Australia’s PMB Defence to Supply Batteries for Canadian Victoria-class Submarines

On the same subject

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  December 24, 2018 | Local, Naval

  Quebec's Davie offers second supply ship at reduced cost to entice Liberal government to buy

  David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen Naresh Raghubeer, a senior adviser to Davie Shipyards, said the Asterix sister ship — Obelix — can be ready for missions with the navy within 24 months: 'We've proven already we can do it' A Quebec company is offering the Liberal government a second supply ship at a reduced price as it warns about further delays on a similar vessel being built for the Royal Canadian Navy by a firm on the West Coast. Davie Shipyards delivered its first ship, Asterix, to the government on time and on budget in a deal worth $659 million. It is now offering a second ship at $500 million to entice the Liberals to move ahead with such a purchase. But industry representatives privately say Davie faces an uphill battle as Asterix is at the heart of the trial of Vice Admiral Mark Norman and any government move to buy a sister ship would signal the actions of that naval officer in supporting the original deal was right. Naresh Raghubeer, a senior adviser to Davie, said the Asterix sister ship — Obelix — can be ready for missions with the navy within 24 months. “We've proven already we can do it,” he added. Davie was selected by the previous Conservative government for a sole-source deal to convert Asterix, a commercial vessel, into a naval supply ship. That was done after the military's two existing supply vessels were taken out of service because of damage and age. When the Liberals formed a new government in the fall of 2015 they tried to delay the Asterix project but backed down after Davie warned it would have to shut down its yard. Asterix has been operating for the last nine months, refuelling and resupplying Canadian and allied warships. Norman, who had been head of the navy, was accused of leaking information to Davie about Liberal plans to delay Asterix as well as advocating for the Davie design. He is charged with one count of breach of trust but has said he did nothing wrong as he was following government directives. Conservative leader Andrew Scheer questioned the Liberal government Dec. 12 in the Commons why it was not moving ahead with acquiring Obelix, pointing out the navy needed a second ship. But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Scheer of playing “petty politics.” “The armed forces did an assessment,” Trudeau said. “They don't need the Obelix.” Asked about the assessment, the Royal Canadian Navy referred Postmedia to a November 2014 internal document which outlined the requirements of a interim supply ship. The document was produced before a deal was reached on Asterix. The navy's statement noted that the Joint Support Ship being built at Seaspan Shipyards in Vancouver “remains a critical component for achieving success in both international and domestic” Canadian military missions. That joint supply ship was supposed to be delivered by Seaspan in 2017. That schedule slipped and the 2019 and 2020 delivery dates were proposed. The latest delivery date for the first of two ships is now 2022-2023 but with the caveat attached “ with risk”, meaning that it could fall further behind schedule, government officials confirmed to Postmedia. The cost of the Asterix project included the conversion of the ship, the lease of the vessel from Davie over a five-year period, and the company's provision of a 35-member civilian crew to run the vessel. The Royal Canadian Navy provides as many as 50 personnel to do the actual at-sea refuelling and resupply of its warships. A similar arrangement could be made for Obelix but the cost would be lower since the engineering for the conversion process has already been worked out, Davie officials pointed out. Raghubeer said Davie could fill the gap in supply ships while Seaspan continues to build the two vessels the government originally requested from that yard. The Davie yard represents 50 per cent of Canada's shipbuilding capability. Currently the firm has 200 employees, down from the 1,400 working in 2017 when Asterix was delivered. Both the Commons defence committee and the Senate defence committee recommended acquiring a second supply ship from Davie. Davie's rival, Irving Shipbuilding, has voiced opposition to the Quebec company receiving any additional federal shipbuilding contracts. https://nationalpost.com/news/quebecs-davie-offers-to-build-second-supply-ship-at-reduced-cost-to-entice-liberal-government-to-buy

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  March 3, 2020 | Local, Aerospace

