February 25, 2019 | Local, Aerospace
The federal government has issued a notice for a proposed procurement that would ultimately see the modernization of RCAF fighter aircraft training ranges.
The government is looking to develop a road map for the modernization of RCAF fighter aircraft training ranges, and to allow for the creation of what it is calling Live-Virtual-Constructive (LVC) training and experimental environments. Details of the proposed procurement were released last week to industry.
The road map for the modernization will include the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range and Bagotville training ranges as primary ranges, and other air training ranges including and not limited to, Gagetown, Wainwright, Valcartier, Nanoose and Suffield as secondary ranges, according to the government notice.
In December, Postmedia reported that the RCAF was postponing its major exercise in 2019 at Cold Lake as it brings in improvements to its fighter jet base in Alberta.
Exercise Maple Flag, which was to take place in Cold Lake, Alta., is the premier air force training event that allows pilots to test their skills with scenarios similar to “real-world” operations.
But Royal Canadian Air Force commander Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger announced in December that Maple Flag won't be held next year as the service brings in improvements to the base and range that are designed to boost training for both Canada and its allies.
Col. Paul Doyle, commander of 4 Wing at Cold Lake, told Postmedia the new infrastructure will eventually include a specialized facility to allow for larger classified planning sessions, briefings and debriefings about missions. In addition, work will be done on new communications systems, data links and upgrades to the threat emitter pods that are on the base's weapons range.
Maple Flag is primarily conducted in the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range, a training area of more than a million hectares, located about 70 kilometres north of Cold Lake.
It is a major effort for European air forces and those from other nations to come to northern Alberta for the training and Canada's allies, while still keen to train there, have noted the need for improvements at the base, according to military officers.
“Infrastructure-wise, it's to have the facilities to allow us together to plan, brief and debrief at a classification level that allows us and our allies to maximize our training on a large force employment exercise,” Doyle said in December.
Computer networks will be improved and the Air Combat Manoeuvering Instrumentation (ACMI) System will be upgraded, he added.
The ACMI system is capable of simulating air-to-air, air-to-surface, and surface-to-air weapons employment with real-time monitoring capabilities as they relate to actual aircraft position. The ACMI system was developed by Cubic Global Defense and first installed in 1982, according to the RCAF. It was upgraded in 2003.
There are two main components of an ACMI system: the instrumentation pods and the tactical display system. The mobile pods contain the avionics that track and record aircraft events and position. The display system allows its users to control, track, and monitor the exercise as it happens, and provide mission debriefs upon completion, according to the RCAF.
“We want to make (the systems) more robust, better connected,” Doyle said. “That is something we can benefit from on a daily basis” in addition to improving future Maple Flags.
“Threats are evolving and modernizing,” Doyle explained. “We want to make sure we're on that leading edge.”
He declined to get into specifics about various threats air crews are facing but Doyle did highlight the development of integrated air defence systems that some nations are putting in place.
Some social media posts have indicated the Maple Flag postponement was due to a lack of Canadian pilots and fighter jets or delays in Canada receiving new aircraft. But Doyle said such claims don't reflect reality. “Do we have shortages? Sure. But this in no shape or way has anything to do with that,” he added.
Officials at Cold Lake have been advocating for several years for the improvements so as to continue to attract allied nations to Maple Flag and to keep the RCAF's own training regime up to date.
June 26, 2024 | Local, Naval
Irving Shipbuilding Inc. has awarded L3Harris two contracts to supply and install the Integrated Platform Management System and Control & Instrumentation system for the CSC, to be built for the...
