Canada seeks to buy Boeing jets as interim defense measure
OTTAWA -- Canada on Thursday unveiled plans to buy 18 Boeing Corp Super Hornets as a stop-gap measure while it prepared an open five-year competition to replace its aging fleet of fighter jets.
Procurement Minister Judy Foote told a news conference the government would launch immediate talks with Boeing for the Super Hornets, in a victory for the US plane maker if the order goes ahead.
One defense contractor said the choice could be interpreted as giving Boeing a long-term advantage but Foote, speaking in a phone interview, later said Ottawa would run "a real, open, transparent competition" where any firm could compete.
