The US government has approved the $5.9 billion sale of 16 Poseidon to Canada, even as Canadian aircraft maker Bombardier is lobbying to instead sell a specialized variant of its smaller Global Express business jet.
The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Canada of P-8A Aircraft and related equipment for an estimated cost of $5.9 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today.
The Government of Canada has requested to buy:
— up to sixteen (16) P-8A Patrol Aircraft;
— up to twenty-six (26) Multifunctional Information Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio System 5 (MIDS JTRS 5);
— up to thirty-eight (38) Embedded Global Positioning Systems (GPS)/Inertial Navigation Systems (EGIs) for the LN-251;
— up to twenty-five (25) System Processor Replacements for AN/AAQ-24(V)N Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) System Processor Replacement (LSPR) with Exelis Embedded GPS Receiver (EGR) integrated with SAASM; and
— up to twenty-two (22) Guardian Laser Transmitter Assemblies (GLTA) for the AN/AAQ-24(V)N.