January 4, 2019 | Local, Aerospace
David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen
Canada has finalized a deal to buy 25 used fighter jets from Australia, the first of which are expected to be operating by this summer, says the top procurement official at the Department of National Defence.
“The first two aircraft will be here this spring,” Pat Finn, assistant deputy minister for materiel at DND, told Postmedia in an interview. “I would say it could be by the summer the first couple are on the flight line and painted with the maple leaf.”
A second group of planes would arrive later this year. Eighteen of the Australian F-18 aircraft will eventually be flying for the Canadian Forces, while another seven will be used for testing and spare parts.
Canada is paying Australia $90 million for the aircraft. The federal government originally estimated the purchase of the Australian jets would cost around $500 million, but Finn said that price reflected every aspect of the associated deal, not just the cost of purchasing the jets. Canada is also acquiring extra spare parts, the Australian jets will have to be outfitted with specific Canadian equipment and software and testing will be needed.
The $500-million project estimate also included $50 million in contingency funds to cover any problems and another $35 million for the salaries of all civilian and military personnel involved over the life of the project. An additional $30 million will be spent on new infrastructure needed to accommodate the aircraft.
Those costs add up to $360 million, Finn said. But DND also plans to upgrade its existing fleet of CF-18s with new communications gear and equipment required to meet regulations to operate in civilian airspace, improvements which the Australian jets will also eventually receive at a cost of around $110 million, an amount that brought the original estimate to nearly $500 million.
The Liberal government had planned to buy 18 new Super Hornet fighter jets from U.S. aerospace giant Boeing to augment the Royal Canadian Air Force's CF-18s until new aircraft can be purchased in the coming years.
But in 2017 Boeing complained to the U.S. Commerce Department that Canadian subsidies for Quebec-based Bombardier allowed it to sell its C-series civilian passenger aircraft in the U.S. at cut-rate prices. As a result, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump enacted a tariff of almost 300 per cent against the Bombardier aircraft sold in the U.S. In retaliation, Canada cancelled the deal to buy the 18 Super Hornets, which would have cost more than US$5 billion.
Instead of buying the new Super Hornets, the Liberals decided to acquire the used Australian jets.
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has said the extra jets are needed to deal with a “capability gap,” as Canada does not have enough fighters to handle its commitments to NATO as well as protecting North America.
But Conservative MPs say the capability gap doesn't exist and was concocted by the government to delay a larger project to buy new jets, a competition that might end up selecting the F-35 stealth fighter that during the 2015 election campaign the Liberals vowed never to purchase.
In the fall of 2016, then-Royal Canadian Air Force commander Lt.-Gen. Mike Hood told senators that the Liberal government brought in a policy change which required the RCAF to be able to meet both its NATO and North American air defence commitments at the same time. That, in turn, created the capability gap, he said. Hood said he was not told about the reasons for the policy change.
In November 2018 Auditor General Michael Ferguson issued a report noting that the purchase of the extra aircraft would not fix the fundamental weaknesses with the CF-18 fleet which is the aircraft's declining combat capability and a shortage of pilots and maintenance personnel.
“The Australian F/A-18s will need modifications and upgrades to allow them to fly until 2032,” the report said. “These modifications will bring the F/A-18s to the same level as the CF-18s but will not improve the CF-18's combat capability.”
“In our opinion, purchasing interim aircraft does not bring National Defence closer to consistently meeting the new operational requirement introduced in 2016,” Ferguson's report added.
The Canadian Forces says it is bringing in new initiatives to boost the numbers of pilots and maintenance staff.
October 8, 2023 | Local, Naval
Amazon's first pair of prototype satellites for its planned Kuiper internet network were launched into space on Friday from Florida, the company's first step before it deploys thousands more into orbit to beam internet service globally and compete with SpaceX's Starlink.
