Canada Hesitates on Plan for F-35 Jets OTTAWA - Canada's plan to buy 65 F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin grew less certain on Tuesday after a scathing report by the country's auditor general. While large military contracts are often politically contentious in Canada, the Conservative government's decision in 2010 to join the United States in selecting the F-35 as the country's next fighter aircraft has been particularly controversial. Cost increases and delays in the F-35 program have caused headaches for both governments, and Canadian critics argue that the aircraft costs too much and is too sophisticated for the needs of the country's air force. Michael Ferguson, the auditor general, said on Tuesday that his staff had concluded that the F-35 was selected without a "fair competition" and that the Canadian military had underestimated the cost of the aircraft and overstated industrial spinoffs for Canadian manufacturers. He added that the government had not made sufficient provisions to handle increased costs. "There were significant problems in the decision making process," Mr. Ferguson told a news conference here. For this kind of a purchase, a $25 billion purchase, they should have done a better job. The report does not deal with the role of politicians in the process. By law, the auditor general's department may review only the work of public servants. Initially, the Conservative government led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper vigorously defended the purchase of F-35s, at times suggesting that its critics did not have the safety and well-being of members of the military in mind. But over the last several weeks, Mr. Harper and the cabinet minister responsible for military procurement have been distancing the government from the program. "At some point we will have to make a final decision," Mr. Harper said last month. But obviously we have not signed a contract so that we can retain our flexibility in terms of ensuring the best deal for taxpayers. Shortly after the release of the auditor general's report, and before members of opposition parties began their attacks, the government announced that it had frozen its budget for the direct purchase of the aircraft at 9 billion Canadian dollars. It also said that the purchase would be overseen by a wider variety of government departments. The auditor general said that it was still unclear how much the aircraft would cost. But his auditors concluded that the government appeared to have both understated the likely purchase price - the 9 billion Canadian dollar estimate - and not included several substantial costs directly related to the program. The country probably cannot stay within its budget by reducing the size of its order. The F-35s will replace a fleet of CF-18s, a variation of the F-18, which went into service during the 1980s and which will remain airworthy without further upgrades until the end of the decade. Sixty five, it is widely agreed, is the minimum number of replacements required. Lockheed Martin did not respond to requests for comment. Two weeks ago in an e-mail, Keelan Green, a spokesman for Lockheed Martin Canada, wrote that "the government of Canada has not indicated to Lockheed Martin that it is changing its commitment to the F-35 program."