Lockheed Martin Admits it didn't enter CC-130J for FWSAR

Four days ago David Pugliese published an article in The Ottawa Citizen that said Lockheed Martin didn't bid on the RCAF's FWSAR program; despite having indicated in June 2015 that it would. 

Today, Pugliese's Defence Watch published the following article about Lockheed admitting it did not bid. 

Lockheed Martin has decided to reverse its questionable public relations strategy and finally confirm what was reported last week – that it did not submit a bid for the Canadian government’s fixed wing search and rescue (FWSAR) program.

Defence Watch, as well as Skies magazine, published the news last week that Lockheed Martin didn’t submit a bid.

But at the time Lockheed Martin was still sticking to its media line: “Out of respect for the procurement process, Lockheed Martin does not comment on competitive tenders that are underway.”

As noted earlier, this statement, which LM had been repeating for months, is laughable. Companies love to talk about their products to the news media and LM’s competitors have been holding press conferences and briefings on their FWSAR submissions.

In fact, for the last couple of years, Lockheed Martin officials had been highlighting how great their C-130J would be for the FWSAR program.

All that changed and the “out of respect for the procurement process” media line materialized when Lockheed’s proposal ran into trouble.

So with the bids in, and news reports from Defence Watch and Skies magazine that Lockheed Martin was a no-show for FWSAR (and queries also coming in from the U.S. media), the firm has decided to change its message.

“Lockheed Martin participated in the FWSAR procurement process as a potential bidder,” the company noted in a new statement Monday to Defence Watch. “After following an extensive and thorough analysis of the RFP’s requirements, we decided to not submit a formal response to Canada’s FWSAR RFP. We remain fully committed to supporting the RCAF and its CC-130J fleet as it continues to perform the tactical transport role in Canada for decades to come.”

Lockheed Martin, however, has not explained why it didn’t bid. But its competitors have toldDefence Watch the firm decided against bidding because the in-service support costs for the C-130J are extremely high, making a proposal a non-starter.

Embraer, Alenia and Airbus all bid on the $3.1 billion FWSAR program.

Possible FWSAR Training Center at CFB Comox

Industry insiders have informed the Ottawa Citizen's Defence Watch, that both Alenia Aermacchi and Airbus; who are the two firms that are expected to directly compete for the CAF's FWSAR replacement of the Buffalo Aircraft, are leaning towards establishing a FWSAR Training Center at 19 Wing Comox as part of their bidding process. Bids are due by January 2016 (in the latest attempt to purchase a replacement for the CC-115 Buffalo FWSAR that are nearing 50 years of age.) A replacement for the aircraft was due in 2009 - but the project has been shelved and delayed several times already.

Below is the Original Article published by David Pugliese. 



Representatives of Team Spartan, including Alenia Aermacchi director Roberto Leva and Ian McIntyre, training solutions specialist for DRS Technologies, recently announced the team’s plans to establish a FWSAR training centre at 19 Wing Comox as part of its bid for the Fixed Wing Search and Rescue project.

The team is offering the C-27J Spartan for the RCAF’s fixed wing search and rescue project. Bids are to be submitted by January.

An industry mock-up for the C-27J Spartan in CAF SAR colors 

Team Spartan noted that the request for proposals pointed out that any of the CF bases used for fixed wing search and rescue could house the operational training unit. Team Spartan is still flexible – if need be -on where the training centre could go but it has been working towards the approach that it will be established at 19 Wing Comox.

Airbus Defence, which is offering Canada the C-295 for FWSAR, is also leaning in that direction.

An industry mock-up for the C-295 in CAF SAR colors 

“We’ve not finalized that element of our bid yet, but Comox is currently the preferred location,” spokesman Michael Powell told Defence Watch.

Lockheed Martin C-130J to too large for RCAF FWSAR?

Bids for the replacement of the RCAF's 40 year old Buffalo fixed wing search and rescue (FWSAR) aircraft are due in September 2015, and Lockheed Martin has not yet decided whether or not to offer a bid on the project.

Alenia (offering their C-27J Spartan) and Airbus (offering their C295) are both keen to have their bids for the project. Both have been advertising their perspective aircraft for years to industry experts.

It is not because of the two competitors that Lockheed Martin might not bid, but the size of their C-130J Hercules aircraft.  Lockheed Martin is currently going over the 4,000 page request from the Canadian Government and the RCAF for operational requirements.

Many inside Lockheed Martin feel the size of the C-130J will disqualify it from the competition, and when millions of dollars go into investing in a competition, one wants their aircraft to have a legitimate change at winning the bid. Both the C-27J Spartan and C295 are considerably smaller aircraft, which would give them a higher level of manoeuvrability in the mountainous regions of Canada where the FWSAR would be expected to operate.

So, at the moment, Lockheed Martin, has not yet decided to enter a bid into the FWSAR project.