F-35 cost details will come, MP says

The government is going to turn over more information on the long-term cost of the F-35 fighter jets, a Conservative MP said Friday.

Laurie Hawn, parliamentary secretary to the minister of national defence, says there are "probably millions of pages" about the costs associated with buying and maintaning the Joint Strike Fighters made by Lockheed Martin. He said it's hard to release the information because Canada is working on the purchase with eight other NATO countries, who all have a say in what defence officials can give out.

"It's not an unfair question to say where's the information, and we're going to work to get as much of that as we can," Hawn said.

"Not all that information is ours to give. We liaise with those [NATO] folks and we will work at getting as much information as we can."

He wouldn't say when Canadians could expect to see more information.

Hawn's comments come the day after Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page reported his calculations showthe jets will cost $29.3 billion between the purchase price and sustainment costs for the fleet over 30 years.

The budget officer said the "total ownership" cost estimate from the Department of National Defence over the same period amounts to $17.6 billion, based on his calculations.

Hawn said he disagrees with Page's methodology.

"Some of the assumptions he made were based on speculation based on price escalation that was based on dollars per pound. That's not the way we buy our planes, dollars per pound," he said.

The difference in numbers prompted accusations from opposition parties the Conservatives are being dishonest with Canadians about the fighter jet deal that was announced last summer.

The government, however, said it stands by its figures. It says it has committed $9-billion to buy the 65 planes, for a per-planecost of around $70 million. It estimates the fleetwill cost between $250 million and $300 million to service per year.

'Only option': Harper

"I'm not going to get into a lengthy debate on numbers," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said at a news conference in Toronto on Thursday. He said the F-35 is the "only option available" to replace the aging CF-18 fleet and to serve the purposes of the Canadian Forces.

"We're following a long-term plan here and we're purchasing at a time where we know the cost of production will be the lowest," the prime minister said.

Canada signed a memorandum of understanding in July 2010 to buy 65 Joint Strike Fighters, which are now in development and scheduled to be ready in 2016. Canada joined the JSF program with several allies in 1997 and in 2001 Lockheed Martin was chosen as the company that would manufacture the high-tech planes.

The opposition has accused the Conservatives of being secretive about the deal and Page agreed Thursday the government isn't fully informing the public about the F-35s.

"I don't think they have been transparent," he told reporters. He said there's "a lot more" the Department of National Defence could do to share information.

"It's hard for me to understand how you stand by an acquisition cost of $70 million," said Page. He said that figure is likely from Lockheed Martin and "it's somewhat dated."

Page cautions that any cost estimates, his own or those from other sources, should be viewed in the context of the methodology used and the data available. The budget officer said in his report that his office asked DND to explain the methodology behind its estimates.

"DND confirmed that such an analysis has not yet been undertaken," the report says.

Cost breakdown

To arrive at his estimate of $29.3 billion, Page said he used a "top-down" model that considered historical trends on the cost of aircraft and key cost drivers. Page estimates the acquisition cost for the fleet at $9.7 billion and the ongoing sustainment cost for it at $19.6 billion.

Page was asked to report on whether a competitive bid would have saved money compared to the cost of the sole-sourced deal, but he said there is insufficient data available for him to make such an assessment.

The Liberals say they would cancel the memorandum of understanding and hold a new competitive bid for the plane contract if they win the next election. The NDPis also opposed to the purchase, andBloc Qubcois defence critic Claude Bachand said on CBC's Power & Politics with Evan Solomon on Thursday that his party no longer supports the deal.

Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn said Canada haalready invested $128 million in the project, and the opposition members who want to cancel the F-35 contract would bring uncertainty to the armed forces.

"It would also bring uncertainty to our aerospace industry since people in the industry agree with us that we had to make a decision," he said.

"The government took a decision. We saw with the Liberal Party, with the Sea Kings, since they reversed the decision of the Conservative government [in 1993]. Since then it's cost a little more than half a billion dollars."