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April 24, 2022 | Local, Aerospace

Achat de F-35 | Le Canada aura finalement évité les problèmes de rodage, selon un ex-pilote

Un ancien pilote d’essai de F-35 croit que le Canada aura probablement bénéficié de sa décision de ne pas acheter ce nouveau chasseur furtif il y a plus de dix ans. Mais il estime maintenant qu’Ottawa devait mettre fin à ses tergiversations et opter rapidement pour cet avion de chasse américain.

https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/national/2022-04-18/achat-de-f-35/le-canada-aura-finalement-evite-les-problemes-de-rodage-selon-un-ex-pilote.php

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  • Canada’s air medical transport providers say collaboration, communication are keys to pandemic response

    April 22, 2020 | Local, C4ISR, Security

    Canada’s air medical transport providers say collaboration, communication are keys to pandemic response

    Posted on April 22, 2020 by Lisa Gordon As news of the novel coronavirus – first identified in Wuhan, China in late December – began to percolate its way through the mainstream news media, a few staff members at Ornge, Ontario's air medical transport provider, began to take notice. “It piqued our interest quite early on, since many of us had been through SARS [in 2003],” said Justin Smith, chief flight paramedic. “We began to figure out what PPE we had and what would be required to move forward.” Canada's first case of the novel coronavirus, later named COVID-19, was reported on Jan. 15, 2020. Subsequent cases occurred gradually through the end of February, all among travellers who had returned to Canada from countries affected by the virus. The number of Canadian cases increased sharply in March, and that's when Ornge activated its pandemic plan. Smith was outlining the organization's response during a webinar hosted by the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) on April 21. Moderated by association president and CEO, Cameron Curtis, the discussion was billed as a town hall meeting focused on the Canadian air medical community's pandemic response. In addition to Ornge, representatives from Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service (STARS) and B.C. Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) participated in the panel. Ornge, which operates 13 bases across Ontario with a mix of rotary, fixed-wing and land-based patient transport assets, has so far moved 209 confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients. Overall, 57 per cent were moved with land vehicles, 24 per cent with the Pilatus PC-12 fixed-wing fleet and 19 per cent with its Leonardo AW139 helicopters. So far, the total number of missions Ornge is performing has dropped by about 35 to 45 per cent across the board. Medical director Dr. Michael Peddle attributed that decrease to the cancellation of non-urgent elective procedure transports as well as about a 10 per cent decline in urgent cases compared to last year. Communication has been critical to developing Ornge's pandemic response. Smith said a joint clinical/operational committee has been formed and meets daily to tackle questions that come up about personal protective equipment (PPE), for example, or the way paramedics carry out clinical procedures. Added Peddle: “We discuss active challenges within the fleet. We write operations clinical guidelines – a living document for all frontline staff including aviation AMEs [aircraft maintenance engineers] and paramedics. It outlines operational management processes, PPE, decontamination etc. One of the things we've found very important is communication with frontline staff.” Ornge has implemented weekly town hall meetings for all staff, where some clinical and operational information is provided and questions are answered. In addition, an internal web page provides further resources. “From a process perspective, we've made some changes to our pairings and our staffing to make sure we have capacity if we have issues with our workforce being sick or unable to attend work,” said Peddle. Overall, staffing has been adequate to this point, but Ornge has built a plan for surge management to help it meet the needs of communities across Ontario, if required. While all Ornge employees are screened when they come to work, the patient transport provider has also rolled out some additional skills, said Peddle, including prone ventilation and expanded rapid sequence intubation. A standing item on the organization's checklist is an evaluation of current PPE standards. Ornge medical staff wear gowns, gloves, face shields and eye protection, in line with Ontario guidelines. “One of the mainstays of our approach has been do what you know and do it perfectly,” Smith commented. “We instituted PPE donning and doffing checklists and created a PPE utilization flowchart. As we know in transport medicine, where you don and doff your PPE can vary. We found the flowchart reduced anxiety because it provided rules, including for the pilot group.” While fixed-wing pilots have a high rate of PPE “burn,” it's much lower with rotary-wing. Helicopter pilots don't usually have to help with patient onboarding due to the AW139's self-loading stretcher system. Keeping safe is the priority Ornge is not the only air medical provider who has noticed an overall drop in missions during the pandemic. STARS operates a fleet of Airbus H145, BK117 and Leonardo AW139 helicopters from three bases in Alberta, two in Saskatchewan and one in Manitoba. STARS has been slowly acquiring new H145 aircraft since April 2019, and plans to replace its BK117 and AW139 fleet with a total of nine H145s. “We're actually seeing a decreased mission volume,” said Dave Evans, senior director, Clinical Services, STARS. “We're still transporting urgent patients, the typical heart attacks and strokes we would typically