December 7, 2018 | Local, Aerospace
LEE BERTHIAUME OTTAWA THE CANADIAN PRESS PUBLISHED DECEMBER 3, 2018UPDATED DECEMBER 3, 2018 The Canadian military is looking to contract out some maintenance work on the country's aging CF-18 fighter jets as well as training to help address a shortage of experienced technicians. Defence officials revealed the plan during a Commons committee meeting on Monday, in which they also defended the time needed to pick a new jet for the air force and faced calls to reveal how much it will cost to upgrade the CF-18s' combat systems. The technician shortage was first revealed in an explosive auditor general's report last month in which the watchdog took aim at the Liberals' plan to buy second-hand Australian jets by warning the air force needed more technicians and pilots – not planes. A number of measures are being introduced to address both shortfalls, air force commander Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger told the committee, including the contracting out of more involved maintenance that usually takes place away from the front lines as well as some tech training. The initiatives will free up about 200 experienced aircraft technicians so they can work directly on planes in the field and keep them flying, Meinzinger said, adding in an interview after the meeting that the move would not affect combat readiness. Initiatives are also being introduced to better support military families, which Meinzinger identified as a key contributing factor in why many pilots and technicians are leaving, while the air force is looking at a new training model to produce more pilots. Even with these measures, Meinzinger said he expected it to take between five and seven years to have a full complement of pilots and technicians in time to start transitioning from the CF-18s to new state-of-the-art replacements. “We're putting our shoulder to the wheel,” Meinzinger told The Canadian Press. “This is a top priority. But it's going to take some time, obviously.” Defence officials faced pointed questions from members of Parliament on both sides of the table during Monday's committee meeting about the length of time it is expected to take for those new replacements to be selected and delivered. A request for proposals will be released in the spring, with bids due in early 2020. Another full year has been set aside to evaluate those bids and another for negotiations with the winner. Delivery of the first aircraft is expected in 2025 and the last in 2031. The Defence Department's head of procurement, Patrick Finn, underscored the complexity of the $19-billion project, which has been plagued by delays and political mismanagement for more than a decade as Canada has sought to choose a new fighter. Those complexities include the usual challenges evaluating and negotiating the capabilities of each of the four aircraft that are expected to compete, Finn said, as well as the industrial benefits to Canada and intellectual-property rights. At the same time, he added, the process for actually purchasing each of the planes is different given, for example, that Canada is a member of the F-35 stealth fighter project while the U.S. government would need to officially sign off on buying Super Hornets. In fact, Finn said the government has only limited flexibility in its schedule given that most manufacturers can only start delivering aircraft three years after an order is made – though he remained confident that the timeline would be met. The length of time was nonetheless a clear concern to some committee members. Officials were also grilled over the cost of upgrading the CF-18s' sensors, weapons and defensive measures after the auditor general found $3-billion in planned investments over the next decade was only to keep them flying and did not include their combat systems. The Defence Department's top bureaucrat, deputy minister Jody Thomas, told the committee that an analysis is underway, which includes consulting with the U.S. and other allies, and that a plan is expected in the spring. But opposition members challenged Thomas when she suggested that the department would not be able to provide cost estimates to the committee before being presented to the government, saying even if it is a matter of security, they are entitled to the information. “A unilateral declaration by a deputy or anybody that a parliamentary committee cannot have information is unacceptable,” NDP MP David Christopherson said. “There needs to be one more step to pursue that so that question, which is entirely legitimate in my opinion, can be answered in a way that respects the security and defence issues but also upholds the right of Parliament to demand any information they so choose.” https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-plan-for-combat-upgrades-to-aging-cf-18s-expected-in-may-defence
November 15, 2018 | Local, C4ISR
Telesystem Space, Canada, Quebec, Europe's Space Alliance, US-based KinetX form the NorthStar team MONTREAL, Nov. 15, 2018 /CNW/ - Human beings have left a legacy to Earth which threatens the sustainability of our planet and the livelihoods of future generations. The cause: a lack of tools to manage and monitor our impact on the environment. NorthStar Earth & Space Inc. (NorthStar E&S) is pleased to announce C$52 million in additional financing from strategic partners for the development of NorthStar, a global environment information platform which will transform humanity's ability to manage our impact on Earth and its natural resources. The Governments of Canada and Quebec are each contributing C$13 million. Private partners include Telesystem Space Inc. of Montreal, the majority shareholder, and the Space Alliance of Europe. Formed by Telespazio and Thales Alenia Space, the Space Alliance is a strategic partnership between Leonardo and Thales, the major industrial groups in the aerospace industry of Italy and France. This C$52 million sum adds to the C$31 million already contributed by NorthStar E&S's Canadian and US founding partners. The NorthStar platform