SOURCE ADMIN Canada's planned fleet of 65 F-35As will be at least 66% more expensive to buy and operate over a 30-year lifespan than government officials predicted, according to an independent cost analysis.
The report issued by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) on 10 March predicts the Lockheed Martin F-35A will cost Canadian taxpayers US$29.3 billion over 30 years, compared to the $17.3 billion estimate published in October by the Department of National Defence (DND).
Canada's opposition Liberal Party has seized on the F-35 as a key political issue ever since Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister Stephen Harper committed to buy 65 F-35As on 14 July.
Liberal's leaders have complained the DND cost estimates are too low and taxpayers could save money with a competitive bidding process, with the Boeing F/A-18E/F, Eurofighter Typhoon and Saab Gripen among the interested bidders.
Although substantially higher than the DND estimate, the PBO considers the $29.3 billion overall price tag for the F-35 as probably too conservative.
The report is based on several key assumptions, including Lockheed will build 2,478 F-35As, 330 F-35As will be delivered before Canada receives its first aircraft in 2016 and the F-35A's basic empty weight remains 13,318kg (29,361lb).
With all 65 aircraft delivered from 2016 to 2022, the PBO report estimates that the average cost for Canada's F-35As will be $148.5 million in Fiscal 2009 dollars.
The report also forecasts that the DND will spend $8.4 million every year to operate and sustain each F-35A, as well as about $30.4 million per aircraft for an overhaul and upgrade event scheduled 10 years after delivery.
Those numbers add up to a total ownership cost of $450 million per aircraft, or $29.3 billion overall, according to the PBO report.
Those figures are sharply higher than even the most pessimistic forecasts by the US Department of Defense, which plans to buy 2,443 F-35s. Although originally billed as a $30-$45 million fighter, the DOD now estimates the average cost is $91 million.
The PBO report notes that Lockheed officials believe the cost of the F-35 will decline from the $91 million estimate, not increase.
"Unless there is compelling evidence to the contrary, it is difficult to see prices reducing to their original estimated level," the PBO report says.
The report issued by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) on 10 March predicts the Lockheed Martin F-35A will cost Canadian taxpayers US$29.3 billion over 30 years, compared to the $17.3 billion estimate published in October by the Department of National Defence (DND).
Canada's opposition Liberal Party has seized on the F-35 as a key political issue ever since Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister Stephen Harper committed to buy 65 F-35As on 14 July.
Liberal's leaders have complained the DND cost estimates are too low and taxpayers could save money with a competitive bidding process, with the Boeing F/A-18E/F, Eurofighter Typhoon and Saab Gripen among the interested bidders.
Although substantially higher than the DND estimate, the PBO considers the $29.3 billion overall price tag for the F-35 as probably too conservative.
The report is based on several key assumptions, including Lockheed will build 2,478 F-35As, 330 F-35As will be delivered before Canada receives its first aircraft in 2016 and the F-35A's basic empty weight remains 13,318kg (29,361lb).
With all 65 aircraft delivered from 2016 to 2022, the PBO report estimates that the average cost for Canada's F-35As will be $148.5 million in Fiscal 2009 dollars.
The report also forecasts that the DND will spend $8.4 million every year to operate and sustain each F-35A, as well as about $30.4 million per aircraft for an overhaul and upgrade event scheduled 10 years after delivery.
Those numbers add up to a total ownership cost of $450 million per aircraft, or $29.3 billion overall, according to the PBO report.
Those figures are sharply higher than even the most pessimistic forecasts by the US Department of Defense, which plans to buy 2,443 F-35s. Although originally billed as a $30-$45 million fighter, the DOD now estimates the average cost is $91 million.
The PBO report notes that Lockheed officials believe the cost of the F-35 will decline from the $91 million estimate, not increase.
"Unless there is compelling evidence to the contrary, it is difficult to see prices reducing to their original estimated level," the PBO report says.
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