August 10, 2018 | Local, Naval
DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN
Atlantic Towing Limited of Saint John, New Brunswick, has been awarded a three-year contract worth $67 million for the lease of two emergency offshore towing vessels that will operate in the waters off the coast of British Columbia.
The vessels are capable of towing large commercial ships in distress, such as tankers and container ships, before they get too close to shore, according to the federal government. As part of the contract, Atlantic Towing Limited will also provide training in offshore emergency towing to Canadian Coast Guard personnel and partners, including Indigenous communities, involved in marine safety.
The contract fulfills an immediate operational need to have vessels available as soon as possible, while the federal government works on developing a long-term strategy for emergency towing, the government noted in a news release.
Full article: https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/canadian-government-to-lease-two-emergency-towing-vessels
July 26, 2023 | Local, Aerospace
Canada awarded Airbus a contract for the purchase of 4 new Airbus-built A330 MRTT aircraft and the conversion of 5 used A330-200s to the MRTT configuration.
September 24, 2018 | Local, Naval
DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN DND officials warned that committing to a specific time to start cutting steel on the warships 'will add additional risk' Irving Shipbuilding is pushing federal officials to announce a firm date to begin construction on Canada's new fleet of warships, arguing that will help drive the project along. But the company is facing resistance from federal officials concerned about missing a publicly announced start date, as happened with the Arctic patrol ships now under construction, according to documents released to Postmedia. Federal officials have continued to say that construction of the Canadian Surface Combatant fleet would begin sometime in the early 2020s but no specific date had been set. Irving representatives tried last year to convince federal bureaucrats of the need to set a specific date to begin construction. “(Irving) noted that hard dates is what drives the work,” according to the report from the Jan. 17, 2017 meeting of deputy ministers overseeing the national shipbuilding plan. But the firm faced pushback from Department of National Defence officials. “DND cautioned against setting a hard production date to work towards, noting the challenges this approach caused on AOPS,” the report noted. DND officials warned that committing to a specific time to start cutting steel on the warships “will add additional risk.” The AOPS were announced in 2007 by then prime minister Stephen Harper and were supposed to be in the water by 2013. But construction didn't start until 2015. The first ship was launched on Sept. 15 and won't be operational until 2019. Three consortiums have submitted bids for the surface combatant program and those are still being evaluated. The project will see 15 warships buiilt by Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax. A winning bid is expected to be selected sometime this year. The ships will form the backbone of the future Royal Canadian Navy. Scott Leslie, director general of large combat ship construction at Public Services and Procurement Canada, said that a more precise construction date can't be provided now because a winning design has yet to be selected. “There are a lot of variables around it, one of the main ones being which design is chosen and how much work is required to get that design evolved and buildable at Irving Shipyards,” Leslie explained. Irving is worried about the gap after building of the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships but before construction of the surface combatants. If the two projects are not aligned, workers could face layoffs and Irving is worried it will lose skilled personnel. The government has already faced delays and rising costs with the warships. In 2008, it estimated the total cost to be about $26 billion. But in 2015, then navy commander Vice Admiral Mark Norman voiced concern that taxpayers may not have been given all the information and predicted the cost alone for the ships would be around $30 billion. Cost estimates for the entire project are now between $55 billion and $60 billion. About half is for systems and equipment on the 15 ships, according to federal documents obtained by Postmedia through the Access to Information law. “Approximately one-half of the CSC build cost is comprised of labour in the (Irving's) Halifax yard and materials,” the documents added. Last year, Jean-Denis Fréchette, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, estimated the CSC program would cost $61.82 billion. He also warned that every year the awarding of the contract is delayed beyond 2018, taxpayers will spend an extra $3 billion, because of inflation. The first ship will be delivered in the mid 2020s. In November, in a surprise twist, a French-Italian consortium declined to formally submit a bid and instead offered Canada a fleet of vessels at around $30 billion. Officials with Fincantieri of Italy and Naval Group of France said they don't believe the procurement process as currently designed will be successful. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/canada/federal-officials-dont-want-to-be-pinned-down-on-a-date-to-start-building-new-navy-documents-show/wcm/eaace91c-ece6-4a5a-b130-e1d96b7ff261
March 14, 2019 | Local, C4ISR
March 14, 2019 – Ottawa, ON – National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces Canada's defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged, highlights the importance of providing the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces with the equipment and support they need to train and operate successfully. In support of this priority, The Department of National Defence announced today the award of an in-service support (ISS) contract to help maintain and strengthen the communications and information systems the Canadian Army depends on to inform and direct land operations. The Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) ISS contract was awarded to Rheinmetall Canada for a value of $57.49M. This supports ISTAR components and software that ensure data exchanges occur seamlessly from “sensing” and intelligence-gathering equipment such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or ground radars to the Land Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (LC4ISR) system. This is one of four contracts supporting the LC4ISR system. The LC4ISR is a highly integrated tactical system composed of many sensor, communication, networking, and information management sub-systems. It is part of every Canadian Army vehicle, weapons platform and headquarters to help coordinate and conduct modern operations. The LC4ISR is made up of numerous hardware, firmware and software elements, and essentially acts as deployed forces' central nervous system. The contract will support approximately 50 highly skilled jobs in Canada. Quotes “Providing our women and men in uniform with what they need to do the important job we ask of them is one of our top priorities. This contract will help ensure commanders can receive information from key equipment like ground-based radars, electronic warfare suites and remotely piloted aircraft systems in order for them to make timely decisions to achieve operational success. It will also support 50 jobs in Quebec and Ontario.” – Minister of National Defence, Harjit S. Sajjan Quick facts In November 2017, a request for proposals was issued for the ISTAR Support Contract. On October 19, 2018, the contract was awarded to Rheinmetall Canada. The duration of the contract is five years. The ISTAR Support Contract is one of four LC4ISR ISS contracts. Together, these contracts provide essential services that include hardware and software engineering work, fixing software issues, correcting any equipment problems, and analyzing and maintaining system health. The ISS also supports specific LC4ISR equipment such as radios. Associated links Investing in the Canadian Armed Forces Strong, Secure, Engaged: Canada's defence policy https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2019/03/keeping-the-canadian-armed-forces-connected.html