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A federal trade court ordered the Canadian government to put a $ 60-billion program to buy a new fleet of warships during the investigation, saying the chosen vessel was not meeting the needs of the Army.
Last month, the Canadian government and Irving Shipbuilding selected Lockheed Martin Canada as the preferred bidder for the Canadian Surface Fighter Program. Lockheed Martin has partnered with British firm BAE to provide Canada with 15 of its Type 26 frigates.
But Alion, a US company that also submitted an offer for the project, claims that Type 26 can not meet the requirements set out by the Canadian Navy and has filed a complaint with the Canadian International Trade Tribunal.
On Tuesday, the CITT ordered the government to "postpone any public procurement contact until the Canadian International Trade Tribunal determines the validity of the complaint." It is unclear how long it will take, but Irving and the The federal government hoped that negotiations with Lockheed Martin Canada would end early next year.
Alion has also taken legal action in federal court, seeking judicial review of the decision. In this challenge, Alion states that Type 26 can not meet Canada's mandatory requirements, including speed, for the new warship and should therefore be disqualified.
It was also a challenge that the requirements and other parameters of the surface fighter project had been modified 88 times in the process to dilute the requirements for the new warship, thereby allowing the federal government and Irving to choose what he calls "a design platform."
Alion had offered Canada the Dutch air defense and command frigate De Zeven Provinciën, which, according to the firm, met all of Canada's requirements.
Rania Haddad, a spokesperson for Public Services and Procurement Canada, said the federal government is committed to putting in place a fair and transparent procurement process. "As this case is the subject of a complaint that has just been accepted for investigation by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal and is also the subject of litigation before the Court federal, no comment can be provided at the moment, "she said in an email.
The entry of the BAE Type 26 frigate into the competition was controversial from the beginning.
It is unclear how long it will take, but Irving and the federal government were hopeful that negotiations would end with Lockheed Martin Canada early next year.
The Liberal government had previously stated that it would only accept bids on existing models or models of ships already in service in other navies, on the grounds that they could be built. faster and less risky; Problems with untested designs often come up when one of the ships is in the water and works for the first time.
But these criteria were changed and the Liberal government and Irving accepted the BAE's design in the process, even though it only existed on the drawing board at the time. The construction of the first Type 26 frigate began in the summer of 2017 for the Royal Navy of Great Britain, but has not yet been completed.
Lockheed Martin Canada and BAE claim that what Type 26 can do, including its speed, is based on simulations or projections.
The other two bidders on the surface fighter program have ships in service in other navies, which means that their capabilities are proven.
Several European shipbuilders have decided not to bid for the $ 60 billion project, because of concerns about the fairness of the process.
Some were concerned about BAE's proximity to Irving, who, as the main contractor for the Canadian surface combat program, helped the Canadian government select the preferred bidder.
BAE and Irving had already joined forces to bid on another Canadian naval program. Although the Irving-BAE alliance was not included in this offer, it led the government to remind Irving that it was required to "ensure that the competition of Canadian surface fighters takes place in such a way as to avoid any real or perceived conflict of interest. according to February 2017, documents prepared for the Minister of Defense, Harjit Sajjan, and published under the law on access to information.
• Email: [email protected] | Twitter: Davidpugliese
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