Auditor general to issue new fighter jet report in the fall

On the same subject

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  May 7, 2019 | Local, Aerospace

  Trump may have given Trudeau the excuse he needs to ditch the F-35 once and for all

  DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN The defence and aerospace industry is abuzz about the letters the U.S. government sent to Canada over the upcoming competition to acquire a new fleet of fighter jets to replace the RCAF's CF-18s. In short, the Trump administration has given an ultimatum to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government. If Canada insists that industrial and technological benefits must come from the outlay of $19 billion for a new fighter jet fleet then Lockheed Martin's F-35 stealth jet is out of the race. Full stop. The U.S. argument is that because Canada is a partner in the F-35 program it cannot ask Lockheed Martin to meet specific industrial benefits for a Canadian competition if the F-35 is selected. Under the F-35 agreement, partner nations are prohibited from imposing requirements for industrial benefits as the work is determined on the best value basis. In other words, Canadian firms compete and if they are good enough they get work on the F-35 program. Over the last 12 years, Canadian firms have earned $1.3 billion U.S. for their work on building F-35 parts. The U.S. had boldly stated it cannot offer the F-35 for the Canadian competition if there are requirements to meet for set industrial benefits. But that ultimatum could seriously backfire on the Trump administration. Trudeau and the Liberal government has never been keen on the F-35 (Trudeau campaigned against purchasing the jet). There have also been a number of negative headlines over the last year outlining the increasing maintenance costs for the F-35s, not a good selling point for the jet. The U.S. ultimatum may have just given Trudeau a way out of his F-35 dilemma, particularly if the prime minister can say that it was it was the Americans themselves who decided not to enter the F-35 in the Canadian competition. Trudeau will also be able to point to the other firms ready and keen to chase the $19 billion contract. Airbus, a major player in Canada's aerospace industry, says it is open to producing its Eurofighter Typhoon in Canada with the corresponding jobs that will create. Boeing, which has a significant presence in Canada, will offer the Super Hornet. Saab has also hinted about building its Gripen fighter in Canada if it were to receive the jet contract. To be sure, if the U.S. withdraws the F-35 from the competition, retired Canadian military officers and the defence analysts working for think-tanks closely aligned with the Department of National Defence be featured in news reports about how the Royal Canadian Air Force will be severely hindered without the F-35. Some Canadian firms involved in the F-35 program may complain publicly about lost work on the F-35 program but companies tend not criticize governments for fear they won't receive federal contracts or funding in the future. There will be talk about how U.S.-Canada defence relations will be hurt but then critics will counter that U.S. President Donald Trump used national security provisions to hammer Canada in ongoing trade disputes. And let's face it. Defence issues are rarely a factor in federal elections or in domestic politics. The Trump administration, which is not the most popular among Canadians, may have just given Trudeau a political gift. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/trump-may-have-given-trudeau-the-excuse-he-needs-to-ditch-the-f-35

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  December 9, 2021 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Entreprises canadiennes détenues ou dirigées par des personnes LGBTQ2+ : Aidez nous à trouver des moyens d’accroître votre participation aux marchés publics fédéraux en nous parlant de votre entreprise

  Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada (SPAC) invite les entreprises canadiennes détenues ou dirigées par des personnes LGBTQ2+ à remplir un questionnaire en ligne afin de fournir des renseignements sur leurs entreprises. Les renseignements recueillis gr'ce à ce questionnaire nous aideront à élaborer des façons d'accroître la participation des entreprises détenues ou dirigées par des personnes LGBTQ2+ aux marchés publics fédéraux. Ils permettront également de s'assurer que les initiatives visant à accroître la participation reflètent leurs réalités et leurs besoins. Rendez-vous au lien vers la DDR sur Achatventes.gc.ca pour accéder : • le questionnaire en ligne ou une autre version du questionnaire en Word • une foire aux questions • des renseignements sur les personnes à contacter si vous avez des questions La date limite pour soumettre vos réponses au questionnaire est le 28 janvier 2022. Ce questionnaire utilise un logiciel qui respecte les directives pour l'accessibilité du contenu Web 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) de niveau AA. Si vous avez besoin de mesures d'adaptation supplémentaires pour accéder au questionnaire ou le remplir, ou si vous avez des questions supplémentaires sur le questionnaire, veuillez contacter : TPSGC.PAPiloteSocioEconomique APSocioEconomicPilot.PWGSC@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca

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  October 25, 2018 | Local, Aerospace

