Cost-cutting military kills $2-billion armoured vehicle order

OTTAWA – The Canadian Army is scrapping a $2-billion order for new armoured vehicles — the latest in a series of troubled procurement programs.

Gen. Tom Lawson, the chief of defence staff, is announcing the cancellation of a planned order for 108 close-combat vehicles.

Bids by three defence contractors — Nexter, BAE Systems Inc. and General Dynamics Land Systems Inc. — are to expire on Monday and the military has decided not to pick a winner.

The program has been in the balance for months after the army suggested it was worried about whether it could afford to train crews and operate and maintain the vehicles in a time of tight budgets.

Having yet another major military purchase go down the drain could be a political black eye for the Conservatives, who’ve struggled to deliver on an extensive list of military equipment.

In addition to the armoured vehicles, National Defence and Public Works in the summer of 2012 cancelled and subsequently restarted a program to buy 1,500 trucks for the military.