transport. ILI [influenza-like illness]-type transports account for 13 per cent of mission volume right now.” Fortunately, COVID-19 spread in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba has been below some of the predictive models, he added, and hospitals aren't necessarily overwhelmed yet. STARS has so far transported two confirmed COVID-19 patients since the numbers shot up about a month ago. “With the cancellation of pro sports . . . things got really busy within that first week, with the amount of info needing to be shared and the learnings coming out from Europe and China,” recalled Evans. “It became evident we needed to start a small group just to field all those questions from our crew. So we started the COVID Communications Working Group right away. Our role was to support our chief medical officer to make sure we're following best practices, medical evidence, provincial guidelines across the three provinces. Keeping safe was the priority.” The working group has been sending out frequent communications, both written and video, twice a week. STARS is lucky to have 100 per cent staffing right now, despite a dip in the beginning of the pandemic related to mandatory post-travel isolation. Staff are currently checked for symptoms before each shift, including temperature screening, with documentation required before crews can enter hospitals. Luckily, PPE procurement has been relatively painless and the organization is adjusting usage parameters in accordance with emerging evidence. The COVID Communications Working Group is being led by Dr. Jamin Mulvey, incoming STARS Calgary medical director, who also participated in the webinar. He was working in the U.K. with London Air Ambulance and returned to Canada early in the pandemic. “The biggest challenge is that with a lot of information out there, it's rapidly changing practices and emerging guidelines,” said Mulvey. “We're dealing with a lot of opinion and low-level evidence, and we're trying to sift through it effectively and make robust guidelines for our group. “Some areas that have been a little bit challenging is the discussion on what exactly is an AGMP – or aerosol generating medical procedure – and with non-invasive ventilation strategies, what are the relative risks of AGMP compared to, say, intubation.” STARS has moved away from non-invasive and high flow procedures on its helicopters unless absolutely necessary, based on very strict guidelines and discussion with the on-duty transport physician. Procedures are constantly being evaluated and adjusted where necessary, for both medical staff and flight crews. Jenny Thorpe is a flight nurse who handles stocking and preparedness ordering for the STARS base in Saskatoon, Sask. “Being on the front lines and directly involved in patient care, it's been a learning curve for myself and our crews,” she told the group. “A month ago, there was a high anxiety level. But we've worked as a group and with our leadership, just taking it one day at a time and realizing this isn't a fast process. It's a journey that won't be over quickly.” Thorpe said the team has found success by focusing on the little things that will keep them safe during a mission, such as following strict PPE donning and doffing procedures for medical crew as well as pilots. She is also an advocate of practice drills. “You can talk about PPE and being prepared, but if you haven't prepared and simulated it, you're going to miss steps. I encourage everyone to simulate caring for a COVID patient. “It's about slowing things down, making sure you're making your decisions with purpose and not reacting.” There is no emergency in a pandemic In Canada's westernmost province, the BCEHS team is following the same steady, purposeful path. “When we're doing a call, we've emphasized there is no emergency in a pandemic,” commented Dr. Steve Wheeler, BCEHS medical director, Critical Transfers and Aviation Medicine. “It all comes down to crew safety. We don't rush into it; we plan and make sure everything is set up. We don't run positive pressure other than intubation. If the patient needs to be intubated for the flight, our threshold is very low, we'll have them intubated in the sending facility. We try to methodically plan out the whole trip.” With six air bases throughout the province, BCEHS has also noticed call volumes have declined by about 30 per cent. “We're not doing the regular amount, we're doing one to two COVID transfers per day that are spread between rotor, fixed-wing and ground transports,” said Wheeler. He said the B.C. team's Australian manager established a network of about 15 global air medical organizations early on in the process. They met three times a week by Skype “to try to prepare for PPE, crew safety, medical procedures, how to ventilate or oxygenate patients in flight, etc. That was extremely helpful for us.” To prepare for a possible surge, BCEHS paused its paramedic training and released the instructors for work, placing some senior and junior students into station support roles. The organization examined available PPE options and decided to adopt Tyvek suits, which has decreased the PPE “burn” rate. The service also purchased 3,000 silicone half-mask respirators with reusable canisters and face shields. Educating its pilots was a high priority for BCEHS. They were heavily trained on donning and doffing PPE; they wear gowns instead of Tyvek suits. Wheeler said the pandemic has delivered several lessons to the province. “For us, this has highlighted to government and health authorities the need to improve and increase the capacity of our inter-facility transfers. Government announced yesterday they will provide five new aircraft. In every pandemic or catastrophe, sometimes there is opportunity.” https://www.skiesmag.com/news/canadas-air-medical-transport-providers-say-collaboration-communication-are-keys-to-pandemic-response

