September 26, 2022 | Local, Naval
Irving recruiting foreign workers to build Royal Canadian Navy's new warship fleet
Irving Shipbuilding wants to bring in more foreign workers to help construct the Canadian navy's new fleet of warships.
April 9, 2019 | Local, C4ISR, Security
A cyber war has started and Canada isn't ready to fight it, says report
Murray Brewster · CBC News
Analysis says Canada lagging far behind its allies in responding to cyber warfare threat
A new report questions how well prepared the Canadian military and the federal government are to fight a cyber war that, for all intents and purposes, has started already.
The Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), which represents major weapons and high-tech manufacturers, warns in a new report that, despite recent investments and policy papers, the country is lagging far behind its allies in preparing to fight a new kind of war.
"The cyber threat to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) permeates domestically through vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure, combat systems and equipment, and extends to where the military is deployed abroad," said the association's report, released Thursday.
"Russia have proven their ability to launch attacks that cripple critical systems in seconds or quietly collect intelligence for years. The CAF has only recently received approval to engage in active and offensive operations at scale (though specialized activity has been present for years)."
'A genuine sense of urgency'
To compile the report, researchers at CADSI conducted 70 interviews with government and military officials, as well as defence industry leaders.
Christyn Cianfarani, the association's president, said the feedback was frank.
"There's a genuine sense of urgency for Canada to advance in this space," she said. Even if the public doesn't feel the country is vulnerable, she added, "we could stand to be vulnerable by not moving forward very quickly."
The report comes just weeks after a House of Commons committee heard that online attacks on Canada's financial system and other key infrastructure could become far more destructive as more militaries around the globe get involved in cyber operations.
That testimony came from security expert and former CIA analyst Christopher Porter, an executive at the U.S. cyber security company Fireeye, Inc.
He said the west's imposition of sanctions on "some countries" has in the past been met with denial-of-service attacks on financial services websites, but those attacks have only been disruptive.
"In the future, they may respond with destructive attacks," he testified on Feb. 6.
Cianfarani echoed that warning.
"I think, if you look, other nations are attacking Canada," she said. "Other nations aren't just attacking Canada in a short-game play. They are attacking Canada and trying to influence things in our country in a long-game play."
The defence association report also took aim at the federal government's ponderous procurement system, noting that adversaries and allies have "demonstrated their ability to deploy new cyber capabilities in months or weeks, while the CAF remains burdened by a years-long and sometimes decades-long procurement cycle."
Time to 'blow up' the procurement system?
Cianfarani said the procurement system has to "be blown up" and "torn apart" when it comes to acquiring cyber equipment and services.
It should take six months, not 10 years, to get those kinds of products into the hands of cyber operators, she added.
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan's office declined comment and referred CBC News to the Communications Security Establishment, which defends the federal government's networks.
While CSE spokesman Evan Koronewski did not address the specific criticisms in the industry association report, he pointed to the creation of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, which brings "operational security experts from across the Government of Canada under one roof" — something that is expected to deliver a more unified approach.
"Although we cannot speak specifically to the Cyber Centre's capabilities, we are confident our men and women have the tools they need to deliver on their mission," Koronewski said in an email.
The study found "government and industry lack the mutual trust required to effectively collaborate in the cyber defence of Canada" and proposed a series of remedies.
"This distrust has been sown over time through a history of unproductive engagements, limited communications and inadequate mutual understanding of each other's capabilities," said the analysis.
The Council of Canadian Innovators has delivered a similar message to the federal government on many occasions over the last two years, but Cianfarani said she believes that the upcoming federal election and the possibility of interference in it — foreign or otherwise — will focus the attention of both the public and decision-makers.
"I think around an election is probably when we have the loudest voice, and it's when we're probably, as a country, the most vulnerable," she said.
The report pointed to other countries, such as the United States, where cyber defence strategies are primarily driven by industry, supported by the academic community and funded by the government without bureaucratic limitations.
"A similar approach for Canada could mobilize a strong, sovereign line of defence against rapidly evolving cyber threats," the report said.
