By Chris Thatcher | January 22, 2018 Estimated reading time 3 minutes, 16 seconds.
The federal government is seeking project management and consulting services to support a project office stood up to acquire the Royal Canadian Air Force’s next fighter jet.
The Department of National Defence on Friday invited 15 companies with government supply arrangements to submit proposals for a senior project leader and executive consulting services for the Future Fighter Capability Project (FFCP).
A project management office was announced in December with the launch of a program to replace the RCAF’s 76 CF-188 Hornets with a fleet of 88 new jets, associated equipment, infrastructure, training, maintenance, initial weapons and ammunition.
The 15 companies include ADGA Group Consultants, Deloitte, KPMG, Pricewaterhouse Coopers and several human resources agencies and consultancies.
The request for additional leadership on the project comes as senior government officials prepare to meet today (Jan. 22) in Ottawa with aerospace companies and government representatives from countries with fighter jet manufacturers to explain the procurement process, including the RCAF’s operational objectives, the “notional” procurement and sustainment approaches, and the role of industrial and technological benefits in a bidder’s value proposition.
Among other objectives, the meeting should help companies and government representatives decide on whether to engage further in the process. In early January, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) issued an invitation to interested fighter jet manufacturers and their national governments and aerospace suppliers to join a suppliers’ list. PSPC asked potential suppliers to indicate their interest by Feb. 9.
The creation of a suppliers list is not an invitation to submit proposals. However, only “suppliers on the [list] at the time of notification of solicitation will be invited to participate in subsequent formal supplier engagement and to submit proposals for the FFCP,” PSPC said in a statement.
“This will allow us to share sensitive information with suppliers that have demonstrated their ability to meet Canada’s needs,” explained PSPC minister Carla Qualtrough. “All suppliers are welcome to participate in the process. No firm is excluded.”
Federal officials expect to issue a request for proposals by the spring of 2019 and award a contract in 2022. The first replacement aircraft is expected to be operational by 2025. The RCAF’s current fleet of CF-188s began entering service in 1982.
