Ottawa firm drops out of competitionOttawa firm drops out of competition to build new armoured vehicle for Canadian military
https://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Ottawa+firm+drops+competition+build+armoured+vehicle+Canadian+military/3983802/story.html?cid=megadrop_story
An Ottawa-based firm has dropped out of a Defence Department armoured vehicle competition after determining its product didn't fit the requirements.
Thales Canada made the decision to withdraw from the program, freeing up its partner, DEW Engineering also of Ottawa, to seek out new alliances for the hotly contested defence program.
The Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV) program would replace the Canadian army's existing fleet of RG-31 mine protected vehicles and the Coyote wheeled light armoured vehicles. Besides the initial procurement of 500 vehicles, there is an option for an additional 100.
DND has not released specific details on the cost of the program, but it's estimated that the TAPV will cost well over $1 billion.
Thales Australian subsidiary had submitted the company's Bushmaster vehicle via Thales Canada's defence group, based in Ottawa, for the TAPV program.
In June, Thales Canada announced at a military trade show in Ottawa that it had teamed with DEW Engineering for TAPV.
But Thales Canada spokesman Conrad Bellehumeur said information contained in the TAPV draft request for proposals issued by the government made it clear to the firm the Bushmaster would not be a strong contender. The requirements of the Crown have evolved away from the strengths of the Bushmaster, Bellehumeur said.
"The vehicle is a very good vehicle; it's proven in Afghanistan and Iraq with forces that are meeting exactly the same kind of IED threat that the Canadian Forces are and we've had a 100 per cent survivability rate with the soldiers in those vehicles. It's more a matter of the requirements as stated by DND."
Bellehumeur said Thales Canada is still interested in being involved in the TAPV program but would offer its services as an integrator of military equipment to various firms bidding on the project. "One of the strengths of Thales Canada is that we can integrate other peoples systems, not only our own, including those provided by the Crown," he added.
Bellehumeur said DEW can now offer its services to other bidders.
Its unclear, however, what DEW Engineering's plans are for TAPV.
The government expects to issue a final request for proposals next year. The military plans to be operating the first vehicles in 2013. The TAPV will be delivered in two variants, a reconnaissance vehicle and a general utility variant.
Thales is a European-based defence and space industry giant. Thales Canada has 1,500 employees in Halifax, Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver working in defence and security, aerospace and transportation.
DEW employs more than 400 people with the main plant and headquarters in Ottawa and a manufacturing organization in Miramichi, N.B.
The Canadian government's list of pre-qualified bidders for TAPV includes French, U.S. and British firms. Those are BAE Systems Hgglunds AB with the Alligator 6x6, BAE Systems Land Systems OMC with the RG-31 Mk5 EM and RG-35 RPU, Force Protection Industries, Inc., with the Cougar 4x4 and Cougar 6x6, Nexter Systems with the Aravis, Oshkosh Corporation with the M-ATV, and Textron Marine and Land Systems with the MSV (Mobile Survivable Vehicle).
The Bushmaster is the second vehicle to leave the program. In the summer, the government informed German military contractor Krauss-Maffei Wegmann that its Dingo vehicle did not make the final cut.
The firm had not filled out all its paperwork properly so it was disqualified from the competition. The Dingo is combat proven and has been used on missions in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Lebanon.