February 11, 2021 | Local, Aerospace
COMMUNIQUÉ REACTION DYNAMICS ET AMRIKART ULTRAPRECISION, INTÉGRATEUR DE SOLUTIONS MÉTROLOGIQUES DIMENSIONNELLES AVANCÉES, ANNONCENT LEUR PARTENARIAT DANS LE CADRE DU SOUTIEN AU DÉVELOPPEMENT DE LA NOUVELLE GÉNÉRATION DE LANCEUR ORBITAL À FAIBLE COÛT. 9 février 2021 | par: Badr Boushel Montréal, Qc, Canada | 9 février 2021 – Amrikart Ultraprecision, chef de file nord-américain en intégration des solutions métrologique de haute précision, est fière d'annoncer son partenariat avec Reaction Dynamics (RDX), une entreprise spatiale canadienne dont la mission est de développer la première fusée orbitale au Canada. Le partenariat consiste dans un soutien continu aux opérations d'ingénierie et de production de Reaction Dynamics. Avec plus de 30 ans d'expérience dans l'industrie de la fabrication spatiale et aéronautique, Amrikart Ultraprecision assistera Reaction Dynamics en fournissant des services de mesure et d'analyse de données dimensionnelles, de même que les solutions métrologiques nécessaires au développement des technologies de propulsion et des fusées orbitales de RDX. « Des solutions métrologiques avancées ont été identifiées comme un outil clé dans le développement de la nouvelle génération de lanceur orbital à faible coût de Reaction Dynamics. Amrikart Ultraprecision a démontré qu'elle est un partenaire de choix dans ce secteur. Son expertise nous aide à suivre et à prévoir les problèmes dimensionnels, ce qui se traduit par des opérations plus efficaces dans l'ensemble.” Said Bachar Elzein – CEO et Directeur Technique de Reaction Dynamics Lab Inc. « C'est un privilège de s'associer à Reaction Dynamics et de contribuer avec notre expertise en métrologie de haute précision au développement du premier lanceur orbital canadien. Ce partenariat permettra à Amrikart de démontrer à nouveau sa capacité à fournir des solutions innovantes à des défis complexes. Notre équipe est passionnée par les technologies aérospatiales et elle prend un profond plaisir à travailler avec les ingénieurs de RDX», a déclaré Nathalie Tremblay, vice-présidente et cofondatrice d'Amrikart Ultraprecision. À propos de Reaction Dynamics Fondée en 2016, Reaction Dynamics (RDX) développe des fusées pour fournir un accès de routine à l'orbite terrestre. L'entreprise est intégrée verticalement, et ses domaines d'intérêt actuels comprennent la propulsion des fusées, les structures et l'avionique. L'équipe applique une approche rapide, agile et axée sur le hardware dans le lancement spatial, permettant à l'industrie de se prévaloir d'un accès plus rapide, moins coûteux et plus fiable à l'espace. Sa technologie de propulsion hybride unique en son genre, en instance de brevet, permet des services de lancement abordables avec de courts délais d'exécution. Son approche novatrice résout le problème persistant avec les moteurs hybrides : des performances limitées sur de longues durées de combustion. Son moteur de fusée en instance de brevet est doté d'un faible nombre de pièces pour assurer la fiabilité et une production rapide, ainsi que des propulseurs sans danger pour l'environnement afin de minimiser les demandes de nettoyage et de permettre un entreposage sécuritaire. Gr'ce à cette technologie, RDX vise à fournir des services de lancement dédiés et abordables, ouvrant de nouvelles possibilités d'utilisation de l'espace aux opérateurs de petits satellites. Pour plus d'informations sur Reaction Dynamics, veuillez visiter: www.reactiondynamics.space À propos d'Amrikart Ultraprecision Amrikart Ultraprecision, fondée en 1988, fait partie du groupe Amrikart, propriétaire exclusif de la technologie iGPS System, et partenaire d'Hexagon Metrology. Amrikart Ultraprecision se spécialise dans une branche croissante de la métrologie, celle de la mesure dimensionnelle et du positionnement de haute précision. Amrikart offre des services complets de mesure et d'alignement 3D ainsi que des solutions automatisées clés-en-main permettant d'augmenter la performance dans la fabrication et l'assemblage de produits de petit à grand volume dans les domaines de l'aviation, du spatial, de la défense, de la marine, du transport et de l'énergie. Amrikart se démarque sur le marché avec la conception et la mise en œuvre de solutions d'assemblage assisté par la métrologie en temps réel, déployées avec succès dans les chaînes d'assemblage final des avions commerciaux Airbus A220. L'entreprise fournit également le support, l'expertise en ingénierie, l'outillage spécialisé et les applications logicielles qui participent à ses solutions intégrées clés en main. Pour plus d'informations sur Amrikart Ultraprecision, veuillez visiter: www.amrikart.com Développent des affaires et relations publiques: Maxime Goulet-Bourdon | Directeur des Essais & du Développement des Affaires M: (438) 872-6087 E: mgb@reactiondynamics.space Badr Boushel (Brad) | Directeur des Ventes et du Développement des Affaires M: (438) 832-2634 E: b.boushel@amrikart.com https://www.amrikart.com/nouvelles-en-details/detail/2021-02-09/Nouveau-partenariat-avec-Reaction-Dynamics
