The National Post reports in its Thursday edition that the U.S. Congress has been told of the upcoming sale of Boeing P-8s to Canada at a cost of $5.9-billion (U.S.). Postmedia's David Pugliese writes that the U.S. government is paving the way for the sale to Canada of 16 new surveillance aircraft, saying the multibillion-dollar deal will help American military forces in their missions around the world. In a notice about the proposed sale issued late Tuesday, the U.S. government stated that the deal will support American foreign policy and national security objectives. "This proposed sale will increase Canadian maritime forces' interoperability with the United States and other allied forces, as well as their ability to contribute to missions of mutual interest," the statement from the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency added. "This will significantly improve network-centric warfare capability for the U.S. forces operating globally alongside Canada." Canada made a formal request in late March to the U.S. asking it to offer a fleet of Boeing P-8 surveillance aircraft. The Canadian Forces had originally planned a competition starting next year to replace the Royal Canadian Air Force's CP-140 Aurora aircraft.