  Le secteur français de l’aéronautique et spatial en mode séduction à Montréal

  Par Maryse Jobin Le Groupement des industries françaises aéronautiques et spatiales (GIFAS) est en mission industrielle de trois jours au Canada pour renforcer la coopération franco-canadienne dans ce secteur. Durant cette mission, 60 sociétés industrielles françaises participent à des rencontres d'abord à Montréal, ensuite à Toronto et Ottawa. La coopération entre la France et le Canada dans les domaines de l'aéronautique et de l'espace existe depuis 70 ans. Une trentaine d'entreprises de l'Hexagone sont d'ailleurs implantées au pays. En 2016, le GIFAS choisissait Montréal pour installer son bureau de représentation pour l'Amérique du Nord. 405 sociétés, dont des maîtres d'œuvre, des équipementiers et des PME font partie du GIFAS. Par voie de communiqué, Éric Trappier, président du GIFAS et PDG de Dassault Aviation, a dit vouloir « renforcer davantage les liens qui unissent nos deux industries ». Selon lui, les compétences de haut niveau et le poids mondial de l'industrie canadienne « sont reconnus de tous ». Parmi les entreprises participant à cette mission, on retrouve Airbus, Dassault Aviation, Safran et Thales. Sept membres du conseil du GIFAS accompagnent son président Éric Trappier. Tous les deux ans, ce regroupement organise le Salon du Bourget à Paris, le plus grand salon aérospatial du monde. La filière française d'aéronautique, spatiale et de défense, est le premier secteur d'exportation de ce pays d'Europe. Son chiffre d'affaires en 2018 s'élevait à 65,4 milliards d'euros. https://www.rcinet.ca/fr/2020/03/02/gifas-eronautique-spatial-mode-seduction-montreal/

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  September 24, 2019 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Want to Win Government Business? Don’t be too ‘Commercial-Centric’

  Governments may be open for business, but that doesn't mean doing business with a government is necessarily easy. Government procurement is complex - this is not by happenstance. The rules on public procurement stem from a number of sources including law (trade agreements, the common law and legislation) and policy. It can be a painful and costly learning curve for companies that want to sell goods and services to the country's largest buyers if they don't understand the rules. Government decision-makers are answerable to a very wide range of stakeholders, including the Canadian voters who put them in office and the Canadian taxpayers who fund their operations. In a public procurement, it's not just about getting the best deal – it is also about meeting the broader public interest and achieving long-term policy objectives. The Goal is to Promote Fairness Competition is the rule in public procurement because it offers a fair, open and transparent environment, and meets the public objective that all potential suppliers get a fair kick at the can to sell to government. This is important when you consider that, for example, the Department of National Defence is the largest Canadian purchaser of goods and services from the Canadian defence industry. Canada has implemented several trade agreements in the past few years, including the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) (which replaced the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT)). Understanding how these agreements impact procurement is even more important for suppliers and their federal, provincial and territorial government customers, as well as for the municipal, academic, school and hospital (MASH) sector which may now be subject to trade agreements for the first time or subject to additional or new rules brought about by these new trade agreements. Prepare your RFP Response Team for a Long Haul Businesses must understand the processes that come into play in public procurements, such as the need to resource their RFP response team for a long period of time or the impact of failing to meet mandatory RFP requirements (disqualification from the procurement process). Learning to manage the length of time it takes to progress through a procurement cycle, and to navigate the processes, is a big challenge. In business, relationships matter, but developing a good working relationship with key decision makers in government departments or agencies can be difficult since government tends to have greater workforce mobility and people change in and out of roles frequently. Further, dealing with government means complying with lobbying law and conflict of interest rules. In many jurisdictions, discussions about procurement requirements outside of public solicitation processes is considered lobbying, as it is attempting to sell products or services to the government. Conflict of interest rules may also preclude certain people from doing business with government officials. Approaching public procurement with a "commercial-centric" view often leads to frustration. The federal government does understand "how business works," but there are still many aspects of a public procurement that are not (and cannot be) commercially focused, including those related to complying with applicable trade agreements, protecting the public interest, and serving policy objectives such as regional development and economic diversification. Companies participating in a public sector procurement process face unique compliance requirements that don't come into play with a typical private commercial transaction. Expect Heightened Security Requirements With the increasing attention being paid to cybersecurity and data protection, companies will find they are now subject to more stringent security requirements, including an increased requirement for product functionality and security control disclosure in advance of their products or services being accepted by government buyers. This level of disclosure can extend through to greater access to the underlying technology used so that the customer itself can test for, and understand, cyber-threat vulnerabilities. Whether this is your first foray into the world of government procurement – and you need to understand the rules of public procurement so that you can properly understand the RFP documents and the plethora of government policies – or you have a broader interest focused on influencing government policy and direction as it relates to your business or your industry, knowing how to best position your organization to take advantage of both possible routes is critical to a successful government procurement business. Waiting until you have lost a bid is too late to effect a change for your organization's benefit. Be Proactive with the Right Advice Regardless of your focus, knowing how the system works and how to best advocate for your interests is a crucial and part of any successful business plan. Working with a legal team that has knowledge and experience in all of these areas and can assist with strategic planning and approach from start to finish is critical to success. https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=4d2ced7d-7e1a-47f0-bf39-ced9b8a0b39d