Canada's fighter jet debacle: This is no way to run a military

On the same subject

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  July 20, 2020 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Why it is time for smart protectionism

  Put simply, Canadian governments have a responsibility to practise smart protectionism where the risks to Canadians' personal security and national security are high. Free trade is good economics. Protectionism is bad. Global supply chains are efficient. Favouring domestic goods, services and industries is inefficient. Canada has long adhered to these orthodoxies. And most of the time it makes sense to do so. However, through the COVID-19 pandemic, both the public and private sectors have seen weaknesses associated with heavy or total reliance on foreign sources and global supply chains for essential goods, notably personal protective equipment (PPE). As of June 2, for example, the Government of Canada had ordered close to 122 million N95 masks from international suppliers, yet 12 million had been received and 9.8 million of those failed Canadian standards. We are learning the hard way that foreign sources cannot necessarily supply the products we need in the time, quantity or quality required during a national or global emergency. China, as the dominant global producer of many of these PPE supplies, has become the focal point for an emerging debate around domestic control over certain goods, technologies, and services. A recent report from the Henry Jackson Society in the U.K., for example, has argued the “Five Eyes”—the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand—are far too reliant on Chinese sources for all kinds of strategically important goods, and that this is a threat to the national security of those countries. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service, too, has warned that Canadian companies that produce certain critical technologies are vulnerable to foreign takeovers by entities with agendas hostile to Canada's interests. This is not just an issue with China, though. In Canada, we like to believe that in national or global crises we can rely on the U.S. or other allies for help. Canada, in other words, would be at or near the front of the line with allies. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the behavior of the U.S. and European countries, suggests this is naive. Italy, a founding EU member, requested and was denied face masks from the EU's stockpile at the peak of their COVID-19 outbreak. In April, a presidential executive order gave the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency the power to “allocate to domestic use” several types of PPE that would otherwise be exported. U.S. produced masks bound for Germany, a close American ally, were reportedly diverted back while in transit. Ultimately, Canada was exempt from the U.S. order, but this episode should tell us that global emergencies can lead to “home front comes first” attitudes, even among our closest allies. Fundamentally, the issue comes down to one of efficiency versus necessity. Sometimes, in some areas of the economy, security of supply is more important than efficiency. While this thinking is new to most companies and governments in Canada, it is not new to Canadian companies working in defence and national security. The Canadian defence industry has long highlighted the need for focused sovereign production and control in key national security capabilities—in part to ensure security of supply—as our allies in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere have been doing for generations. The argument has fallen largely on deaf ears. There seems to be a greater aversion in Canada to any kind of protectionism than among our more pragmatic allies. There is also a belief that Canada can always rely on obtaining critical supplies from the U.S., owing to both our close trading relationship and bi-lateral defence agreements dating from the 1950s that purport to establish an integrated North American defence industrial base. Canada puts too much faith in these beliefs, to our peril. While we can still hold free trade and integrated global supply chains as the goal, we also need to recognize that this view of the economy does not always serve our national interests. Put simply, Canadian governments have a responsibility to practise smart protectionism where the risks to Canadians' personal security and national security are high. Christyn Cianfarani is president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI). The Hill Times https://www.hilltimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/072020_ht.pdf

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  February 12, 2018 | Local, Aerospace

  Arrival of used Aussie fighters pushed back to summer 2019 or later

  Senior defence official says Canada will take used Aussie FA-18s as they become available It will be 2022 before the Royal Canadian Air Force receives all of the used Australian fighter jets the Liberal government intends to purchase, says senior defence official. The plan was rolled out with much fanfare at the end of last year because the air force has faced — in the words of Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan — an "urgent capability gap" and is not able to meet its NATO and Norad commitments at the same time. Pat Finn, who is in charge of the materiale branch of National Defence, told CBC News in a recent interview a final agreement is still months away. He is confident, however, everything will come together. Delivery is "staggered over three years," Finn said. The Trudeau government announced in December it would buy 18 used Australian "classic" FA-18s as an interim measure to bolster the air force until the entire Canadian fleet of CF-18s is replaced, beginning in the mid-2020s. It had wanted to buy brand new Boeing Super Hornets, the newer, bigger, more advanced version of the FA-18 and CF-18. The plan was scuttled when the manufacturer, Chicago-based Boeing, filed a trade complaint against Canadian aerospace giant Bombardier. No price tag for the Australian deal was released at the time of the formal announcement, which was made by Sajjan and Public Works Minister Carla Qualtrough. Ongoing discussions Finn said those details are still being worked out. The Liberal government said in December the first used fighters, which were purchased by Australia around the same Canada bought its CF-18s, would arrive by January 2019. Finn said the delivery schedule is being finalized, but he anticipates receiving the first two warplanes by the summer of that year. Another one would follow by the end of the year, but much depends on the Royal Australian Air Force and how quickly it retires the fighters and the age of what's being offered. "They, of course, release aircraft as they get aircraft," Finn said. "We do not necessarily want the oldest aircraft, so we would like to have an ongoing discussion." He said there is some flexibility and if "summer '19 turns into" something a few months later because they can get a better jet, then it's something that can be negotiated. The Australian government is in the process of seeking permission to sell the planes because they were originally manufactured in the U.S. Once the Australian warplanes arrive in Canada, they will need to be given life-extension modifications that will bring them up to the standard of the CF-18s, which have been modified to continuing flying until 2025. It stands in stark contrast to the urgency with which the Liberals initially painted the shortage of fighter aircraft. "In 2025, the CF-18s will not be able to fly, and it is important that we move very quickly in filling this capability gap." said Sajjan in June 2016. Finn said the air force is managing the capability gap by making more CF-18s available for operations on a daily basis. "We're basically working right now to increase the availability of our current airplanes," he said. Experts say that would mean pouring more than expected into the maintenance budget in order to keep fighters on the flight line. Urgent purchase? One defence analyst said the government has a strange definition of urgent. "Nothing about the handling of this file lines up with the identification of it as an urgent need, either the interim or the permanent purchase," said Dave Perry, an expert in procurement at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. He said he believes it will present a political headache for the Liberals come the next election. "The fact that this government may, at best, have a couple of second-hand aircraft before the next election after having identified an urgent need to acquire new fighter aircraft is just incredible," he said. When the Australian deal was announced, the government also laid out a timeline for the full replacement of the CF-18s, which were purchased in the 1980s, but extensively modified and upgraded in the early 2000s. Public Works recently held a consultation day with defence contractors, but Perry says no one seems to understand why it will take until the early 2020s to launch the competition. When the former Conservative government was struggling over whether to buy the F-35 stealth fighter, it conducted extensive research on the alternatives and possible types of warplanes Canada would need. That research, which conceivable could move things along faster, was largely discarded by the Liberals and is gathering dust on a shelf, Perry says. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/aussie-fighter-jets-1.4530875

