Leonardo's C-27J in a furball with Airbus' C-295 over speed?

Thanks to Darren for the link!

via National Post.

Canada’s new search and rescue aircraft could take up to two days to reach survivors of a disaster at the North Pole but the Canadian military doesn’t have a problem with that, according to recently filed court documents.
A legal battle is now underway in the Federal Court in Ottawa over the Liberal government’s $4.7-billion fixed-wing search-and-rescue aircraft program.
The Italian aerospace firm, Leonardo, is angry that its C-27J aircraft, which it contends could reach the North Pole in a single flight from a military base in Winnipeg, was rejected by the federal government.
The winning aircraft, the Airbus C-295, is slower and would take two days to reach a disaster site at the North Pole or similar Arctic locations, Leonardo’s representatives argue.
The company is asking the court to overturn the contract to Airbus and instead award the lucrative deal to Leonardo and its Canadian partners.

In its affidavit, Leonardo alleges the Airbus aircraft fails to meet the government’s basic criteria since it can’t conduct a mission to the outer regions of the military’s allotted rescue area within 13 flying hours.
But that isn’t a problem, according to the latest response to the court from the federal government. In fact, there are no time constraints as long as the aircraft is capable of flying to that location and staying at the scene for an hour and then returning to an airfield, the government argues.

Story here. 

This is weird.  How can operations over the arctic be a point of emphasis with the F-35 vs. Super Hornet but when it comes to rescue aircraft arriving on
scene is considered a non-factor by the govt?

Ordinarily I view protests over competitions with a skeptical eye.  Not this one. Leonardo has a point.  A good point!