Defence Investment Plan 2018

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  February 2, 2018 | Information, Land

  Defence procurement - Land

  The Major projects - Land directorate is responsible for acquisition related to several Department of National Defence projects, including the Medium support vehicle system project and the Tactical armoured patrol vehicle project. Medium support vehicle system Logistic vehicle modernization Tactical armoured patrol vehicle Medium support vehicle system A cornerstone of army transformation, the Medium support vehicle system project will replace the department of National Defence's existing Medium logistics vehicle wheeled with two new vehicles as follows: a quantity of up to 1,500 Standard Military Pattern trucks for operational units as well as logistics support for the life expectancy of the vehicle estimated at 20 years; and a quantity of 1,300 "Militarized" Commercial Off-The-Shelf trucks for Reserve training in Canada. The project will also acquire up to 300 trailers, up to 150 armour protection systems and up to 1,000 Special Equipment Vehicles (SEV) Shelters and associated Kitting. The kits consist of tailored workspaces such as medical units or command posts, which are fitted to the SEV Shelters. Once installed on a truck, they convert that vehicle into a specialized unit such as a dental clinic or an equipment repair facility. Logistic vehicle modernization The Logistic vehicle modernisation project seeks to acquire modern light and have logistice vehicle fleet capabilities. Project deliverables may include, but not be limited to, new vehicles, trailers, flat racks, specialized vehicle mounted modules, special containers and bulk material handling systems. The project is replacing two fleets: the Heavy logistic vehicle wheeled and the Logistic support vehicle wheeled, and two minor fleets: the Heavy engineer support vehicles generations 1 and 2. These trucks will be used to carry light and heavy cargo with various vehicle configurations and roles for domestic and expeditionary training and operations. These fleets of light and heavy logistics vehicles are in need of replacement due to their age and waning ability. Tactical armoured patrol vehicle On June 7, 2012, the Government of Canada awarded Textron Systems Canada Inc. (TSCI), contracts for 500 Tactical armoured patrol vehicles (TAPV), as well as logistics support for the life expectancy of the vehicle estimated at 25 years. TSCI was awarded the contracts after a comprehensive two-stage procurement process involving a Statement of Interest and Qualification phase as well as a Request for Proposal process in which four companies ultimately submitted proposals. Canada's Industrial and Regional Benefit policy was a mandatory element of the TAPV procurement, where TSCI is required to undertake business activity in Canada valued at 100 percent of the value of both TAPV contracts, thereby ensuring a dollar-for-dollar investment in the canadian economy. The TAPV is a wheeled combat vehicle that will fulfill a wide variety of roles including but not limited to reconnaissance and surveillance, security, command and control, cargo, and armored personnel carrier. It will have a high degree of tactical mobility and provide a very high degree of survivability to its crew. Armoured vehicles The Armoured vehicles projects directorate is responsible for the acquisition, integration and in-service support of Wheeled and tracked armoured vehicles. In addition, the Directorate is responsible for managing the procurement of the following projects under the Family of land combat vehicles (FLCV) program, which seeks to upgrade or replace the current fleet of land combat vehicles. The FLCV projects under the directorate responsibility consist of the Light armoured vehicle (LAV III) upgrade and the Force mobility enhancement (FME). Leopard 2 family of vehicles Wheeled light armoured vehicles support Project management office light armoured vehicles and light armoured vehicle III upgrade Light armoured vehicle – Reconnaissance surveillance system upgrade project Leopard 2 family of vehicles The Leopard 2 family of vehicles consists of the Tank replacement project and the Force mobility enhancement project. The Tank replacement project was established in 2007 to loan combat-ready Leopard 2 A6M tanks from Germany to support the operation in Afghanistan and to acquire 100 surplus modern Leopard 2 main battle tanks, from the Netherlands, to meet the operational and training needs of the department of National Defence. The total project value is estimated at $650M. Delivery of the Leopard 2 A4 training tank variant was completed in October 2014. The project also procures Leopard 2-based Armoured recovery vehicles (ARV) to support the Leopard 2 main battle tank fleets. Delivery of the first ARV was completed in November 2014. The last ARV is scheduled to be delivered in December 2015. The Force mobility enhancement project was established in 2009 for the acquisition of Leopard 2-based armoured engineering vehicles to support the Leopard 2 main battle tank fleets and to procure and integrate implements for the various Leopard 2 fleets, such as mine rollers, mine ploughs and dozer blades. The total project value is estimated at $376M. Initial delivery of the vehicles is expected in November 2015. Wheeled light armoured vehicles support Responsible for in-service support of the Canadian Forces fleets of Wheeled Light Armoured Vehicles (WLAV) consisting of 651 LAV III, 203 Coyote, 199 Bison and 75 RG-31. In-service support consists of spare part procurement, repair and overhaul, program management, fleet management and engineering support services. The Optimized Weapon System Support (OWSS) contract for the WLAV is the main procurement instrument, and covers the vast majority of the required support. A significant portion of OWSS for WLAVis sub-contracted. Separate government contracts exist to cover other needs associated with additional armoured protection and specialized armament. In-service support is also provided to other WLAV variants under separate contractual arrangements with their respective Original Equipment Manufacturers. Prime Contractor: General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada, London, Ontario. Project management office light armoured vehicles and light armoured vehicle III upgrade The Project management office (PMO) Light armoured vehicles (LAV) provides strategic procurement leadership, contract management and administration services to the department of National Defence for all LAV projects. It is now delivering the LAV III upgrade project. The LAV III upgrade project valued at $1.4B, will deliver mobility, protection and lethality upgrades on 550 LAV IIIs, with an option for an additional 60, over the next three years. Light armoured vehicle – Reconnaissance surveillance system upgrade project The PMO LAV is also responsible for developing and executing the procurement strategy, as well as for providing contract management, for the Department of National Defence's LRSS Upgrade project. This Project will modernize Land Force reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities. Modernization will be achieved through the acquisition of new sensor suites, vehicle and ground mounts, operator control stations and silent watch power supplies. These systems and equipment will collectively increase the performance of the LRSS and enhance the capacity to collect, process and disseminate information on the battlefield. The contracting office will be responsible for the overall management of this complex acquisition process, the timely delivery of procurement services, and to provide leadership, expertise and strategic level guidance in sourcing the LRSS from industry. https://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/app-acq/amd-dp/terre-land/index-eng.html

