Canada: F-35 fallout blamed for collapse of another military procurement program
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/fallout+blamed+collapse+another+military+procurement+program/7867386/story.html
F-35 fallout blamed for collapse of another military procurement program
By David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen January 24, 2013
OTTAWA The fallout from the Conservative governments F-35 purchase is being blamed for yet another military equipment project going off the rails.
Public Works and Government Services Canada rejected all the bids from companies for a project to outfit soldiers with a futuristic system of sensors that would better allow them to communicate and find their way on the battlefield.
The $316-million Integrated Soldier System Project, or ISSP, was set to announce in December the winning firm that had been selected for the first phase of the program. But with all bids rejected, the project will now be restarted.
Some company representatives involved in the procurement say it could have been easily salvaged, but bad blood between the Defence Department and Public Works over the F-35 fighter jet debacle prevented that from happening.