Art Hanger both say the wording of the government's proposal will tilt the contract toward the Eurocopter Cougar design. 

That would be at the expense of the bigger and faster choppers offered by Team Cormorant and Sikorsky. 

"In my opinion, the process appears far from 'fair and open'," Forrestal wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Jean Chretien this month. 

The senator concluded: "If these rules . . . are not altered, Canada will only have one helicopter from which to make a choice, the Eurocopter Cougar March II." 

Hangar remarked: "I don't think it's been done with the best interests of the taxpayer in mind or with the military in mind." 

Industry insiders and some analysts say privately that Chretien is opposed to the Cormorant because it is a variant of the EH-101, which he condemned as an unneeded luxury during the 1993 election campaign. One of his first acts as prime minister was to kill a Tory deal to buy 43 EH-101s. 

Although the government purchased 15 Cormorants - produced by an Anglo-Italian consortium - for search-and-rescue work two years ago, many feel the political situation means the Cormorant will never win the deal for 28 shipborne choppers now up for grabs. 

"At the end of the day, they wanted to make sure that it would never be the EH-101 or the Cormorant, call it what you want," said one long-time observer. 

Traditionally, the military has looked for "the best value" in buying big-ticket items. This time, the government says it wants the cheapest available helicopter that meets all the requirements. That could hurt Cormorant, which is bigger than the other two contenders, has three engines and is thus more costly. 

Gabriel Galleazzi, sales director for Team Cormorant, is still optimistic about the prospects. 

"People believe the helicopter is more costly than the others," he said. "We have not put together our price yet." 

With 15 Cormorants being built for search-and-rescue, there's room to move on price, he said. "We can really think about a very good and competitive proposal." 

He also said there are savings to be found in having a common chopper for both search and rescue and shipborne work. 

While Cormorant may be struggling, Sikorsky may be shut out completely by the requirement that the helicopter be certified as airworthy when the contract is signed early next year. 

Sikorsky's S-92 aircraft, which has been in development for 10 years and which has already been ordered by two Canadian companies, isn't scheduled to be certified until 2002. 

Joe Haddock, director of international business for Sikorsky, said he doesn't see why an aircraft to be delivered in 2005 needs to be certified in 2001. 

"We see it as overkill," he said. 

Eggleton said he can't budge. 

"We said we're buying an off-the-shelf, commercial product, we're not buying an experimental product." 

Less-expensive and off-the-shelf are the buzz words for Eurocopter. 

"Our philosophy goes clear back to the 1994 defence white paper," said Don Turrentine, area sales director for Eurocopter. "Our product policy has been based on an off-the-shelf, proven aircraft. We intend to be the lowest-cost, compliant bidder." 
- 30 -


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## bossi (28 Sep 2000)

(from the Halifax Daily News)

Thursday, September 28, 2000 

Keep politics out of chopper choice


Editorial

CALLS FOR bids on complex machinery can shape the final choice, not always fairly. With something as complicated as a military helicopter it‘s easy to see rival manufacturers getting paranoid about being dropped.
That‘s not even taking into consideration this is a Canadian defence contract riddled with politics - and certain to be mentioned in the approaching election campaign. Yes, what else could it be but the Sea King replacement program.

A Tory senator and an Alliance MP contend the federal government specifications put the maker of the Eurocopter Cougar in the pilot‘s seat and could ground the British-Italian Cormorant and the American Sikorsky S-92.

The Cormorant, said to be favoured by the air force and navy personnel who actually get to use them, is a cheaper version of the EH-101 cancelled by the incoming Chretien government seven years ago. It incurred a huge contract penalty. Even so, the Grits bought 15 similar Cormorants for search-and-rescue and it is hard to see why they would be embarrassed to buy more for the navy‘s frigates. At this point, does it really matter as much as getting the best product at the best price to replace the worn-out and dangerous Sea King? There may be good reasons to buy the Cougar instead of either of the competitors. But the decision is too important to be skewed by half-forgotten campaigns. Whatever helicopter is chosen for the next 20 or 25 years should be based on aviation and electronic capability, the Canadian navy‘s specific needs, and the package cost to taxpayers. Lives will depend on these machines. Range and quality are far more important than old political skirmishes. 
- 30 -


