Complaints involve a lack of Canadian Forces support over equipment and a lack of housing and health care.
July 27, 2023 | Local, Aerospace
Design work is underway on a program that will deliver 16 almost-new CH-149 Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopters to the RCAF over the next six years.
April 27, 2023 | Local, Aerospace
April 27, 2023 - National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces – Enfield, Nova Scotia Today, National Defence Minister Anita Anand visited IMP Aerospace in Enfield, Nova Scotia, and joined representatives from Leonardo U.K. Ltd., IMP Aerospace, and other partners, who announced that IMP Aerospace has received a major sub-contract for the Cormorant Mid-Life Upgrade (CMLU) Project. The CMLU project will upgrade Canada’s CH-149 Cormorant fleet, which plays a critical role in our country’s Search and Rescue (SAR) operations. The fleet has been providing reliable and crucial service to Canada since 2001 – but requires upgrades to remain operationally effective. Thanks to a $1.168 billion contract awarded in December 2022 to Leonardo U.K. Ltd, Canada is upgrading its current Cormorant helicopter fleet to the most advanced version of the helicopter, and acquiring additional airframes/parts to increase our fleet size from 13 to 16 aircraft. Minister Anand welcomed today’s announcement by Leonardo U.K. Ltd. that IMP Aerospace and Defence has been sub-contracted to undertake the upgrade of 13 in-service AW101/CH-149 Cormorant Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopters at its facility in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Under its sub-contract award, IMP will deliver 13 of the 16 upgraded Cormorants to Canada from its Halifax facilities. The first three helicopters will be completed at Leonardo’s United Kingdom facilities. IMP personnel will undertake on-the-job training in the United Kingdom to complete the build of the remaining 13 CMLU helicopters in Canada. Minister Anand noted that the CMLU project has the potential to contribute almost $79 million annually to Canadian GDP and 650 jobs annually for Canadian companies over a 12-year period – demonstrating our commitment to ensuring that national security and economic prosperity go hand in hand. Upgrading the CH-149 Cormorant fleet will ensure that these helicopters remain operational for decades to come – and the maintenance work required will also sustain good jobs in Greenwood and Halifax, Nova Scotia and Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador. The CMLU project ensure that we can continue to perform Search and Rescue (SAR) operations from Comox, B.C., Gander, Greenwood, and add to the SAR capacity from Trenton, Ont. Quotes “Through our upgrades to Canada’s Cormorant helicopter fleet, we are investing to keep Canadians safe and supporting good, middle-class jobs here in Canada. The CH-149 Cormorant helicopter is a critical asset for search and rescue operations in Canada. Upgrading our helicopters will ensure our continued search and rescue capacity going forward, all while supporting jobs for Canadians, and adding millions of dollars in economic activity.” The Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of National Defence “Our men and women in uniform play a vital role in protecting Canada and its communities. They deserve modern equipment to meet the very high expectations we ask of them every day. By upgrading our CH-149 Cormorant fleet, we are helping our search and rescue teams operate as safely and efficiently as possible while supporting hundreds of good paying jobs in our communities. This is great news for our province.” The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and Member of Parliament for Central Nova “The Cormorant Mid-Life Upgrade project is great news for Nova Scotia. These helicopter upgrades will help ensure that the Canadian Armed Forces have the tools that they need for search and rescue missions, all while creating significant economic opportunities here in our province. I’m especially thrilled that these upgrades will ensure the CAF’s continued search and rescue capabilities at 14 Wing Greenwood, in our beautiful Annapolis Valley.” Kody Blois, Member of Parliament for Kings—Hants “The AW101/CH-149 “Cormorant” Search and Rescue helicopter fleet has been providing the Royal Canadian Air Force with a dependable SAR capability across Canada for over 20 years. This Mid-Life Upgrade programme will deliver a greater level of high-technology to support the all-weather SAR capability that the country deserves. We're excited to execute this programme through Team Cormorant. This will reduce the cost of fleet ownership, while further increasing reliability, capability and safety for Canadians.” Gian Piero Cutillo, Managing Director of Leonardo Helicopters “Leonardo is proud to continue its 20 year+ relationship with Canada through the award of the Cormorant Mid-Life Upgrade Project which will upgrade and augment Canada's existing AW101/CH-149 “Cormorant” Search and Rescue helicopter fleet. Leonardo shall work closely with its Team Cormorant partners to transfer knowledge and capability, the majority of the CMLU helicopters will be upgraded in Canada by Canadian industry.” Adam Clarke, Managing Director of Leonardo Helicopters UK “Since 2001, IMP has supported Canada's rotary wing SAR fleet with pride. This contract award acknowledges our unique experience with the CH149 and our vital role in its sustainment both now and into the future. Our partnership with Canada and Leonardo ensures uninterrupted world-leading SAR availability during the CMLU program and the transition to the next-generation Cormorant fleet.” David Gossen, President of IMP Aerospace & Defence Quick facts Two contracts for the Cormorant Mid-Life Upgrade and its simulator solution are valued at up to $1.24 billion (taxes included). This includes: $1.168 billion (taxes included) for the helicopter upgrades with Leonardo U.K. Ltd of Yeovil, United Kingdom; and $78 million (taxes included) for the training solution with CAE Inc. of Montreal, Quebec. Capability enhancements and equipment improvements will be implemented on the CH-149 fleet to improve service to Canadians and meet the operational availability requirements to support the national 24/7 SAR service. With this project the CH-149 fleet will be upgraded to the most advanced version of the helicopter, the AW101 615; similar to the model Norway has recently procured to conduct its rotary-wing SAR missions. Using this already established configuration accelerates the project considerably. Training solutions will also be acquired under the project to move aircrew training home to Canada. This project will reuse as many parts