US defence expert says F-35 jets are over-priced and "nothing to write home about"

An American defence expert says Canada will pay at least twice what the government has been telling Canadians for the controversial F-35 fighter jets it wants to purchase. The government has announced plans to buy 65 of the jets from Lougheed Martin, with payment starting in 2014 and delivery in 2016.

Winslow Wheeler, of the Centre for Defence Information in Washington, told a press conference on Parliament Hill that "nobody on this earth" will get the planes for $75 million per jet by the time they are fully tested and developed. The cost will be more in the neighbourhood of $148 million, he said.

Not only is the price out of line, but the plane itself, according to Wheeler, is not worth it. "This airplane is nothing to write home about," said Wheeler at an event organized by an Ottawa think tank, the Rideau Institute. He cast doubt on the capabilities of the F-35 and said even if they do end up being "as advertised" when it's finally finished, the model is still "a gigantic performance disappointment."

The government estimates the total cost for buying and operating the new F-35 fleet at $9 billion, based on a per unit cost of $75 million US. Those figures don't match with an analysis done by Page. He recently released a report putting the cost of each F-35 plane at around $148 million.

Wheeler said Page's estimate is "by far and away" the more accurate one. He also advised the government to make a decision to purchase based on a competitive process.

"Compete several procurement-ready prototypes and then make a decision. That's the way some of our most successful airplanes were done," he said. "You have plenty of time to do that, your CF-18s are going to be around for a few more years."

Wheeler said there are plenty of fighter jet models out there and Lockheed Martin should certainly be invited to participate in a competitive bid with its planes.