is based on a 40-satellite constellation with sophisticated sensors and information delivery capability. NorthStar will enable new advances in continuous environmental management including pollution detection, charting the health of the world's oceans and rivers, enhancing the productivity of agriculture, wildfire alerts, and pipeline oil and gas monitoring to prevent spills and contamination. Around and above the planet, NorthStar's sensors will track orbital debris to reduce the probability of collisions and protect high-value assets in space. "Our goal is to empower humanity to preserve our planet," said NorthStar E&S CEO Stewart Bain. "Information provided by NorthStar will enable citizens, industry and governments to measure and manage our impact on the natural resources of Earth, creating a more sustainable world for now and for future generations. As a Canadian enterprise along with Telesystem Space, we welcome the participation of the governments of Canada and Quebec, and the Space Alliance, all critical to the success of our mission". According to The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, "NorthStar's project demonstrates how Canada'sspace sector is driving game-changing innovations and developing solutions for real-world problems. Our government's investment will help ensure that Quebec remains at the forefront of advanced information technology, creating good jobs for the middle-class and positioning Canada's economy to be globally competitive." "The growth of the aerospace industry in Quebec is directly linked to corporate innovation efforts," according to Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of the Economy and Innovation and Minister responsible for the Lanaudière region. "Our government reiterates its support for the growth of this industry, which is essential to Québec's economy, by enabling innovative companies to achieve their goals. That is why the Québec government is proud to support the NorthStar project, which will generate new expertise and quality jobs in the aerospace, the information and the communications technology sector." In a joint statement from The Space Alliance, Luigi Pasquali, CEO of Telespazio and Jean Loïc Galle, CEO of Thales Alenia Space said, "This investment in NorthStar is strategically in line with Space Alliance's global offer and we are convinced this solution will bring benefit to our customers and their priority needs". Commercial Earth Observation and Space Object Tracking services are rapid-growth areas and represent the future of the global space economy in Canada and abroad. When fully operational, NorthStar E&S expects to create an estimated 400 highly-skilled direct jobs and 1200 indirect jobs related to Big Data and Information Analytics, and support the expansion of aerospace, satellite design and sensor technology industries in Canada and abroad. Data services will be made available through NorthStar's AGILE (Applications for Global Innovation and Leadership) Centre Platform, in cooperation with a worldwide community of Applications Developers. AGILE Centres around the world will foster clusters of activity in Big Data and Predictive Analytics, the first generation of smart environmental protection apps. According to NorthStar CEO Bain, the first AGILE Centre will be based in Montreal, Canada. "With its talent base in the IT, AI and aerospace sectors and general quality of life which attracts the best and the brightest from around the world, Montreal is the ideal home for the NorthStar platform, " said Bain. Government of Canada funding includes C$9.5 million from the Strategic Innovation Fund and C$3.5 million from Economic Development Quebec Region. The Government of Quebec, via Le Fonds du développement économique (FDE), also invested C$13 million. With today's announcement, NorthStar Earth & Space Inc. has gathered a total of C$83 million for its NorthStar platform. ABOUT NORTHSTAR The space infrastructure will rely on a constellation of 40 satellites equipped with Hyperspectral, Infrared and Optical sensors. NorthStar will continuously detect and analyze the fine chemistry of objects on the complete surface of the Earth. Via proprietary data analysis and predictive analytics, NorthStar will deliver Earth Observation information with a dimension, precision, richness and timeliness never before available. NorthStar's Space Situational Awareness service will have the ability to identify, track and predict the trajectories of more than 300,000 objects in Earth's orbit, now classified as space debris, which is significantly more than currently possible. This information is critical for an expanding satellite industry owned and operated by both the private and public sectors. The founding shareholders of NorthStar E&S include Telesystem Ltd, based in Montreal, and US-based KinetX Inc. Telesystem Ltd, a media and technology holding company managed by the Sirois family, has built a successful track record as a leading global telecommunications player and with high growth technology start-ups. KinetX Inc is a US-based company which specializes in orbital dynamics and is the originator of the NorthStar concept. Telesystem Space Inc, the majority shareholder of NorthStar Earth and Space Inc, is a Canadian company jointly owned by Telesystem Ltd and an affiliate of Rogers Telecommunications Limited (RTL), created to help define and support the launch of the NorthStar global environment information platform. RTL is a private holding company of the Rogers family and together with affiliated companies controls Rogers Communications Inc, one of the largest telecommunications and media companies in Canada. SOURCE NorthStar Earth & Space For further information: Website: http://northstar-data.com/; Press Contact: Jean-Philippe Arseneau, 1-514-953-8597, jean-philippe.arseneau@northstar-data.com https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/northstar-earth-and-space-inc-announces-partnerships-52-million-in-additional-financing-for-global-environment-information-platform-700597581.html