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July 28, 2020 | Local, Naval
It's the mileage, not the years: Military says it plans to keep subs afloat past retirement dates
Conservative critic says maintenance plan ignores fact that not everything on a submarine can be replaced Murray Brewster The Canadian navy has found a very creative way to keep its second-hand submarines afloat until the late 2030s and early 2040s — a plan that emphasizes maintenance over age in predicting how long the vessels can remain seaworthy. The plan — according to a newly-released briefing note prepared in the run-up to the release of the Liberal government's marquee defence policy — would not see HMCS Victoria decommissioned until the end of 2042, giving the warship over 45 years service in Canada. That estimate does not include the time the boat served with Britain's Royal Navy, which would add at least a decade to its working life. The retirements of the other submarines — HMCS Chicoutimi, HMCS Windsor and HMCS Corner Brook — would be staggered throughout the 2030s, with Windsor being the first to go in 2033. "The [Victoria Class Submarines] are a well-designed and solidly constructed class of modern conventional submarines that have had an unusual life since entering service with the [Royal Navy] in the early 1990s," said the August 2016 briefing analysis, recently obtained by Conservative Party researchers. "'While chronologically 20 years older, they have not been operated extensively during that time." The boats were first constructed for the Royal Navy in the 1980s, but Britain decided to sell them when the government of the day made the policy decision to operate only nuclear-powered submarines. One aspect of the Liberal defence policy, released in June 2017, that has puzzled military experts and opposition critics alike was its assumption that the submarines — which have had a tortured technical history that includes one fatal fire — will remain in service until at least the 2040s. The briefing note spells out in detail — and for the first time publicly — how the navy intends to squeeze more life out of boats it was supposed to start retiring in four years. It was originally envisioned, the briefing said, that the Victoria-Class submarines would retire one at a time, beginning in 2024. he report argues it is possible to operate the submarines beyond their expected working lives if the military assesses the "material state" of each boat rather than following "a simplistic calendar driven" evaluation of their operational condition. In others words, the report argues that what matters most is not how old the submarines are, but rather how hard have they been driven and how well have they been maintained. The submarines operate on what's called a "6-2 schedule" — six years of service at sea followed by two years of deep maintenance before returning to duty. The briefing note proposes that the boats do nine years of service and then go into a longer refurbishment of up to three years. The submarines would need a full life-extension overhaul in addition to the extended maintenance plan. As evidence to support the plan, the briefing note to senior defence officials pointed to a 2013 study of the Victoria-Class submarines — which said that "although there are numerous technical and supportability challenges, there was no single obstacle precluding a life extension of up to 12 years." 'Lower expectations' The briefing offers one note of caution, however: "It is reasonable to assume that operational availability will decrease as the submarine ages." The briefing note predicted higher maintenance and sustainment costs as the boats get older. To save money, it said, the navy might have to lower expectations of what the boats can do. The existing plan "assumed that there would be no relaxation of operational performance requirements, although in fact some discretion by the Operational Requirements Authority in this regard may be feasible as a cost saving measure," said the note. Conservative defence critic James Bezan said he was astounded by the plan to stretch out the operational life of the subs. He said he doesn't blame the naval planners who drew up the document — but he does hold the Liberal government accountable, arguing it must have ordered the Department of National Defence to give it some justification for putting off the purchase of new submarines. "It is ridiculous," Bezan said. "There was potential for some political direction on how this was written." Canada's submarine fleet spent 'zero days' at sea last year: government documents Canada's front-line frigates have suffered 10 fire and smoke incidents since 2018 In an interview with CBC News at the end of last year, the commander of the navy, Vice-Admiral Art McDonald, defended the plan to extend the life of the boats, saying he had full confidence in the "pretty resourceful and capable" submarine engineering community. The defence policy, he said, "directed us to operate and modernize" the submarine fleet and he's confident it can be done safely. "We know there is still excellent life in the Victoria-class submarine," McDonald told CBC News. "I've seen that personally as an outsider who has come into the program and taken a look at it." The focus of the subs' modernization project — which was in the early stages of being developed when the pandemic hit back in late winter — will be on survivability and making the submarines more livable for crew members. "We're going to be able to operate those boats into the 2030s, but to do that we have to continue with the routine investments we've made and modernize, as was directed" by the defence policy, McDonald said. Not everything can be replaced A series of assessments was conducted between 2008 and 2014. The defence department's naval board, which is charged with planning the future shape of the fleet, met in November 2014 to study the life expectancy of the second-hand boats. "While it is considered unrealistic to predict the material state of 40-year-old platforms, 20 years into the future, certain items such as the pressure hull and main motor will require additional monitoring and maintenance above the current regime, since unpredicted degradation in such areas may not be cost effective to repair and mitigate," said the 2016 briefing note. And that's the problem with the life-extension plan, said Bezan: some key parts of a submarine — such as the pressure hull and the engines — can't be upgraded. He also pointed to how the submarine fleet had "zero days at sea" in 2019 because all of the vessels were tied up for maintenance. The analysis, Bezan said, shows that the Liberal government should immediately begin looking for a replacement for the submarines — something the previous Conservative government was in the process of doing when it was defeated in 2015. The options that were discussed before the election, he said, included partnering with the Australians — who were in the process of acquiring their own submarine replacements — or buying an off-the-shelf design for inclusion in the federal shipbuilding strategy. None of those ideas got very far before the election, he added. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadian-forces-navy-submarine-1.5665020
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March 31, 2020 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Webinaire : Coronavirus (COVID-19) : Défis et obligations légales
L'industrie aérospatiale vit une situation exceptionnelle qui nous invite à faire preuve de créativité dans nos modes de communication. Aéro Montréal se mobilise pour ses membres et continue sa série de webinaires. Retrouvez-nous le vendredi 3 avril, de 11 h à 12 h 00, pour un second webinaire en partenariat avec Norton Rose Fulbright sur le thème : Coronavirus (COVID-19) : Défis et obligations légales des entreprises en temps de pandémie. Animé par Éric Lallier, Associé chez Norton Rose Fulbright Canada, ce rendez-vous, spécifiquement conçu pour les chefs d'entreprise et leurs gestionnaires, vise à faire le point sur les obligations légales liées à l'emploi dans cette situation exceptionnelle : À l'agenda : Les obligations des employeurs relatives au droit du travail à la lumière des nouvelles mesures disponibles pour leur entreprise La gestion d'employés dans un contexte de réduction des opérations (Refus de travailler, congés protégés, mises à pied temporaires, cessations d'emploi) Une période de question ouvertes avec Éric Lallier. Veuillez noter que le nombre de places est limité et réservé aux membres d'Aéro Montréal. RÉSERVEZ VOTRE PLACE *Suivant votre inscription, un lien Web vous sera envoyé. https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/billets-webinaire-coronavirus-covid-19-defis-et-obligations-legales-101663183318