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Sajjan avoided the question of whether this new approach would be cheaper in the long run.

“Once we enter into discussions, then we will get all the costs necessary and, until then, we want to make sure we go through the right process to be able to get the right costing for it,” he added.

Procurement Minister Judy Foote said the government has a rough idea of how much the Super Hornets will cost but declined to release that number.

The government has told Boeing it is interested in buying the jets and will now enter negotiations with the company and the U.S. government.

But the former head of procurement for the Department of National Defence says such a strategy doesn’t make sense.

“You don’t tell a company you intend on buying their product and then try to negotiate a price,” said Alan Williams, the former assistant deputy minister for materiel. “You lose any negotiating power you might have had.”

Others industry representatives point out the purchase of the Super Hornets might not be as cost-effective as the government thinks.

Kuwait is proceeding with a deal for 40 Super Hornets for $10 billion US, or around $13 billion Canadian. The deal includes weapons, spare parts and other support.

Williams said the Liberals wasted a year during which they could have started a competition, eliminating the need to buy what the government calls an “interim” purchase of Super Hornets.

The Liberals have also indicated the modernization of the existing CF-18 jets will also have to proceed. The price tag on that is estimated at up to $500 million, depending on what the government decides needs to be done to keep those planes flying.