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December 10, 2018 | Local, Land

Canada's WWII-era pistols dangerously unreliable — but the quest to find a replacement drags on

Tristin Hopper

The Canadian Army brought 20 pistols to an Arkansas shooting competition. Before events had even officially kicked off, 15 of those pistols had jammed so badly during the warmup they couldn't be used.

“It was so bad, the guys coming off (the range) were handing over their (remaining five) pistols to the next team because they couldn't trust the others,” said Ken Pole, who wrote about the incident for a feature in Canadian Army Today.

On average, Pole found that the Canadians' handguns has jammed once every 62 shots. Their British competitors, by contrast, squeezed off 5,620 rounds without a hitch.

This is all pretty standard for the Browning Hi-Power, the 74-year-old pistol still carried as the primary sidearm of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Unlike most pistols carried by G7 militaries, Brownings have a tendency to rattle and soldiers have been advised not to fully load the pistol because it will wear out the springs.

When a Canadian soldier is deployed to a war zone such as Afghanistan or Mali, they're issued with whatever Browning Hi-Power is deemed to be least likely to give out. That's why some have joked that if they're ever forced to use their sidearm in combat, they'd be better off throwing it than shooting it.

“If you give me a choice of a sharp stick or a Browning, I'll ... sadly take the Browning but will look fondly at the stick,” Bob Kinch, a former competitive marksman with the Canadian Armed Forces, wrote in a September Quora post.

Like many times when the Canadian military tries to buy something, however, the quest to replace the Browning is now held up in a years-long procurement limbo. A 2016 statement by the Department of National Defence estimated that soldiers wouldn't be able to get their hands on new pistols until at least 2026.

Canada's Hi-Powers are so desperately obsolete, however, that the army has been forced to greenlight a stopgap program to buy up some working pistols in the meantime. Known as the “Army Interim Pistol Program,” it will buy about 7,000 sidearms to immediate plug what the army is calling its “current pistol capability gaps.”

Full article: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadas-wwii-era-pistols-dangerously-unreliable-but-the-quest-to-find-a-replacement-drags-on

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    DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN The CANSEC 2019 defence trade show in Ottawa has wrapped up, and while much of the focus and talk was on new fighter jets, the naval side of procurement didn't escape notice. A number of firms have recent contracts or technology advancements, as outlined in this article in Esprit de Corps magazine. ATLAS ELEKTRONIK GmbH recently announced successful SeaSpider sea trials that were done in co-operation with the German Bundeswehr Technical Center for ships and naval weapons, maritime technology and research. The SeaSpider is the world's first dedicated Anti-Torpedo Torpedo. Trials in the Baltic Sea were conducted on a WTD 71 multipurpose vessel, according to the company. Those involved the full “sensor to shooter” chain with Torpedo Detection, Classification and Localisation, or TDCL sonar, being successfully demonstrated with the third generation SeaSpider prototype with its above water launcher. 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The Águas Azuis Consortium, formed by thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, Embraer Defense & Security and Atech, was selected by the Brazilian Navy for the construction of four defence ships in the Tamandaré Corvettes Class Program as preferred bidder. With thyssenkrupp Marine Systems' leadership and its naval systems expertise, the Águas Azuis Consortium companies will now form a specific purpose company for the implementation phase of the program, the firms noted. Atech, an Embraer Group company, will be the supplier of the Combat Management System and Integrated Platform Management System of the Tamandaré Class corvettes. It will be involved in the transfer of technology in cooperation with ATLAS ELEKTRONIK, a subsidiary of thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, and L3 MAPPS. Embraer Defense & Security will integrate sensors and weaponry into the combat system. 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The expert can provide guidance using real-time voice and video, interactive 3D holograms and content, and live IoT data. Alternatively, the technician can use locally stored data to assist with routine tasks when a remote expert is not available. The holographic support is designed to improve decision making by facilitating decisive action and reducing errors by providing clarity and certainty of comprehension. Kognitiv Spark says it was awarded the contract due in part to its reputation from ongoing work with the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/naval-contracts-and-technology-developments-on-display-at-cansec-2019

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