The court orders Ottawa to postpone the contract for a $ 60 billion warship project

The $ 60-billion effort to build new warships for the Canadian navy faces another delay after the Commercial Court's decision to suspend the federal government's postponement of a definitive contract for the design of new ships. ships.

The federal government announced last month that US defense giant Lockheed Martin had beaten two rival rivals in a long and extremely difficult competition to develop substitutes for naval frigates and destroyers.

Lockheed's design was based on a new category of British naval frigates, Type 26. The company is currently negotiating a final contract with the government and Halifax-based Irving Shipbuilding to build the ships.

But one of the other two bidders, Alion Science and Technology, of Virginia, has asked the Canadian International Trade Tribunal and the Federal Court to overturn the government's decision.

It is said that Lockheed's design did not meet the requirements set out by the Navy and should have been disqualified. According to Alion, two of these requirements related to the speed of the vessel, while the third concerned the number of berths.

On Tuesday late, the court issued a one-page statement ordering the government to "postpone the award of any contract … until the Tribunal determines the validity of the complaint."

Alion argued that the competition rules required the federal procurement department and Irving, who had helped evaluate the bids, rejected Lockheed's bid because of its non-compliance. Instead, they chose it as the preferred model.

The company also claims that its own design, based on a Dutch frigate, met the requirements of the navy. He stated that he did not receive any information as to why Lockheed's offer was successful, despite requests for answers.

Lockheed Martin and Public Services and Procurement Canada declined to comment because the case is before the court and the federal court. The third company of the contest, the Spanish company Navantia, remained largely silent about the success of Lockheed's offer.

The government plans to build 15 new warships over the next three to four years, replacing old Canadian frigates and retired Iroquois clbad destroyers. They must be the backbone of the navy for most of the century.

The Lockheed offer, which also manufactures the F-35 stealth fighter and other military equipment, was controversial as of the launch of the design contest in October 2016.

The federal government had initially indicated that it wanted a "successful model" for its new fleet of warships, which was widely interpreted as a vessel already built and used by another navy.

But the first type 26 frigates are built only by the British government and the design has not been tested yet.

Industry representatives also complained that the bridge was favorable for Type 26 because of the links between Irving and British builder BAE, who originally designed Type 26, and partnered with Lockheed to offer the ship to Canada .

Irving also worked with BAE in 2016 on a ultimately unsuccessful bid to service the new patrol and supply vessels in the Canadian Navy's Arctic.

Irving and the federal government have repeatedly rejected these complaints, claiming to have consulted extensively with the industry and used various firewalls and safeguards to ensure a perfectly fair choice.

But industry insiders had long warned that selecting Lockheed as the best bidder, combined with many changes to requirements and competitive conditions after launch – including a number of time extensions – would lead to prosecution.

Government officials acknowledged last month the threat of lawsuits, which has become the preferred tactic of companies that lose defense contracts, but have expressed confidence that they would be able to defend against such an attack .