(Montreal) Bombardier says its planes that could replace aging Canadian maritime patrol aircraft will be priced competitively with jets offered by its American rival, Boeing.

The Montreal business jet manufacturer partnered with the American company General Dynamics this year to produce a surveillance plane equipped with submarine detection technology. Both partners call on the Government of Canada to launch an open procurement process to replace the 14 CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft, which are set to be retired in 2030 after half a century of use by the Royal Air Force Canadian.

Last month, a US Department of Defense agency said the price of the 16 Boeing P-8A Poseidons and associated equipment the company aims to sell to the Canadian government was US$5.9 billion. Bombardier says it is capable of competing with such a proposal, although the Quebec company has so far refused to specify a price.

Public Services and Procurement Canada has described Boeing’s P-8A as the only aircraft currently available that meets its needs.

The Bombardier plane, a modified version of the 6500 global business jet equipped with General Dynamics technology and sensors, has so far only existed on paper, although the manufacturer says the plane could be ready in the early 2030s.

Bombardier Defense executive vice-president Jean-Christophe Gallagher claimed last May that the modified business jet was suited to the high-tech demands of the 21st century, while Boeing’s plane was the result of a design for an end-of-line aircraft from the 1970s, according to him.

Company quoted in this dispatch: Bombardier (TSX: BBD.B)