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## bossi (28 Sep 2000)

(frankly, in my personal opinion, the following article from the Telegraph clearly shows why Canada should not purchase the cheapest, crappiest helicopters ... especially since we don‘t have an aircraft carrier)

Royal Navy helicopters first on the scene
By Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent

100 drown in ferry crash as crew watch soccer on TV 

A LYNX from the destroyer Liverpool was the first helicopter on the scene shortly after the warship picked up a Mayday radio distress signal from the Express Samina.
It was joined by seven Sea Kings from the aircraft carrier Invincible and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fort George, which were 35 miles to the south of Paros, and a further Lynx from the frigate Cumberland. Scores of Greek fishing vessels joined the rescue effort and large numbers of people were on the beach wading in to drag out the survivors as they struggled ashore.

Cdr Henry Parker, one of Invincible‘s officers said: "An awful lot of the rescue was conducted by locals in fishing boats and by people who were helping those washed up on the shore." But for much of the night, the only helicopters available to the commander of the Greek Navy‘s destroyer Kavaoudis, who was co-ordinating the operation, were the nine Royal Navy aircraft.

Two Sea Kings from Invincible were sent to look for survivors who were thought to be clinging to a rock. Lt Gary Milton, the pilot of one of the Sea Kings, said: "It was a confusing situation with a lot of local ships trying to help." He said there was no moon, the wind was reaching 40mph and the sea was rough, making it extremely difficult for the helicopter crews.

Lt Milton said: "It took about an hour, but we finally located them. We found 12 people clinging to a rock four metres square that was sticking out of the sea. They were being washed over by waves." The rescued 12, who included a number of nationalities, were taken back to Invincible and given hot drinks, food and dry clothing. They were treated by medical staff.

The British ships were ostensibly in the vicinity on routine exercises, but in fact their presence was designed to send a message to President Milosevic not to meddle with Montenegro.

The helicopters flew over the rescue site for 16 hours and aircrews had to be changed regularly, said Cdr Parker. "These were extremely challenging conditions. It was pitch black with water washing over the rocks. The sea was short and vicious, making it difficult for winchers."

There was also the inevitable trauma of finding bodies. As dawn broke, a Sea King could be seen landing four, including that of a child, at Paros airport. Cdr Parker added: "People are proud because we did what we could but very sad for the relatives of the people who have died." Lt Milton praised the professionalism of his crew. He said: "We rescued 12 people and I couldn‘t ask for more." 
- 30 -


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## Mud Crawler (10 Oct 2000)

i cant wait till Chretiens gov gets out of ottawa.Now lets say im a sailor onboard ofa fregate, i fall of board.im in freezin water.It takes 10 minutes to the eurocopter to come pick me up and 7 for teh cormoran, but the gov didnt buy cormorants, he bought fuking cheaper eurocops.HEY! i paid taxes like the rest you fukin creamed diagonal Face we got as a P.M., why‘d you let em down?


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## the patriot (14 Oct 2000)

The funny part is that our Sea Kings saved a boat load of people recently off a Greek freighter that had some problems recently.  This discussion can go on forever with respect to the helicopter contract.  We already went through this 10 to 15 years ago when the FN C1A1 was being slated for replacement.  Everybody knew that the FN could kill when fired at anything and had a range well over 800 metres, yet they still gave the CF a cute plastic pea-shooter made by Mattel that occasionally cracks when slammed against a helmet.  Does this make any sense at all? Not particularly.

-the patriot-


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## Mud Crawler (15 Oct 2000)

Does anything a Gov do has any sense?Not particularly.They always go for cheaper no matter how many lives are at stakes.Thats the essence of a gov, stir shit so that they can promise for the next mandate to fix it up.


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## the patriot (18 Oct 2000)

In a nutshell, it doesn‘t matter what political party is in power or says something that will brainwash the public.  They all wind up stabbing the military in the back.

-the patriot-


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