Canada to Acquire Three Interim Icebreakers

On the same subject

• 

  March 21, 2023 | Local, Other Defence

  Minister Anand announces $1.4 billion investment to upgrade Dwyer Hill Training Centre infrastructure

  March 21, 2023 – Ottawa, Ontario – National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces Created in 1993, Joint Task Force 2 (JTF 2) is an extremely high-readiness and precise special operations forces unit. JTF 2 protects Canadian national interests and combats terrorism and threats to Canadians at home and abroad, and is based at the Dwyer Hill Training Centre in the National Capital Region. Today, the Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of National Defence, announced a $1.4-billion infrastructure project to upgrade special operations forces’ facilities at the Dwyer Hill Training Centre in Ottawa. This 10-year construction project will provide more than 100,000 m2 of purpose-built space to meet JTF 2’s long-term growth, training, and high-readiness operational needs. Work includes: ·        replacing 89 aging and temporary structures with 23 new facilities; ·        renovating seven buildings; and ·        upgrading the site’s utilities.  Approximately 2,000 jobs will be created throughout the project, with as many as 250 to 300 people working on-site during peak construction periods. Construction is set to begin in May 2023. The unit’s training and operations will continue on-site while this work is underway. This project will include more than 150 sub-contracts to provide greater opportunities for local and smaller contractors to bid on work. Five percent of the value of all contracts are targeted for award to Indigenous businesses to create economic benefits for Indigenous Peoples. The new facilities will be net-zero ready and built to meet Two Green Globes energy and environmental design standards. This project will contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from Defence buildings to meet the federal target of net-zero emissions by 2050. New or renovated buildings will include modern office, operations and technical shop spaces, as well as new range, training, warehouse, medical, accommodations, access control, kitchen, mess, ammunition, equipment and vehicle storage facilities. This investment demonstrates our commitment to providing Canadian Armed Forces personnel with modern, green, and functional infrastructure in which to work and train. As outlined in Canada’s defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged, investments in critical infrastructure enhance military capabilities while helping reduce the government’s carbon footprint. Quotes “Our Special Forces personnel risk their lives to keep Canadians safe – and we are dedicated to delivering them the tools and training that they need to stay ready. This project will more than double the unit’s current work and training spaces with modern, green facilities and create considerable economic opportunities for local businesses and workers in the National Capital Region. Whether at home or abroad, our Special Forces make incredible sacrifices to defend Canada, and we thank them for their service to our country.”  - The Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of National Defence “The Canadian Special Operations Forces Command is pleased to see this infrastructure project moving forward. An upgraded and modern purpose-built training centre ensures our members remain prepared to support Canada’s efforts to respond to a range of complex threats now, and in the future.” - Major-General Steve Boivin, Commander, Canadian Special Operations Forces Command Quick facts The construction management contract was awarded to EllisDon Corporation of Mississauga, Ontario, which will tender all sub-contracts and oversee construction work. JTF 2 is a unit of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command. The unit provides high-level capabilities that protect Canadians from security threats both at home and abroad. Associated links Joint Task Force 2 Canadian Special Operations Forces Command https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2023/03/minister-anand-announces-14-billion-investment-to-upgrade-dwyer-hill-training-centre-infrastructure.html

• 

  April 26, 2018 | Local, Aerospace

  RCAF hints at capabilities that may guide future fighter acquisition

  Chris Thatcher The Canadian government is still a year away from issuing a request for proposals for its next fighter jet, but the general leading the future fighter capability project has indicated what capabilities may drive the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF's) eventual statement of requirements. In a presentation to the Aerospace Innovation Forum in Montreal last week, MGen Alain Pelletier, chief of the Fighter Capability Program, emphasized the importance of a platform with the flexibility to adapt to changing threats over a period of at least 30 years. Setting the future fleet of 88 jets in the context of NATO and NORAD missions, he emphasized the challenge of anticipating, adapting and acting in a threat environment where potential adversaries are investing heavily in longer-range “anti-access/area denial” capabilities, surface-to-air missile systems, exploitation of the electro-magnetic spectrum, and cyber weapons. Pelletier, a CF-188 Hornet pilot with two tours in the Balkans, noted the “operational disadvantage” Canadian pilots currently face from anti-aircraft and surface-to-air threats. In recent NATO air policing missions over Romania and Lithuania, “we fly to a potential threat area knowing that our location and number is known by the adversaries while the intent and willingness...to employ their weapon systems remains unknown,” he said. This was especially true during the CF-188 deployment on Operation Impact over Iraq and Syria. Though the theatre was considered a semi-permissive environment, “had the Syrian government intent changed regarding the use of their airspace, only effective self-protection systems and exploitation of the electro-magnetic spectrums could have protected our fighters against a 20 second engagement by a surface-to-air missile,” he observed. The current NATO environment features a range of advanced surface-to-air systems that “are mobile, digitized, passive, and carry missiles with a cruise speed capability and a classified range in excess of 300 kilometres,” he said. A sortie might begin in a permissive environment but end in a contested one, so the “capabilities of the aircraft at the beginning of the mission [will] define if the future fighter will have an operational advantage.” The NORAD picture is equally challenging. Russian activity in the North has increased in the past several years, Pelletier noted, “with Russian bombers potentially armed with low observable cruise missiles being escorted by fighters...like the advanced [Sukhoi] Su-35 and eventually the Su-57 [first seen] in the Syrian theatre of operations.” “Exploitation of the electro-magnetic spectrum allows Russian platforms to know where Canadian NORAD fighters are,” limiting Canadian options to respond, he added. “The bottom line remains that the defence of Canada and North America requires a future fighter that can adapt and act decisively.” Consequently, a critical requirement of the next fighter jet will be interoperability with NORAD and NATO partners. In particular, Pelletier underscored the importance of being able to share intelligence among 2 Eyes and 5 Eyes partners collected by their respective national assets. The 2 Eyes partnership of Canada and the United States, and the 5 Eyes group of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the U.S., has been essential to understanding and operating in conflict zones. He also emphasized that operations are heavily dependent on the systematic collection, coordination, fusion, production and dissemination of defence intelligence. “In a fighter aircraft, all systems employ or exploit this information for the use of mission data files, threat libraries, all of which allow the pilots to effectively conduct their mission. Commonality and a growth path are required to ensure the seamless fusion of all systems through the life of the fleet to 2060 and beyond.” NATO and NORAD systems and intelligence interoperability requirements are not new, but the RCAF's demand for 2 Eyes/5 Eyes compatibility could present a barrier for countries and manufacturers that are not part of those closed groups. Several times during his presentation, Pelletier also repeated the need for an aircraft and mission and weapons systems that could be “continuously” upgraded well into the 2060s. Given the innovation forum's focus on disruptive technologies, Pelletier noted the opportunities and threats posed by autonomous systems operating in an integrated and networked fashion, swarming unmanned systems, advanced exploitation of the electro-magnetic spectrum, hypersonic speed, directed energy, quantum technology, and artificial intelligence. All may eventually be part of the next fighter, but he cautioned industry that any advantage would only happen if the technology could be rapidly implemented and integrated and supported by government policy and rules of engagement. https://www.skiesmag.com/news/rcaf-hints-capabilities-may-guide-future-fighter-acquisition/

• 

  July 17, 2023 | Local, Aerospace

  L'éventuel choix de l'avion de patrouille maritime P-8A Poseidon est contesté au Canada - Zone Militaire

  En juin, l'agence chargée de l'exportation des équipements militaires américains a publié un avis favorable à la vente de 16 avions de patrouille maritime