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  November 14, 2019 | Information, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  The real obstacle for reforming military spending isn’t in the defence ministry. It’s the Treasury Board

  KEN HANSEN Ken Hansen is an independent defence and security analyst and owner of Hansen Maritime Horizons. Retired from the Royal Canadian Navy in 2009 in the rank of commander, he is also a contributor to the security affairs committee for the Royal United Services Institute of Nova Scotia. For people inside the Department of National Defence, a minority Parliament – coupled with election promises for increased social spending and tax cuts – represents an uneasy calculus. Defence spending is always on the chopping block because it represents the largest pool of discretionary spending in the federal budget, and every party spent the recent federal election campaign being vague about military policy – offering some kind of oversight-body reform or scrutiny over the billions of dollars that have been earmarked, even as they lent their support to ensuring the military has the equipment it needs. In particular, the single largest program in Canadian defence history – the Canadian Combat Ship plan for 15 warships – will be a tantalizing target for politicians looking to get rid of perceived fat. Such cuts to shipbuilding programs have even already become normalized: The order for Halifax-class frigates were trimmed to 12 from 18 in 1983 and the Iroquois-class destroyers to four from six in 1964, to name just two. The political leaders weren't wrong when they said the military procurement system is broken. But regardless of which party had won this past election, and no matter what tweaks at the edges that the Liberal minority government and its potential supporters pursue, the reality is that the core issue remains unaddressed: Treasury Board's bulk approach to purchasing the country's military kit. Treasury Board policy states that bulk buys are how military procurement should be done, to ensure the lowest per-unit cost. But this forces tough decisions about what to buy, since the larger the order, the longer it will take to produce them all – not to mention the problems involved with trying to predict the future of warfare. Information systems become outdated in five years; weapons and sensors in 10. With a planned operating life of 25 years, any ships ordered today will be out-of-date by the time the first are delivered, and fully obsolete by the time the last one arrives. Block purchasing leads to block obsolescence. Traditionally, when technological change threatens to render military systems obsolete, the best way to hedge was to order in batches of the smallest number acceptable. In the years before the world wars, for instance, countries working to build competent naval forces put less emphasis on fleet numbers and more on technology and industrial capacity until the last moments before conflict. Technological competence was as important as numbers for fleet commanders. Another outcome of bulk buys is that the volume means that they happen only every two to three decades (or longer, in the worst cases). With such lengthy dry spells between purchases, it is impossible to retain corporate knowledge in either the defence or civilian branches of government. More frequent purchasing keeps the process alive in both practice and concept, with lessons learned that can be implemented by the same people who made the mistakes in the first place. Such irregularly timed purchases have created desperation among defence planners whose vision of the future consists of short golden days of competence and pride, followed by long years of rust-out and irrelevance. Unwittingly, the dark decades were in large part of the military's own making because of its desperate desire to acquire the absolute best model available – a practice known as “gold-plating” – instead of working steadily to build capacity and skill that would address long-range fleet needs. This is a collision of interests. The Treasury Board looks only at capital-acquisition decisions from the perspective of the buyer. It's left to the military to worry about how long they may have to operate obsolescent or obsolete equipment and systems, and to do the necessary mid-life upgrading, which is partly why costs balloon spectacularly. Life-cycle cost data is actually far more important that the initial sticker shock of the newest and shiniest model advocated by the military's leadership. The mindset needs to change. Politicians who implement bureaucratic change will probably see some improvements in decision-making. But the biggest obstacle to defence procurement is that bulk purchasing is our lone approach, and that it happens only every few decades. Regular, planned capital acquisition is the best path forward, but all paths to the future must first run through the Treasury Board. No amount of political policy adjustment can change that. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-real-obstacle-for-reforming-military-spending-isnt-in-the-defence/