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  October 4, 2018 | Local, Aerospace

  Sea King disposal underway

  by Lisa Gordon The 55-year reign of the Canadian Sea King is coming to a close. In December, a crew from 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron in Patricia Bay, B.C., will fly the CH-124 Sea King on its last flight for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Earlier this year, their counterparts at 423 Maritime Helicopter Squadron in Shearwater, N.S., marked the aircraft's final East Coast mission on Jan. 26, 2018. While five helicopters are still operational until the end of the year in B.C., Canada's remaining 23 Sea Kings have been retired and are currently making their way through the fleet disposal process. Administered by the Department of National Defence (DND) and Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), this process aims to repurpose, sell or otherwise dispose of the old helicopters in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. While final arrangements for the aircraft are subject to change, DND told Skies on Oct. 2 that eight of the 28 remaining aircraft will be publicly displayed by the Canadian Armed Forces at various military bases and museums across the country. Another airframe will be retained by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as a training aid, and one will be displayed at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa. Three aircraft were demilitarized and scrapped due to their poor condition, with components being recycled where possible. The remaining 15 Sea Kings and their associated parts — 12 are currently located at 12 Wing Shearwater and three are at Patricia Bay — are now for sale, a process that is being administered by PSPC. “Essentially, we have a website that is used to source interest for controlled and sensitive assets that are for sale,” explained Josée Doucet, manager of the GCMil group at PSPC, which deals with the disposal of surplus Canadian military goods. “In this case, we put the Sea Kings up for sale. Once we had expressions of interest, we held a bidders' conference on Sept. 26 in Shearwater, to showcase those aircraft. It gave bidders the chance to look at them, ask questions regarding the assets, and gave them an idea of what they are bidding on.” The helicopters are being sold in “as is, where is” condition. Doucet said she was very pleased by the number of potential bidders who attended the Shearwater event. “Now, the interested parties will receive a package from my office and be invited to submit a bid. There will be a timeline as to when we will start reviewing offers.” While Doucet said that timeline has not yet been finalized with DND, she indicated the goal would be to have a purchase agreement in place by the time the Sea Kings cease flying on Dec. 31. “It's a very aggressive timeline, so the offer to purchase dates will respect that.” Preparing for Sale Before the Sea Kings went on the market, controlled goods and military equipment were removed from the airframes wherever possible. Doucet said all Canadian bidders must be registered in the Controlled Goods Program. Interested foreign purchasers must be enrolled in their nation's equivalent program, which allows them to view military assets. “We have a number of processes. We only deal with registered Canadian companies, pre-approved foreign governments or authorized representatives of original equipment manufacturers. Only then would they be allowed to bid.” While Doucet declined to estimate the Sea Kings' worth, she said a myriad of factors are considered when selecting the winning bid. These include single-asset or full-lot bids, depreciation, condition of the fleet, and the costs to DND to maintain the helicopters as they await sale. “We also look to see if a bidder has an approved clear end use for the helicopters. What is the likelihood of obtaining export approval, as well as third-party approval from the country of acquisition — in this case the United States. We look at all that, because we don't want to exert efforts in an area that would not be fruitful.” Ultimately, she said fleet value will be driven by market demand. “I would have to say that from a commercial application perspective, the Sea King fleet has a lot of life left in it. Whether the fleet will be used as a gap measure, or to refurbish and resell, or to convert to commercial applications, the value will be subject to its intended end use.” A Lasting Legacy Canada accepted its first CH-124 Sea King at the Sikorsky plant in Connecticut on May 24, 1963. Since then, the maritime helicopter has earned its legendary status in the Canadian Armed Forces, serving with distinction on Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Bonaventure (the country's last aircraft carrier, retired in 1970), as well as on St. Laurent-class destroyer escorts, Iroquois-class destroyers, auxiliary oiler replenishment ships, and Halifax-class frigates. No other aircraft in Canadian service has ever commanded such a lasting multi-generational legacy. While 15 Sea Kings are destined for new homes, nine will remain on public display to ensure its story will never be forgotten. It's a fitting tribute to a King that ruled the waves for more than half a century. https://www.skiesmag.com/news/sea-king-disposal-underway