The US government has agreed to a potential sale of 18 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft to Canada worth $5.23 billion, the State Department announced.
The foreign military sale stipulates 10 F/-A18E and eight F/A-18F Boeing-made fighter jets, the State Department said Tuesday.
“The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Canada of ten (10) F/A-18E Super Hornet aircraft, with F414-GE-400 engines; eight (8) F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft, with F414-GE-400 engines; eight (8) F414-GE-400 engine spares; twenty (20) AN/APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars; twenty (20) M61A2 20MM gun systems; twenty-eight (28) AN/ALR-67(V)3 Electronic Warfare Countermeasures Receiving Sets; fifteen (15) AN/AAQ-33 Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods; twenty (20) Multifunctional Information Distribution Systems–Joint Tactical Radio System (MIDS-JTRS); thirty (30) Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems (JHMCS); twenty-eight (28) AN/ALQ-214 Integrated Countermeasures Systems; one hundred thirty (130) LAU-127E/A and or F/A Guided Missile Launchers; twenty-two (22) AN/AYK-29 Distributed Targeting System (DTS); twenty-two (22) AN/AYK-29 Distributed Targeting Processor (DTP); one hundred (100) AIM-9X-2 Sidewinder Block II Tactical Missiles; thirty (30) AIM-9X-2 Sidewinder Block II Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM); eight (8) AIM-9X-2 Sidewinder Block II Special Air Training Missiles (NATM); twenty (20) AIM-9X-2 Sidewinder Block II Tactical Guidance Units; sixteen (16) AIM-9X-2 Sidewinder Block II CATM Guidance Units.”
Also included in this sale are:
“AN/AVS-9 Night Vision Goggles (NVG); AN/ALE-47 Electronic Warfare Countermeasures Systems; AN/ARC-210 Communication System; AN/APX-111 Combined Interrogator Transponder; AN/ALE-55 Towed Decoys; Joint Mission Planning System (JMPS); AN/PYQ-10C Simple Key Loader (SKL); Data Transfer Unit (DTU); Accurate Navigation (ANAV) Global Positioning System (GPS) Navigation; KIV-78 Duel Channel Encryptor, Identification Friend or Foe (IFF); CADS/PADS; Instrument Landing System (ILS); Aircraft Armament Equipment (AAE); High Speed Video Network (HSVN) Digital Video Recorder (HDVR); Launchers (LAU-115D/A, LAU-116B/A, LAU-118A); flight test services; site survey; aircraft ferry; auxiliary fuel tanks; aircraft spares; containers; storage and preservation; transportation; aircrew and maintenance training; training aids and equipment, devices and spares and repair parts; weapon system support and test equipment; technical data Engineering Change Proposals; technical publications and documentation; software; avionics software support; software development/integration; system integration and testing; U.S. Government and contractor engineering technical and logistics support; Repair of Repairable (RoR); repair and return warranties; other technical assistance and support equipment; and other related elements of logistics and program support.”
The estimated total case value is $5.23 billion. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on September 11, 2017.
The principal contractors will be: Boeing Company, St. Louis, MO; Northrop Grumman, Los Angeles, CA; Raytheon, El Segundo, CA; General Electric, Lynn, MA; and Raytheon Missile Systems Company, Tucson, AZ. The Government of Canada has advised that it will negotiate offset agreements with key U.S. contractors.
This determination (of the 11th) was before Boeing had a pop at Bombardier. Trudeau said quite clearly on the 18th that they were not going to buy aircraft from a company that was attempting to sue them and damage Canadian jobs. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/18/justin-trudeau-says-canada-will-not-buy-from-boeing-while-it-is-busy-trying-to-sue-us.html Is this the USA making its next move in the judicial chess game Boeing have started? Makes you wonder how many Typhoons could Canada build for $5.23 Bn? Tranche 3 seem to be about $100 Mn a piece unit cost (ex factory). And they are looking for 88 aircraft not just 18. This is mirroring what Australia has… Read more »
US$5 BN for 18 F18E/F aircraft seems an awful lot of money, considering the F35A was rejected on grounds it was to expensive.
Australian figures include through life costs and it is probably the case with the Canadians.
Yep, this is well and truly on hold at the moment after the Bombardier debacle.
Welcome to the political games the libs have always played. I my mind they knew trouble was on the horizon and decided to buy fighters off them would deter them from sueing.
The FT estimated the unit cost of a Typhoon in the recent Qatar order at between £70 to 90 million. The Telegraph reported in July 2015 the unit cost for the 129 RAF Typhoon’s delievered at that time was £87 million.
we should build our own fighters and put a 220 percent tariff on power we send ot the USA
the avro arrow todays version would be the answer -build Canadain buy Canadain
The power Canada sends to the US is only used because it is cheap and it would simply be replaced by sources of power almost as cheap. A tariff on that power by Canada would simply be retaliated against by a even larger tariff on goods Canada has ABSOLUTELY no ability to substitute. The Avro Arrow projects math didn’t work in 59 it certainly won’t nearly 60yrs later. Especially when there is NO modern Arrow design there is the flight of fancy of people who don’t know how expensive modern aircraft are.
Not sure I trust anything the Telegraph reports these days, but if that’s correct, it makes the F35 price look pretty reasonable. Especially taking into account the 15% ‘work share’ on each of 3000+ aircraft for UK industry.
Steve R. It is almost impossible to obtain an definitive unit cost for individual aircraft. Orders are split into batches or tranches and spread over years. Costs change and the development costs assigned by batch varies. This can be seen with the F35 price currently. The National Audit Office and the Parliaments Public Accounts Committee have estimated the final cost for the Typhoon project at £17.6 billion. For the 160 aircraft to be delivered this equates to a unit cost of £110 million but this includes ancillary project costs such as design and development. BAE, with MOD agreement are now… Read more »
Saab Gripen, where are you??
So if the Super Hornet deal goes ‘kaput’, where will Canada turn instead? An order for Gripens, Eurofighters?
Canada apparently also considering ex RAAF Classic Hornets once they are retired as F35s are delivered (as additional airframes or for spares??)
http://australianaviation.com.au/2017/09/canada-considering-raaf-classic-hornets/
The National Interest has got hold of the the Director of Operational Testing and Evaluation for the F35 annual report on status of F35 develeopment ( publish 3rd of October). It describes how almost every system to failing to reach operational minimum requirements. It is absolutely damming. The report contains such detail it must have been released because there are very serious concerns about the F35 problems. The report is named “The F35Program Continues to Stumble.” If correct it really is eye opening.
As of the 6th October the US regulator has turned the screw on Bombardier even further by adding 80% to the 220% already levied. I am wondering how long Canada will take this without a hard reaction. I suspect they will not be too fussy between Lockheed Martin or Boeing as it US Regulators dancing to the Boeing tune. Interim they may as someone noted take the ex-RAAF Hornets (although they are Right Hand Drive ………..) But the real leverage is the 88 new fighter / bombers they are saying they need. I never understood why they went for the… Read more »
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