The lifetime cost of buying, owning and operating the air force’s troubled CH-148 Cyclones is now expected to top $14.87 billion, according to a leaked internal Department of National Defence briefing document obtained by CBC News.
Most of the expense — $10 billion — is being attributed to the cost of sustaining the aircraft. The CH-148 Cyclone is unique; no other nation flies the maritime helicopter.
The estimate is contained in a spreadsheet in a submission sent to the federal Treasury Board in late 2021, when the Department of National Defence (DND) was seeking an additional $111 million to top up the program’s budget. The