  • HOW COVID-19 IS AFFECTING  CANADA'S DEFENCE AND  AEROSPACE INDUSTRY

    April 1, 2020 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    HOW COVID-19 IS AFFECTING CANADA'S DEFENCE AND AEROSPACE INDUSTRY

    COVID-19 is the most disruptive event to hit the world's economy and nations since World War II, and the end is nowhere in sight. So how will the mix of business shutdowns, self-isolation, and plummeting government tax revenues (further depleted by COVID-19 relief spending) affect the Canadian defence industry? At this early stage, it is impossible to provide a definitive answer. That said, the companies and experts contacted by CDR provided some insights into the problem; based on their best assessments of what is going on. EXPECT DELAYS IN PROCUREMENT DECISIONS COVID-19 is bad news for Canada's defence procurement process. It has already resulted in delays to current projects, such as Irving Shipyards closing down work on the Canadian Surface Combatant in mid-March. It could also delay ongoing procurements such as the Future Fighter Capability Project, which is due to receive proposals from Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, and Saab by June 30, 2020. “In a situation like this, the key decisions are put off in government,” said Alan Williams, (During his 33 years in the federal civil service, Williams was Assistant Deputy Minister, Supply Operations Service in Public Works and Government Services Canada for five years; followed by fives years as DND's Assistant Deputy Minister of Materiel.) “Now you can do a lot of the paperwork associated with the procurement; including reviews and evaluations. But until things get back to normal, the key decisions will be put off.” AIRBUS HELICOPTERS REMAINS OPEN Canadian Airbus Helicopter operators can count on getting service during the COVID-19 shutdown. The reason: “Airbus Helicopters Canada qualifies as an essential workplace in the Province of Ontario,” said Dwayne Charette, the company's President/COO. “This allows us to continue to support our customers operating their helicopters to save lives, protect people and maintain critical infrastructure both in Canada and around the world. Our customers, including law enforcement agencies, militaries, emergency air medical service operators, and utility companies, are all relying on us to ensure they can continue to perform their critical missions and we have a responsibility to support them.” (In maintaining operations, Airbus is following approved COVID-19 infection-prevention procedures.) When it comes to Airbus Defence and Space Canada's contracts with the Canadian Armed Forces for CC-295 fixed-wing search and rescue (FWSAR) aircraft, “We are closely monitoring the situation and are in close contact with our customers,” said company President Simon Jacques. “We will review the situation once operations resume.” (Airbus delivered the first of 16 CC-295s to the RCAF in January 2020.) Airbus is also looking into producing critical medical equipment, in line with the federal government's plea to industry. MV ASTERIX READY TO HELP, DAVIE STILL RUNNING The Canadian Armed Forces are primed and ready to help with COVID-19 relief across Canada. So is Federal Fleet Services, which owns and operates the MV Asterix supply ship on behalf of the Royal Canadian Navy. At the moment, it is sitting crewed and ready for action in Halifax. “When we first designed the MV Asterix, we did a lot to ensure that it was ready for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief,” said Alex Vicefield, chairman and CEO of Inocea Group; the parent company for Federal Fleet Services and Davie Shipbuilding. This is why the MV Asterix has an operating theatre, Intensive Care Unit, and other medical facilities onboard; ready to sail to whatever accessible port the federal government sends it to. “The Asterix is ready to serve as a scaled-down hospital ship; if it were needed for that,” said Vicefield. The ship's hospital even has its own separate HVAC system that would keep the air breathed by COVID-19 patients separate from the rest of the air circulating throughout the ship. Meanwhile, Davie Shipbuilding is continuing to convert three Swedish oil and gas icebreakers to serve with the Canadian Coast Guard. “We're not going to stop this project, obviously, because those are important national security assets for Canada,” said Vicefield. He explained the need to boost Canada's icebreaking capacity without delay in terms COVID-19's possible impact on US food exports to Canada. If this year's US crop yields are slashed due to pandemic deaths and social isolation, “the potential for that food supply to stop coming over the border would make Canada more reliant on foreign ships coming from Europe and so on,” Vicefield told CDR. “So the need for icebreakers is even more pressing.” TERRANOVA PITCHES IN Before COVID-19 hit, Terranova Defense Solutions was focussed on providing drones for air, land, and water applications; including its remotely-controlled Dolphin One water rescue drone. Now that COVID-19 is here, the company intends to answer Ottawa's call for help by adding much-needed medical supplies to its product roster. “Terranova Defense Solutions has already engaged with other companies to global source medical supplies for Canada,” said company President/Founder James Castle. “We are currently waiting for a response from the Canadian government to the next steps and we are prepared to help Canada in whatever way we can for no profit to best serve our Canadian family.” Thanks to its mainstream drone business, Terranova Defense Solutions already has procurement relationships with international partners. “These groups have been working with us as one united front -- helping Canadians through our Call to Arms against COVID-19 – to help us in sourcing new Europe CE and US FDA Certified medical supplies and ventilators for those in need,” said Castle. This said, “Finding transportation and funding to purchase and ship these items has been a challenge.” Looking ahead, “The main challenge facing us at this time is the uncertainty of what the landscape will look like following the pandemic,” Castle told CDR. “We believe that, while there will be negative impacts to the industry, there are and will be opportunities for companies that provide fresh and innovative solutions to the country going forward.” CAE TAKES TOUGH STEPS As detailed in a March 23, 2020 webcast to investors, CAE sees COVID-19 as “a crisis of unprecedented speed and magnitude,” said Marc Parent, CAE's President and Chief Executive Officer. To manage its way through the pandemic's economic impact, CAE farsightedly formed a crisis committee in January 2020. As of March 23rd, “we're taking immediate steps to preserve cash by cutting capital expenditures and reducing