OTTAWA – Internal federal documents say it’s going to cost the Canadian Army more than planned to house new armoured vehicles, and commanders are worried they won’t have enough cash in the future for the fleet’s basic upkeep.

Reports prepared for former associate defence minister Bernard Valcourt lay out in stark detail the pitfalls associated with the purchase of 108 close combat vehicles — a program whose future is being debated at the highest levels of the Harper government.

Defence sources say cabinet may be called upon to ultimately decide the fate of the $2.1-billion program, which has apparently already received federal Treasury Board approval.

The vehicles were conceived at the height of the war in Afghanistan as the army looked for better protection from roadside bombs and booby traps, but critics now say the program’s time has passed.

An October 2012 report from the inter-departmental committee overseeing the program shows the contract was to be awarded to one of three bidders this month, but nothing has transpired.

Having another major military purchase go off the rails would be a political black eye for the Conservatives just as Parliament is about to resume.