  An Investment in Capability

  If you're planning to become hopelessly lost, my advice is to do it in Norway. That was the author's conclusion after Skies was invited to the Leonardo Helicopters facility in Yeovil, England, to fly the latest variant of the AW101 search and rescue (SAR) helicopter. The machine was brand new, pending delivery to Norway, but represented a configuration that Leonardo has proposed to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as an upgrade for Canada's fleet of CH-149 Cormorant SAR helicopters. AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE RCAF The CH-149 Cormorant entered RCAF service in 2002. While not an old airframe by Canadian standards, the subsequent evolution of the model has left our version somewhat dated, and Leonardo maintains that obsolescence issues are beginning to adversely affect operational availability Team Cormorant is an industry consortium composed of Leonardo Helicopters, IMP Aerospace & Defence, CAE, GE Canada and Rockwell Collins Canada. The group's unsolicited proposal to the Air Force is intended to guard against creeping obsolescence and ultimately to reduce the cost of operating the helicopter. Under Team Cormorant's proposal, the RCAF would also acquire a training facility with a modern full-mission simulator, likely to be installed at 19 Wing Comox, B.C. The machine on offer to Canada is an extensively upgraded version of the RCAF's existing airframe, based upon the AW101-612 configuration; 16 of which are destined for Norway under its Norwegian All-Weather SAR Helicopter (NAWSARH) program. Team Cormorant's proposal to Canada also seeks to take advantage of nine former VH-71 Kestrel airframes from the cancelled U.S. presidential helicopter program, acquired by the RCAF in 2011. These would be used to augment the Cormorant fleet from the current 14–widely acknowledged as inadequate for Canadian SAR requirements–up to potentially 21 machines. Enhanced fleet size would allow the RCAF to base the Cormorant at 8 Wing Trenton, Ont.; a move that would improve SAR capability in the vast Trenton SAR region. Compared to in-service CH-149 Cormorants, the upgrades on offer include new, more powerful, full-authority digital electronic-controlled (FADEC) General Electric CT7-8E turboshaft engines; a more modern Rockwell Collins cockpit and avionics suite; improved aircraft management system; and a newly designed, four-axis dual-duplex digital automatic flight control system (AFCS). The sensor package promises the biggest capability upgrade, and includes an electro-optical surveillance system; a multi-mode active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar; cell phone detection and tracking system; and marine automatic identification system (AIS) transponder receiver. AN OPPORTUNITY FOR COMPARISON In 2016, Skies dispatched me to fly the CH-149 Cormorant with RCAF's 442 Squadron at CFB Comox. It was an opportunity for this former Air Force CH-113/A Labrador SAR pilot to see first-hand how the Cormorant had changed the job I did decades ago in those same mountains. I recall that the Cormorant brought a lot of new technology to the SAR business, but the basic mission, like the mountains around us, was unchanged. After that flight, I reported: “Flying SAR was still a matter of cautious and skillful flying, using maps and looking out the window.” That experience left me with great regard for Air Force SAR crews and for the operational capability of the Cormorant, but also bemused to find that the business of searching still basically relied upon the “Mark 1 eyeball.” A flight in the latest variant of the AW101 was a terrific opportunity for a more contemporary comparison. The experience would demonstrate that leading-edge systems–particularly electro-optic sensor technologies–offer SAR capabilities that are as much a generational improvement over the current Cormorant as the Cormorant was over my beloved ol' Labrador. A CANADIAN FLIES A NORWEGIAN HELICOPTER IN ENGLAND Leonardo Helicopters test pilot Richard “Russ” Grant kindly offered me the right seat for our demonstration flight. Veteran flight test engineer (FTE) Andy Cotton served as sensor operator. Conditions were ideal, under a clear sky with a warm (24 C) gentle breeze along the century-old former-Westlands grass runway. Our test helicopter was the sixth production machine destined for Norway, operated by Leonardo under U.K. Ministry of Defence registration ZZ015. The helicopter's empty weight was 11,039 kilograms with much of its SAR interior yet to be fitted. Adding 2,000 kilograms of fuel (roughly half its 4,150-kilogram capacity) and three crewmembers brought the takeoff mass to 13,517 kilograms, which was well below the maximum allowable gross weight of 15,600 kilograms. The Cormorant that Skies flew with RCAF's 442 Squadron, although fully equipped for SAR with a standard fuel load of 2,400 kilograms and a crew of six, had a gross takeoff mass of 13,800 kilograms, which was below the maximum allowable gross weight of 14,600 kilograms. Direct comparison is difficult to establish, but the Norwegian machine is both heavier with installed systems and has more installed power than the CH-149, so the net result may be expected to be about the same operational power margin. Rapid dispatch can be facilitated by starting the auxiliary power unit (APU) while strapping in. Grant talked me through the engine starting procedure from memory. Air Force crews will use a checklist, but the procedure was quick and straightforward Engine controls consisted of three rotary knobs on the overhead panel in place of engine condition levers. I monitored the start, but Grant advised that in the event of a start-up malfunction the FADEC would shut down the engine faster than the pilots could react. We started the No. 1 engine first to power the accessory drive, providing hydraulic and electric power and bleed air. Starts of engines No. 2 and No. 3 were done simultaneously. Pre-flight checks and initialization of the aircraft management system (AMS, but think “master computer”) took Grant only minutes. Despite the functional similarity of the cockpit to the CH-149, the impression that I was amidst unfamiliar new technology was immediate. As ground crews pulled the chocks and busied themselves around the helicopter, the onboard Obstacle Proximity LIDAR System (OPLS, where LIDAR is light detection and ranging, since I needed to ask, too) annunciated their presence around the turning rotors. This system, which Grant described as being like the parking sensors in a car, provided a pop-up display and discretely-pitched audio cues depicting the range and azimuth to obstacles around the helicopter. Having come from a generation where we squinted into a landing light beam to guesstimate rotor clearance from obstacles, all I can say is, I want one! Full article: https://www.skiesmag.com/features/an-investment-in-capability