October 29, 2020 | Local, Land
David Scanlon Defence Watch Guest Writer Recent news reports have shown the Canadian Armed Forces are struggling to define ethical boundaries as they expand their capability to meet the rising threats of the information age. A global information war is now being fought in a “grey zone” where malign state and non-state actors are trying to sow confusion and division across the international community. American professor of strategy and author Sean McFate writes that future military victories “will be won and lost in the information space, not on the physical battlefield.” But he warns that “some democracies may be tempted to sacrifice their values in the name of victory.” Recent mishaps by Canada's military underscore this temptation. In April, the Ottawa Citizen published this headline: “Canadian Forces ‘information operations' pandemic campaign quashed after details revealed to top general.” The article reported that the “IO” campaign was targeted at Canadians and “called for ‘shaping' and ‘exploiting' information” with the aim of maintaining civil order and ensuring “public compliance with suppression measures” during the coronavirus pandemic. A parallel effort involved the “data mining” of personal social media accounts in Ontario by a team assigned to military intelligence. The military shared data with the province, including findings that some of its citizens were unhappy about its response to the pandemic. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan ordered a review of the information operations campaign and an investigation into the legality of the data-mining activities. Given the Canadian Armed Forces were tasked with helping the provinces of Quebec and Ontario deal with the cruel impact of the coronavirus in long-term care homes, it is disquieting that such a campaign would be contemplated, let alone put in writing. Chief of the defence staff General Jon Vance reportedly avowed that, “as long as he was in charge information operations tactics wouldn't be used in a domestic situation, except in the case where an enemy had invaded the country.” Despite the defence chief's promise, only six months later the armed forces were caught conducting a disinformation campaign on Canada's Atlantic coast. Under the headline, “Canadian Soldiers Cry Wolf, Alarming Residents,” the New York Times reported that a military psychological training exercise had “gone wrong,” and that a “fake disinformation exercise had become a real one.” For reasons as yet unexplained, military personnel circulated a forged letter from the province of Nova Scotia warning certain residents to be wary of a wandering wolfpack, backed by loudspeakers blaring the sounds of growling wolves. It took some time for the armed forces to accept responsibility and apologize. Meanwhile, baffled local officials assured affected residents the province had not issued the letter and there were no wolves in the area. The defence minister rightly supports training the military “on how best to respond to foreign actors who use influence activities.” But to avoid further mistakes he ordered such training paused until an investigation into the wayward wolfpacks was concluded. Emma Briant, a US-based British academic and author who specializes in propaganda and political communication, told the New York Times she finds the recent incidents “appalling,” a “failure of governance,” a “failure to ensure restraint,” and a “failure to ensure ethics are built into training and planning operations.” “They seem to have introduced a policy of weaponization of influence, domestically,” Briant observes. Instead, she advises, Canada's military needs to be building “a relationship of trust with the public.” The military's pattern of ethical breaches appears to reveal an embedded operational mindset fixed on tactics, as opposed to a strategic one focussed on building public trust. British military historian Hew Strachan wrote that armed forces are attracted to the operational level of war, as opposed to the strategic. It allows them to “appropriate what they see as the acme of their professional competence,” enabling them to operate in “a politics free zone.” This may in part explain General Vance's decision in 2015 to “operationalize” the military's public affairs branch, which is responsible for public communication. The branch was seen as not delivering tangible “effects” in support of so-called “operations in the information environment.” By operationalizing a strategic function like public affairs, the military was in effect reducing it to an operational or tactical capability, like special operations forces or precision-guided missiles. Ostensibly, these can deliver precise, tangible “effects” under direct military control. Some of the perils of this new approach were exposed when a senior public affairs officer, Brig.