January 29, 2018 | Local, Naval
Halifax, NS – Monday January 29th 2018: Today, Davie Shipbuilding and Federal Fleet Services announced that following an intensive period of at-sea trials and testing, Asterix has been formally accepted by the Department of National Defence and has now entered full operational service with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).
As planned, Asterix performed daily replenishment-at-sea (RAS) exercises with the RCN and conducted extensive RCAF CH-148 Cyclone helicopter operations to prove and demonstrate the world-leading capabilities of the Resolve-Class Naval Support Ship. These exercises have included everything from dual RAS operations to helicopter landing, take-off and vertical replenishment trials.
Spencer Fraser, CEO of Federal Fleet Services commented “To deliver the first Canadian naval ship in over twenty years, the first supply ship in almost 50 years, and to reach FOC so efficiently and in such a short period of time is a testament to the hard work, dedication and dynamism of the teams at Davie and FFS. We are all very proud of our achievement and appreciative of the professional support we have received from DND and PSPC.”
Fraser added, “We promised the government that we would fill a strategic gap in an expedited manner, that we would save the Canadian taxpayer money with our solution, and most importantly, that we would provide the men and women of the RCN and RCAF with a world-class capability they could be proud of. Today marks that achievement and we stand ready to assist the Government of Canada to do more.”
Alex Vicefield, Chairman of Davie commented, “We would like to thank Prime Minister Trudeau for the confidence and trust he placed in Canada's largest shipbuilder with the award of this program. We are proud to have delivered, as promised, on this vital defence capability which will serve Canada for years to come.”
Over 900 Canadian companies from coast-to-coast participated in the build of Asterix, and the Resolve Class has been hailed worldwide for the innovative Canadian solutions integrated onboard. Participation in this project has assisted the exports of many of Davie's Tier 1 sub-contractors; Hepburn of Toronto designed and built the RAS equipment, L3 MAPPS of Montreal designed and installed the Integrated Platform Management System and OSI of Vancouver designed and built the Integrated Bridge System. By participating in the project, these and other innovative Canadian companies have been able to win export opportunities.
Asterix is now ready for global deployment to support combat and humanitarian operations as directed by the Government of Canada.
Photographs of the RCN and RCAF trials are available for download in high-resolution here:
http://www.davielibrary.com/Project-Resolve-/First-Navy-Trials/i-XHjt2VJ
February 16, 2022 | Local, Aerospace
OTTAWA — The federal government has officially launched a competition for the purchase of armed drones after nearly two decades of delays and discussion
February 4, 2019 | Local, C4ISR
Over the past decade, the cyber security of elections and democratic institutions has become a critical issue both at home and globally. Canadian elections have proved to be relatively robust so far. Be that as it may, in 2017 Canada's Communications Security Establishment reported a series of major threats to the country's electoral system, including media manipulation and data privacy. Moreover, the urgency of addressing cyber security is clear from incidences of interference in countries as diverse as the United States, Kenya, Estonia and Latvia. This day-long workshop sponsored by the Royal Military College of Canada, SERENE-RISC, the CDA Institute and the Telfer School brought scholars and experts in the field together at the University of Ottawa to explore the range of security challenges posed by new and emerging technology, what solutions are out there and what role Canada's defence community can play in combating these new threats. The CDA Institute provided rapporteurs to record the day's proceedings and their summaries can be found here. https://cdainstitute.ca/17931/
June 16, 2024 | Local, Land
Today, the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence, concluded a productive visit to Brussels, Belgium, where he participated in the 23rd Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting and a meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Defence Ministers, including a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council in Defence Ministers format