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  September 24, 2020 | Information,

  AIA’s Fanning: Civil aviation’s nosedive endangers Pentagon supplies

  Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― The Pentagon's shared supply chains with battered commercial aviation companies will suffer if Washington doesn't provide that sector with aid soon, the Aerospace Industries Association warned Wednesday. The trade group released its recovery plan for the broad aerospace and defense sector as Congress has begun a fierce Supreme Court replacement battle, shifting attention away from passing another stimulus package to defray the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. But AIA President and CEO Eric Fanning suggested some aviation companies have little time to wait. “If the commercial side doesn't get some relief, you are going to see companies in the supply chain go out of business, and that will impact the defense side,” Fanning said in a teleconference with reporters. “We're going to see bankruptcies, consolidation, closures in the supply chain, and she of them are single points of failure.” The defense subsector, declared essential at the pandemic's start, enjoys steady demand from the Pentagon, which has accelerated payments to prime contractors and directed stimulus funds toward its suppliers. However, sagging demand for commercial air travel will fuel a $100 billion revenue loss in the U.S. this year, Fanning said. AIA's analysis concluded another 220,0000 civil aviation jobs are at risk beyond 100,000 already lost. The study and its recommendations were prepared by Avascent, Boston Consulting Group, and McKinsey & Company, combined with input from AIA member companies. Beyond any federal aid, the civil aviation industry, the agency said, can highlight the steps it's taken to make air travel safer; increase communication between original equipment manufacturers, prime contractors, and suppliers, and support flexibility in the supply chain if private companies offer balance-sheet support and share inventory risk. The report called for stable Defense Department funding from Congress, but also said DoD can relieve stress on the industrial base by accelerating procurements of systems and services, with a focus on suppliers with notable commercial aerospace exposure. DoD can also keep making increased payments against ongoing contracts as they reach development and production milestones. AIA also continues to advocate for industry reimbursements for costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, as authorized by Section 3610 of the CARES Act. Defense officials have said they need roughly $10 billion, and that without added funding from Congress, the Pentagon would have to dip into modernization and readiness funds. AIA's call comes a day after key House progressives, Reps. Marc Pocan and Barbara Lee, demanded an investigation and public hearings into the use of economic stimulus funding for defense contractors, calling it a “Pentagon misuse of COVID funds.” The Pentagon, which reported its intent to Congress in May, refuted that characterization. When asked, Fanning said it was important for the Pentagon to shore up previously identified supply chain weaknesses that the pandemic might exacerbate. “This money was put into contracts, so the war fighter is getting something for that,” Fanning said. “But I think the important thing is the critical nature of this industrial base, not just to the nation's economy, which is the health and safety of American's citizens writ large, but also to our nation's security.” A larger obstacle to winning further aid for the sector is that Congress has deadlocked over continued stimulus funding overall. AIA's report proposed that the government establish an investment fund that would send government-backed capital to civil aerospace suppliers; subsidize the airlines' major maintenance, repair, and overhaul visits, and continue to payroll assistance to support employees. Fanning told reporters that AIA found bipartisan backing for the idea of a payroll cost-share program, but there has been no legislative vehicle behind it. “The real problem is there's no bill,” Fanning said. “Congress hasn't been able to come together with the administration and itself to get a bill in place.” https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/09/23/aias-fanning-civil-aviations-nosedive-endangers-pentagon-supplies/