Maintenance contract for Canadian military Hercules planes goes to BC company

A British Columbia company has been awarded a maintenance contract worth more than $200 million for work on the Canadian military’s older Hercules transport planes.

Cascade Aerospace Inc. of Abbotsford, B.C. received the contract worth up to $225 million for long-term maintenance services on the planes, the government announced Thursday. The contract is for work on Canada’s CC-130H Hercules fleet’s avionics system.

In 2010, Cascade had won the contract for in-service support contract for the Royal Canadian Air Force’s new C-130J Hercules.

This newest contract bundles several smaller ones under a broader framework, making Cascade Aerospace the prime service provider for various elements of the aircraft’s avionics systems. These elements include program management as well as engineering, maintenance, materiel and technical information support, according to the government news release.

Government officials also announced a $75 million contract to Cassidian, the defence and security division of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company of Munich, Germany, for new area surveillance radar and secondary surveillance radar systems at six Royal Canadian Air Force airstrips.

That radar replacement project will see the installation of new area surveillance radar systems at 3 Wing Bagotville, Quebec; 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alberta; 5 Wing Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador; 8 Wing Trenton, Ontario; 14 Wing Greenwood, Nova Scotia; and 19 Wing Comox, British Columbia. These radar systems provide air traffic control and tracking data for aircraft flying in the area. The systems will be installed the next three to four years.

Both contracts are subject to Canada’s industrial regional benefits policy, under which Cascade Aerospace and Cassidian are required to place business activities with Canadian industry.

Industry Minister Christian Paradis said the industrial benefits policy is helping Canadian firms make links in global markets and develop long-term business relationships.

“These contracts are more great examples of how our procurement system brings economic benefit to regions across the country and continues to support our industry as a global leader,” he said in a statement.

Government officials hope the announcement of the Cascade contact, in particular, sends a signal to domestic firms that there are benefits to them from the billions of dollars being spent on military procurement. There has been growing frustration in the country’s defence and aerospace industry sector that domestic firms have been shut out of many of the military procurement contracts the Conservatives have announced over the years. Critics say most of the jobs created from the contracts have been in the U.S.


Source: By DAVID PUGLIESE, Victoria - Ottawa Citizen News - 11 April 2013

Photo: The Canadian Air Force CC-130 Transport Aircraft (Photo by Patrick Cardinal - flickr.com)


(11.04.2013)