operating expenses, including temporary layoffs and salary cuts across the board,” Parent said. In response to a CDR question about the impact of COVID-19 on CAE's defence projects, Parent noted that the company's defence training programs are service level agreements with government clients. This means that payments associated with these defence agreements are not reliant upon actual usage by clients, which is the case with CAE's civil aviation training programs. “We're providing critical services here too, and the US government has recently articulated the absolute necessity of this activity,” said Parent. This said, some US bases have restricted access to their facilities; specifically by imposing 14-day quarantine pre-entry requirements on people from 100 miles outside of these installations. “Anything and everything that has to do with the movement and cooperation of people is more challenging in this environment,” Parent said. “So we've been impacted in terms of getting orders fulfilled, just because of that; getting access to the people, meeting face-to-face ... As well, the general preoccupation with the crisis clearly has an impact on the speed of the procurement processes.” The only good news for CAE in the COVID-19 crisis is that “we have approximately a $4 billion backlog in defence, which provides us with a good source of diversification and visibility,” said Parent. “Longer term, we don't see an obvious structural impact on defence. But I think we can anticipate some short-term friction as we move through this period.” AFTER CANCELLING CANSEC, CADSI TAKES UPBEAT APPROACH COVID-19 is proving to be difficult for the Canadian Association for Defence and Security Industries (CADSI); most notably because it has cancelled plans to stage the CANSEC 2020 global defence and security trade show in Ottawa May 27-28, 2020. The bad news was announced on March 31, 2020, during CADSI's Annual General Meeting (which, due to COVID-19, was held as a teleconference.) “As you can imagine, the decision was not made lightly,” said CADSI President and CEO Christyn Cianafarani. The reason CADSI took so long to cancel this year's CANSEC – compared to other COVID-19 related event cancellations – is because “it has a $10 million impact on the local Ottawa economy,” she explained. “We took the time necessary to explore every possible option with the City of Ottawa, our partners, contractors and suppliers to mitigate the losses to our community, in order to secure the long-term viability of CANSEC.” Despite the loss of CANSEC 2020, Cianafarani is taking an upbeat approach to the pandemic, by focussing on the good things her members are doing for Canada. “Throughout this crisis, the Canadian defence and security sectors have stepped up to support where help is most needed,” Cianafarani told CDR. “Companies from coast-to-coast have refocused their attention to produce in-demand equipment like N95 masks, gloves, testing kits, shelters and ventilators needed to protect health care workers, patients, and the public. With the rise in online activity, cyber defence and security companies have offered free cyber protection services to hospitals, medical supply chains and other essential service providers.” “These are just some examples,” she continued. “At the Association level, we are working hard to ensure companies facing hardships and challenges are connected to the government programs best placed to help them get through these exceptional economic times.” AIAC SEEKS ‘ESSENTIAL SERVICE' STATUS In an emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic, access to aviation is vital. This is why the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC) – in association with AIAC member companies and regional aerospace industry associations – “has been calling for action from the Prime Minister and Premiers to designate the aerospace, defence and space sectors an essential service in all of Canada's provinces and territories,” said AIAC President and CEO Jim Quick. “Canada's aerospace industry is doing vital work -- providing products, services and solutions for a variety of purposes including emergency medical services and the transportation of vital medical equipment, domestic and international transportation, firefighting, search and rescue, telecommunications, border and maritime patrol and security, law enforcement, and military operations and support -- and it needs a consistent approach across the country. Not surprisingly, the global shutdown is seriously affecting AIAC member companies. To help them weather the storm, “we've been actively reaching out to our members, letting them know we are here to assist in any way we can during this crisis,” said Quick. To achieve this the AIAC is sending out a daily ‘News You Can Use' COVID-19 update that outlines the latest aerospace industry related news and announcements. The association has also launched a specialized 'COVID-19 Updates and Resources' website page for the latest on government resources on stimulus, subsidies, webinars and more; plus holding briefings with federal cabinet members. As well, “Aerospace is responding to the government's call for retooling to convert operations to deliver on needed supplies such as ventilators, masks and other essential supplies and equipment,” Quick told CDR. CDAI POLLS SHOWS SOLID SUPPORT FOR CAF INTERVENTION 88% of Canadians believe that the Canadian Armed Forces have a role to play in supporting civilian authorities manage and mitigate the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a survey conducted by the Conference of Defence Associations Institute (CDAI) and Ipsos Canada. Based on a March 20-23, 2020 online survey of 2,000 Canadians aged 18+, the poll foreshadowed Ottawa's decision to publicly commit the CAF to COVID-19 relief on March 30, 2020. Among the CDAI/Ipsos Canada poll findings: 65% supported the CAF helping to deliver medical and other supplies to service providers and the Canadian public; 64% were okay with the CAF supporting Canadian law enforcement agencies; 58% supported the continued use of CFB Trenton to quarantine at-risk or infected travellers/evacuees; 54% wants the CAF to help with evacuating and medical transporting infected Canadians. "I am not surprised by these survey results,” said LGen (Ret'd) Guy Thibault, CDAI Chair and former Vice-Chief of Defence Staff. “Time and again Canadians have seen the outstanding professionalism and critical contributions of the men and women of the Canadian Forces in humanitarian missions and natural disaster relief operations abroad and at home. There is no more important mission for the Forces than protecting Canadians in times of great need, and they are a highly respected and trusted national institution.” http://www.canadiandefencereview.com/Featured_content?blog/168

