The government's deal to purchase 100 slightly used Leopard 2A6 battle tanks from the Netherlands will cost roughly double the estimate first presented last month.
Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor announced to the House of Commons Thursday that there will be a 20-year, $650-million service contract attached to the deal, raising the total cost to about $1.3 billion.
The initial capital acquisition of the tanks, to be used to bolster Canada's firepower in Afghanistan, was also about $650 million.
CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife said the higher total doesn't come as a total surprise.
"The $650 million was to purchase the tanks. Obviously in any kind of military purchases, there are servicing contracts that span the life of the vehicle or the piece of armament," Fife told CTV's Canada AM.
"In this case, there's another $650 million to be able to service and upgrade these tanks over a 20-year period."
On April 12, O'Connor announced that the military was going to borrow 20 modern Leopard 2 tanks from Germany and purchase 100 slightly used versions of the same model from the Dutch.
But O'Connor didn't mention the additional costs stemming from a support contract, only the purchase of spare parts and cost of modifications.
Fife said it's not clear whether the government was trying to hide the additional costs -- which he said are a common feature of major military purchases.
"I don't think anyone from the media or the opposition bothered to ask, well what about the servicing costs? ... I don't know whether he was hiding anything, I just don't think we asked the right questions."
A backgrounder from the Department of Defence outlined the spending on Thursday.
"The total project cost of the loaned tanks, the acquisition of 100 surplus tanks from the Netherlands, the requisite upgrades and enhancements to this new Leopard 2 fleet, and an initial acquisition of spare parts is $650 million, which will be funded from existing departmental allocations,'' said the paper released at the minister's Quebec City announcement.
A defence department official speaking on background told The Canadian Press that the $650 million figure was just an estimate, and the upkeep costs could fluctuate.
The government has offered no explanation as to why it broke with its longstanding practice of combining the purchase and support costs into one figure and announcing it all at once.
On Thursday O'Connor also bumped up the estimate of the total cost of fulfilling Canada's commitment to Afghanistan between February 2006 and February 2009, when the mission is scheduled to end.
"He also said, by the way, that over the life of our mission in Afghanistan, it's going to be $4.3 billion dollars to keep our troops in Afghanistan until 2009. That's $400 million more than they expected and probably next year he'll tell us it's even more," Fife said.
The increase over estimates from last November is attributable to the additional cost of reinforcements, including tanks and troops, sent over last September.