as possible from current CH-149 inventory such as transmissions, landing gears and control surfaces to reduce costs and ensure value for money. Delivery of these upgrades and training systems is expected to begin in 2026 and is anticipated to be fully operational in 2030. Through the application of Canada’s Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) Policy, both CAE Inc. and Leonardo U.K. Ltd will enter into high quality business activities within the world-class Canadian aerospace and defence industry to ensure that economic benefits equal to the value of the contracts are realized for Canadian industry. The contractors are working with several Canadian companies as part of their industrial commitments to Canada including in Key Industrial Capability areas such as defence systems integration, training and simulation, and aerospace systems and components. Together with the sub-contract placed with IMP Aerospace and Defence, Leonardo shall be investing 100% of the CMLU Contract value with other Canadian partners and suppliers. https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2023/04/cormorant-helicopter-upgrades-to-deliver-improved-search-and-rescue-capabilities-and-economic-opportunities-for-canadians.html
July 9, 2020 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
By Charlie Pinkerton. Published on Jul 8, 2020 10:32am Half of all late requests for military materials and equipment arrived in Canadian soldiers' hands more than two weeks behind schedule because of a problem-ridden supply chain that often forced the military to incur extra shipment costs, a new report from the Auditor General has found. “We concluded that National Defence often did not deliver on time the materiel the Canadian Armed Forces requested, and that it did not have the right controls in place to determine whether it avoided needless transportation costs,” said the report authored by Auditor General of Canada Karen Hogan, which was released on Wednesday. During the period of the audit, there were approximately 1 million requests for materiel — military materials and equipment — submitted and fulfilled by National Defence. The audit oversaw all materiel covered by the National Defence Act, with the exclusion of ammunition, bombs, missiles and large equipment like aircraft, vessels and vehicles. The Auditor General found that 50 per cent of all late materiel requests were delayed by at least 15 days and 25 per cent were at least 40 days late. Of the highest priority requests — of which there were about 86,000 observed — 60 per cent were late. Fifty per cent of all were at least six days late, and 25 per cent were at least 20 days late. The Auditor General found that 162,000 requests, about 16 per cent of all it tracked during its audit, were more than one year late, having been stalled at some point in the supply chain. The goal of National Defence's supply chain is to “fulfill materiel requirements in the most economical and timely manner possible,” the Auditor General's report says. It attempts to achieve this by keeping equipment nearby where it thinks it will eventually be used. However, most equipment bought by the military is initial delivered to Canadian Armed Forces supply depots in Edmonton and Montreal. They then supply regional warehouses, which supply smaller localized military units. Materiel is transferred at units' requests, which are made in a number of ways, but are defined as being of one of three levels of priority — high priority, essential and routine. “We found that National Defence's systems and processes often did not ensure the timely and efficient delivery of military supplies to the Canadians Armed Forces,” Hogan's report says. Stock shortages caused delays, National Defence poorly managed priorities and costs for transportation were bungled. Per it's report, the Auditor General made three recommendations. It suggested that National Defence review its materiel forecasting to ensure it sufficiently stocks items at the correct locations, that it improve its oversight of high-priority requests so that the categorization is only used when necessary, and that it provide clear guidance on how to select the proper mode of transportation for items to ensure that decisions about shipments are based on fully understanding how much it'll cost. In a statement released shortly after the Auditor General's report, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said he “welcome(s)” its findings and accepts all recommendations. Similar concerns were raised a few years ago by the Auditor General's office about National Defence's equipment supply. In the fall of 2016, it raised issues with the military's ability to properly account for its inventory. The same fiscal year, National Defence announced a 10-year inventory management plan to address the Auditor General's concerns. The Trudeau government also released its multi-decade defence policy in the spring of 2017. One of the focal points of Strong, Secure, Engaged was to ensure the military was properly equipped. “Providing (the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces) the training, equipment and care they deserve is the most important objective of this policy,” reads a line from the opening paragraph of Sajjan's opening message in more than 100-page policy. Upon being re-elected, Sajjan was again reminded of his responsibility to “ensure the Canadian Armed Forces have the capabilities and equipment required to uphold their responsibilities,” in the mandate letter assigned to him by Trudeau. In an emailed statement to iPolitics, Conservative Defence Critic James Bezan said “effective and efficient supply chains are crucial to the operating capability of the Canadian Armed Forces.” “Our military heroes rely on these supply chains to defend Canadians at home and abroad. It is clear that more work needs to be done in order to make these supply chains better for our men and women and uniform,” Bezan said. “The delivery of supplies must be timely so that materiel reaches military members when they need it,” Hogan's recently released report said. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said in a statement Wednesday that the Canadian Armed Forces will enhance its data analytics capabilities and “rely on real data to ensure” the military has the right supply chain approach for its ever-evolving requirements and to help better anticipate future needs. “These steps will make sure that we have the right equipment, in the right quantities, at the right places to meet the challenges we ask our members to face now and in the future,” he said. https://ipolitics.ca/2020/07/08/canadian-armed-forces-equipment-delivered-late-half-the-time-auditor-general-finds/