{"id":15808,"date":"2012-07-04T10:32:14","date_gmt":"2012-07-04T14:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/?p=15808"},"modified":"2022-03-30T13:35:48","modified_gmt":"2022-03-30T17:35:48","slug":"canadas-new-cyclone-helicopters-already-4-years-late-may-not-arrive-for-another-5-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/2012\/07\/04\/canadas-new-cyclone-helicopters-already-4-years-late-may-not-arrive-for-another-5-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada’s new Cyclone helicopters — already 4 years late — may not arrive for another 5 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greg Weston<\/a> reports for CBC News<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s long-promised fleet of new Sikorsky naval helicopters, already four years late and $300 million over budget, likely won\u2019t be delivered and ready for combat for up to another five years, informed industry sources tell CBC News.<\/p>\n

Last month, Connecticut-based Sikorsky missed its latest contract deadline to finish delivering 28 sleek, state-of-the-art Cyclone maritime helicopters to replace Canada\u2019s aged fleet of increasingly unreliable Sea Kings, now nearing 50 years old.<\/p>\n

In fact, delivery of the new choppers hasn\u2019t even started. <\/p>\n

[. . .]<\/p>\n

As of last month, Sikorsky had only provided a couple of prototypes that have no military mission systems, and aren\u2019t certified to fly over water or at night.<\/p>\n

The two helicopters apparently spend most of their time on the tarmac at Shearwater Heliport at CFB Halifax as “training aids” for ground mechanics.<\/p>\n

The machines are so incomplete the Canadian government refuses to accept them as an official delivery of anything in the contract. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What is it about helicopters in particular that makes it so difficult and so expensive for the Canadian government to acquire? Here’s the sad chronology:<\/p>\n