Questions and responses 42nd Parliament, 1st session December 3, 2015, to September 11, 2019

With regard to the deletion from the Department of National Defence’s website of the Defence Research and Development Canada June 2014 report in relation to fighter jets: (a) when was the report deleted from the website; (b) who ordered the deletion; (c) when was the Minister or his office made aware of the deletion; (d) did the Minister or his office approve the deletion, and if so, on what date; (e) what is the rationale behind the decision to delete the report; and (f) what are the details of any briefing notes, memorandums, or other dockets related to the deletion of said report including (i) date, (ii) sender, (iii) recipient, (iv) title, (v) summary, (vi) file number?

With regard to the government’s decision to explore purchasing 18 F-18 Super Hornet planes from Boeing: (a) what is the projected acquisition cost of these planes; (b) what is the Department of National Defence’s projected operational life span of an F-18 Super Hornet; (c) what is the projected yearly operation costs and maintenance of the fleet of F-18 Super Hornets; (d) what measures are in place to ensure that there is a fair and open competition for the permanent replacement fleet; (e) what specific measures are in place to ensure that Boeing does not receive an unfair advantage due to its status related to the interim fleet; (f) what are the dates, times, locations, and lists of attendees of all meetings between the government and Boeing since November 4, 2015; (g) what are the details of communications which have been received from the United States government to date related to the interim purchase of 18 Super Hornets from Boeing, including the (i) date, (ii) sender, (iii) recipient, (iv) title, (v) relevant file number; and (h) on what date were each of the non-disclosure agreements referred to in the response to Q-531 signed?

With respect to the Future Fighter Capability program at the Department of National Defence: (a) with respect to flying a mixed fleet of CF-18 Hornets and Boeing F/A Super Hornets, what are the (i) anticipated additional training costs, (ii) anticipated additional maintenance costs, (iii) total cost estimates for flying a mixed fleet of CF-18 Hornets and Boeing F-18 Super Hornets; (b) what is the anticipated life cycle of the F-18 Super Hornet; (c) who has been consulted regarding the possible purchase of the F-18 Super Hornet, and how were they consulted; (d) what is the current status of the CF-18 life extension project; (e) how much funding has been allocated to the CF-18 life extension project; (f) have any contracts or memorandums of understanding been signed for the CF-18 life extension project; (g) what is the current timeline for the Department’s study of the CF-18 life extension project; (h) what aspects of the CF-18 life extension project are being studied, and how will these aspects be measured; (i) what is the estimated cost of the study identified in (h); (j) is the cost of the study identified in (h) accounted for in the overall cost of the CF-18 replacement project; (k) how much has been spent on the CF-18 life extension project to date; (l) how much was spent on the CF-18 life extension project from November 3, 2015, to present; (m) what is the Department’s current estimated per unit cost for (i) a Boeing F-18 Super Hornet, (ii) a F-35A Lightning, (iii) a Saab Grippen, (iv) a Dassault Rafale, (v) a Eurofighter Typhoon; and (n) what rationale does the Department have for an interim purchase of F-18 Super Hornets?

With regard to the statement made in the House of Commons by the Minister of National Defence on November 23, 2016, that on September 11, 2001, Canada had to “put every single fighter up in the air”: (a) how many of Canada’s CF-18s flew sorties on September 11, 2001; (b) how many of Canada’s CF-18s were put on readiness on September 11, 2001; and (c) were any of Canada’s CF-18s diverted from their NATO obligations on September 11, 2001?

With regard to Lt. Gen. Michael Hood’s testimony at the Senate Standing Committee for National Security and Defence in which he indicated that our NORAD and NATO commitments were previously being met, but a policy change which required meeting these commitments concurrently resulted in a requirement to increase the number of fighters available: (a) who made this policy change; (b) was Lt. Gen. Hood consulted prior to the decision to make this change; (c) if the answer to (b) is in the negative, what is the rationale; (d) on what basis or recommendation was this policy change made; (e) on what date was this policy change made; (f) why was this change made before the completion of the government’s Defence Policy Review; (g) what is the rationale for this policy change; (h) since November 3, 2015, has the Armed Forces’ policy requirements changed for the (i) Chinook helicopter fleet, (ii) CP-140 Aurora surveillance plane fleet, (iii) Griffin helicopter fleet, (iv) Sea King helicopter fleet, (v) C-17 Globemaster fleet, (vi) C-130 Hercules fleet; (i) if the answer to any part of (h) is affirmative (i) what was the change, (ii) who made it, (iii) on what basis or recommendation was it made, (iv) on what date was it made, (v) why was it made before the completion of the government’s Defence Policy Review, (vi) what is the rationale for it; (j) what are the estimated additional operational costs of this policy change; (k) what is the total number of fighter jets required for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) to implement this policy change; (l) what will be the result of this policy change with respect to the RCAF’s NATO contributions; and (m) what is the expected result of this policy change with respect to the RCAF’s NORAD contributions?