Article content continued

But in announcing the plan to purchase Super Hornets on Nov. 22, cabinet ministers said the government would also set aside money to train more pilots and maintenance crew.

Pennie and Deschamps said even if enough potential pilots and mechanics are recruited, it will take time to get them through training.

“We don’t have the depth in our system of personnel to operate two fleets simultaneously without significant growth in the number of personnel,” said Pennie, who ran the air force from 2003-2005.

“And that takes many years.”

The Liberals have promised to replace the CF-18s with a full and open competition, but warned the process could take five years as the government wants to make sure it gets things right.

Pennie and Deschamps questioned why a competition should take that long, echoing two former heads of military procurement at National Defence who have said it could be held in half the time.

The two retired air force commanders also expressed concerns about the potential costs of operating two different types of fighter jets at the same time until a replacement for the CF-18s can be obtained.

“Airplanes are expensive and training all the pilots and making sure they’re supported to the degree they need to be supported, that all comes at a cost,” said Pennie, who is now a consultant in Ottawa but says he has not done any work on fighter jets.

“That’s why the interim aircraft fleet is a bad idea. It drives a lot of cost on an interim basis that you don’t need to be spending.”

Ministers have admitted they have an idea how much the Super Hornets will cost and that it will be more expensive in the long run for taxpayers, but they have refused to say by how much in order to protect their bargaining power with Boeing.