Batteries not included

Here in these pages, I have been a believer that the free market works but one of the pre-conditions of that form of market efficiency is full disclosure. So it was with a shock that I found this article from the Ottawa Citizen that revealed that Canada's purchase of the F-35 fighter jets does not include an engine:

The multi-million dollar F-35 stealth fighter that the Conservatives want to purchase comes with all the accoutrements of a high-tech aircraft — everything, that is, except an engine.


The government will be required to provide engines for the 65 planes to be delivered by U.S. manufacturer Lockheed Martin, according to newly released Defence Department documents.

Why, in the middle of an election, that the opposition parties haven't jumped all over this story is a mystery to me.