  • Icarus Aerospace reveals clean sheet light attack and ISR designs

    August 18, 2020 | Local, Aerospace

    Icarus Aerospace reveals clean sheet light attack and ISR designs

    by Gareth Jennings Icarus Aerospace has revealed a clean sheet design for an optionally-piloted armed overwatch and light strike aircraft that can also be adapted into mid/high-altitude long-endurance intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platform. The Canadian company revealed designs for the Tactical Air Vehicle (TAV) light strike and derived Branta ISR platform in August, with the former described as “a force multiplier for the world's security and armed forces”, and the latter as “the next logical step in [the] evolution of modern drones and reconnaissance aircraft”. In terms of the twin-turboprop TAV (named Wasp in its full-up military guise), Icarus boasts a mission-specialised swing-role platform that will be capable of operating in austere locations with 90% of the mission capability rate of a modern combat jet with just 15% of the costs. Limited details revealed to date show the platform has up to three times the electrical-power generation capabilities as its contemporaries, is capable of aerial refuelling, has the highest payload and fastest cruise speed in its class, an optional 360° active electronically scanned-array (AESA) radar provided by Leonardo, as well as a network centric capability that enables a swarming capability. “[The TAV is] a perfect and affordable plug-and-play solution, replacing and outperforming ageing and near obsolete fleets of more expensive helicopters, aircraft, and drones,” the company said. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/icarus-aerospace-reveals-clean-sheet-light-attack-and-isr-designs

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