A rendering of what the new Boeing P8-A Poseidon will look like.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/KF Aerospace
December 01, 2023 - 12:00 PM
A Kelowna-based aerospace company will be maintaining the RCAF's new surveillance planes the federal government is buying from Boeing.
The federal government announced yesterday, Nov. 30, it will be replacing the aging Lockheed CP-140 with the Boeing P8-A Poseidon.
The deal costs more than $10.3 billion in total, including US$5.9 billion for the jets themselves, and the planes are expected to be delivered in 2026 and 2027.
"These aircraft are not just planes. They are complex weapons systems. And the Poseidon has a proven capability with a track record of success," Defence Minister Bill Blair said at a news conference in Ottawa.
READ MORE: 'The only choice': Defence Department going with Boeing to replace aging Aurora fleet
The Aurora fleet, already more than four decades old, will reach its retirement age in 2030, and Blair said replacing it before that date was imperative.
KF Aerospace will be providing maintenance on the new aircrafts. The details regarding KF’s role in the maintenance are to be announced when the deal with Boeing is finalized. The company is unsure how many of the estimated 3,000 new jobs will be in Kelowna.
“The jobs we will be adding will be highly skilled labour jobs. Mostly aircraft maintenance engineers that are the backbone of our workforce. They are high quality jobs,” Matt Stone from KF Aerospace said.
KF Aerospace will start working on maintenance in 2026 when the first plane is expected to be delivered.
The planes will be the new Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft. The new P8-A will have various purposes including “anti-submarine and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance,” according to a press release from the Department of National Defence.
“Boeing will be making strategic investments with leading Canadian firms and has also committed to growing its presence in Canada through further investments. We will continue to work with Boeing to ensure that Canadian companies can fully seize on all opportunities related to this important procurement,” Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in the Defence Department’s release.
KF Aerospace has worked with Boeing on civilian planes for 30 years, but this is the first time it has worked with Boeing on a military project. KF Aerospace’s CEO Tracy Medve said the benefits of this deal will be felt by workers in the industry in B.C.
“KF Aerospace’s growing relationship with the Boeing Company has led to more high-quality jobs at our company and increased economic benefits around our operations in British Columbia and Ontario. This partnership empowers us to increase the skills of our workforce while continuing to establish our company as a leading Canadian aerospace firm and extend our global reach,” Medve said in the release.
In a media briefing on Thursday, federal officials said the fleet will give Canada new capabilities, particularly in the Arctic, to hunt submarines. The planes will also be used for search-and-rescue operations and maritime patrols, and they will have anti-ship missiles.
The officials from the Defence Department, the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Procurement Department were providing the information on the condition they not be named.
Allies including Norway are already flying the Boeing planes in the Far North.
All other members of the Five Eyes Intelligence alliance — the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand — as well as Germany and South Korea fly the Boeing P-8, or plan to do so.
— With files from The Canadian Press.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Jesse Tomas or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.
News from © iNFOnews, 2023