Canada opposition NDP says would keep F-35 in race for new jets

By Randall Palmer
OTTAWA, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Canada's opposition New
Democrats on Monday defended Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Corp's LMT.N
right to try to sell Ottawa new fighter jets after a rival said
he would not buy the company's F-35 plane if he won the Oct. 19
election.
Canada's tortuous and controversial effort to replace its
aging CF-18 fighters has run into repeated problems and is now
part of a tight election race between the ruling Conservatives
and the New Democrats and Liberals, both on the center-left.
NDP leader Thomas Mulcair made his comments backing the U.S.
company one day after Justin Trudeau of the Liberals said he
would not buy the F-35 jet, which has been hit by cost overruns.

"When he says things like that, he's just showing his total
lack of experience. That's not the way these things work,"
Mulcair told reporters.
"How can he decide the result in advance without a process?"
Mulcair said an NDP government would define quickly what was
needed and start a competition to buy new jets rapidly.
The Conservatives announced an agreement in principle in
2010 to buy 65 F-35 jets, but abandoned the plan in 2012 after a
probe found officials had deliberately downplayed the costs and
risks of the deal.
Ottawa set up a new process, but it is well behind schedule.
The four contenders are the F-35, Boeing (NYSE:BA) Co's BA.N F-18 E/F
Super Hornet, Dassault Aviation SA's AVMD.PA Rafale and the
Eurofighter Typhoon - jointly made by BAE Systems PLC BAES.L ,
Finmeccanica SpA SIFI.MI and Airbus Group AIR.PA .
Lockheed spokesman Michael Rein said the company remained
convinced that the F-35 was the best solution for Canada.
"We continue to work with the Canadian government on their
F-35 program," Rein said during a tour of the company's F-35
plant in Fort Worth, Texas. "We stand ready to support the
Canadian government through their decision process."
Separate from the question of which fighter wins is the
Canadian government's participation in the development of the
F-35 jets.
In return for hundreds of millions of dollars of money from
Ottawa, Canadian companies won many contracts to work on the
plane. It is not clear what effect a decision not to buy the
F-35 would have on that work.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters on Monday that
Trudeau's actions would help wreck the domestic aerospace
industry.
Asked on Monday to explain why an open competition could not
include the F-35, Trudeau said it would cost "tens of billions
of dollars more than what is necessary for Canada's air force."
Trudeau also named Saab AB 's Gripen SAABb.ST as a
potential contender, even though the Swedish firm had already
effectively ruled itself out of the current competition. A Saab
spokesman in Stockholm declined to comment.