-Gen Jay Janzen (then a colonel), began using his Twitter account to target journalists, commentators, and politicians. In April 2018, for instance, he sparked a heated Twitter exchange with opposition defence critic James Bezan. The defence committee had been debating a military deployment to Mali to help defeat cancerous African offshoots of ISIS and al-Qaeda. Janzen tweeted that questions about the mission from opposition Members of Parliament were “nonsensical.” He even proposed “better” questions for opposition parties to ask. For a serving senior officer to publicly criticize elected officials was unprecedented. Government ministers must have been perplexed to see a high-ranking service member tweeting better debate questions to opposition MPs. Janzen's tweets, which appear to have at least the tacit approval of his superiors, set an example for other service members. Another perplexing public information moment occurred last April when the Canadian military reported that a Canadian frigate patrolling off the Greek coast had “lost contact” with its Cyclone maritime helicopter. It was later revealed the helicopter was moments from landing on the ship when, as the CBC reported, “it went down in full view of horrified shipmates.” Tragically, all six aboard the Cyclone were killed in the crash. The military was widely criticized for misrepresenting the facts—contact was in fact never “lost” and officials failed to explain the miscommunication. Some practitioners of public affairs and information operations have been telling their military bosses that with scientific techniques like “target audience analysis” they can change people's perceptions and behaviours with astounding precision. Canada's defence department recently paid over a million dollars to Emic Consulting Limited (whose founder worked at the UK's controversial and now defunct Strategic Communication Laboratories) to teach public affairs officers and others how to conduct “actor and audience analysis” and otherwise weaponize behavioural science. But is this training being misapplied? One aim of information operations is to change the perceptions and behaviours of target audiences using a range of influence techniques, including “psychological” and “deception” operations. As the defence chief alluded, such techniques should not be approved for use in Canada, other than in exceptional circumstances against clearly defined foes, such as terrorists. Military public affairs, by contrast, is about ensuring Canada's armed forces follow federal communications policy, which calls for maintaining “public trust,” and directs that federal communications “must be objective, factual, non-partisan, clear, and written in plain language.” In a free and democratic society, public trust is a priceless strategic “effect.” As malign actors seek to create confusion and division, Canadians need trusted sources of information. Surveys consistently show that Canadians trust their military. Military leaders and their public affairs advisors must preserve this trust. As called for in defence policy, Canada's armed forces do need the tools to wage information and cyber warfare. They are already facing such threats on missions overseas. But the armed forces also need the tools to communicate with Canadians and other friendly audiences in a timely, truthful, and accurate fashion. Transparency is a potent democratic deterrent against disinformation. Informed by the investigations into recent mishaps, the defence minister and chief of the defence staff should consider the following: o To ensure that information operations have proper approvals and oversight, and are conducted ethically, robust policy, doctrine, and governance are essential. o To ensure broad awareness of ethical considerations when conducting influence activities, related training and education needs to be incorporated at all rank levels. o To explain their actions and help build public trust, the armed forces need to field uniformed spokespersons more often. (The military's “chief spokesman” cited by the New York Times in the “wolves” story was a civilian.) o To ensure coherent doctrine and effective implementation of information-related capabilities, a professional total force cadre of practitioners should be created. o Military public affairs must be reinvigorated as a strategic capability that promotes transparency, provides unhindered advice to commanders at all levels, and ensures close coordination with the civilian communication arms of government. o Policy and doctrine, along with leaders, operators, and information practitioners, must clearly differentiate between activities intended to inform Canadians, such as public affairs, and information operations designed to influence or deceive adversaries. Fighting disinformation is a serious whole-of-nation challenge. It requires an informed public, ethical and transparent government, an engaged private sector, a vigorous and valued free press, and armed forces that respect and reflect Canadian values. https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/canada/fight-the-information-war-without-sacrificing-canadian-values-513691/