National Defence lowballing cost of used Aussie fighters: budget officer

OTTAWA — The parliamentary budget officer is poking holes in the Defence Department’s cost estimates for buying and operating second-hand fighter jets from Australia, saying its own figures put the cost 22 per cent higher than reported.

Budget watchdog Yves Giroux says the federal government will pay nearly $1.1 billion to buy, upgrade and fly the 18 aircraft alongside Canada’s existing CF-18s over the next decade.

Giroux says that’s $200 million more than the Defence Department’s own estimate because he believes it will cost more to extend the lives of the 30-year-old Australian planes than officials have said.