The Canadian government has taken a third of the increased equipment budget it gave the military after 11 September to buy two new Challenger business jets for the Prime Minister. These will replace the two oldest Challengers in the six-plane VIP transport squadron despite those two aircraft having a 99 percent availability rate. The government said it needed the planes immediately but that defense upgrades could wait and promised to reimburse the military for the borrowed funds at some future time.--Stephen V Cole