Up in the air: Canadian helicopter procurement

The purchase of new helicopters to replace Canada’s worn-out Sea King fleet was first proposed almost two decades ago, but the military is still waiting for new choppers.

The process has been beleaguered by delays and cost overruns. Here’s a look at the government’s military helicopter contracts.

1993: The Chretien government cancels a $5.8-billion deal to purchase 50 EH-101 Cormorant marine helicopters and begins searching for a new fleet to replace the old Sea King choppers, which first entered service in 1963.

July 2004: The Martin government signs a $5-billion deal with American aircraft manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation to purchase 28 CH-148 Cyclone Helicopters (known as the Sikorsky H-92 at the time).

2006: Ottawa announces a $2-billion deal to buy 15 Chinook helicopters from Boeing. The first choppers are set to be delivered in July 2009.

2007: Canadian military staff request design changes from Boeing for the Chinook fleet of choppers. Military officials deny it will push back the deadline or increase the cost of the deal.

Nov. 2008: The deadline for Sikorsky to deliver the first helicopter to the Canadian military passes with no helicopter delivered. The original deal called for one chopper to be delivered every 27 months after the first. Reports say the deal is now three years behind schedule.

Ottawa negotiates a new delivery deadline with Sikorsky of November 2010, and the government asks for design changes.

Dec. 2008: Ottawa purchases six Chinook helicopters from the U.S. army. The same month, the military announces a contract amendment with Sikorsky in which the first Cyclone choppers will be delivered in 2012.

March 12, 2009: An S-92 Sikorsky Helicopter (the civilian variant of the model purchased by the military) crashes in Newfoundland, killing 15 oil workers and two crew members. The accident raises questions about the safety of the Sikorsky helicopter.

Apr. 2009: Sikorsky acknowledges it is scrambling to fix a safety problem concerning an oil leak in the gearbox, the same issue believed to have caused the crash of the civilian chopper a month before Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay defends the safety of Sikorsky helicopters.

Aug. 2009: Ottawa formally signs a deal with Boeing to purchase 15 Chinook choppers. The deal, originally expected to cost $2-billion, is pegged at $4.8 billion.

July 2010: The Canadian government blocks $250-million in payments to Sikorsky because of delays and drops some of their requirements for the Cyclone choppers. An original requirement of the helicopters was that they would be able to share sensitive information with ships, but under the renegotiation, the first 6 Cyclone helicopters will not have this ability.

In exchange, Sikorsky promises to provide $80 million worth of work to Canadian aerospace companies.

June 2012: The first Sikorsky helicopters are scheduled to be delivered to the Canadian military.

July 2013: The first Chinook chopper is scheduled to be delive