March 9, 2023 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence
March 9, 2023 – Ottawa – National Defence/Canadian Armed Forces
Today, the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces announced that they are launching public consultations with all Canadians on the Defence Policy Update (DPU), announced in Budget 2022. The DPU will build on Canada’s current defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged (SSE) and will enable the Canadian Armed Forces to meet any threat in the changed global security environment.
Canada’s defence policy – SSE – launched in 2017, is our 20-year plan to provide the Canadian Armed Forces with the capabilities, equipment and culture needed to anticipate and respond to threats and protect Canadians.
While SSE correctly identified the trends shaping the global security environment, the geopolitical landscape has changed significantly since 2017, and an update is clearly necessary. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has changed the threat landscape, as have increased cyber threats, Russian and Chinese military modernization, the increased presence of non-traditional actors in conflict, the acceleration and intensification of climate change, and Canadian Armed Forces’ increased role in domestic crisis response. To ensure the Canadian Armed Forces’ effectiveness in responding to these threats, we must continue to focus on building lasting, positive culture change in the military.
For these reasons, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces are conducting a review of SSE to ensure that we can continue to be ready, resilient, and relevant to meet any threat in this changed global security environment.
Given the security challenges we face, we seek to recruit and retain more Canadian Armed Forces members, and to ensure that they feel protected and respected when they wear a uniform. We will continue to move forward on the Directive for CAF Reconstitution, Retention Strategy, and other new recruitment initiatives announced this past year, as well as the ground-breaking culture change recommendations from former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour that Minister Anand has directed DND/CAF to deliver on.
This review of Canada’s defence policy is being undertaken as we continue to move forward on, and build upon, our already-announced defence priorities.
Protecting Canadians will always be the most important mission of the Canadian Armed Forces. In 2022, we announced an investment of $38.6 billion to modernize NORAD over the next 20 years. We are strengthening our Arctic security through joint exercises, six new Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships and enhanced surveillance and intelligence capabilities that we continue to acquire under SSE. The Canadian Armed Forces has also been increasingly involved in domestic missions in response to COVID-19, forest fires and floods – supporting communities across Canada whenever called upon. As climate change continues to threaten Canada and the world, the review will examine the capabilities needed to protect Canadians in the years ahead – all while DND/CAF works to reduce its own impact on the environment.
The DPU will also build on Canada’s significant defence contributions to European Allies and partners, including the training of over 35,000 members of Ukraine’s security forces through Operation UNIFIER since 2015, donations of military aid to Ukraine valued at over $1 billion, and regular flights to transport this aid within Europe. Under Operation REASSURANCE, Canada has been active on land, air and sea to bolster the security of NATO’s Eastern Flank. This work will continue in earnest, including with the support of the $8 billion over five years in new defence spending allocated in Budget 2022.
The DPU is also being undertaken as Canada increases its presence in the Indo-Pacific through its recently announced Indo-Pacific Strategy, which augments Canadian Armed Forces’ presence in the region with more training, exercises, and the deployment of an additional naval frigate. The Canadian Armed Forces also continues to contribute to United Nations Peace Operations globally and remains ready to respond to international emergencies with capabilities such as the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART).
Over the past number of months, Department of National Defence officials, members of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Minister of National Defence have been working with partners to identify the challenges that the DPU must address, and the means to get us there. We are now looking forward to welcoming further input from the Canadian public and stakeholders on our next steps.
These consultations include:
Industry, experts, governments, Indigenous partners, civil society organizations, Parliamentarians, and all Canadians are invited to provide their comments, including on the following five themes:
This input will be crucial to updating Canada’s defence policy, and to ensuring that our country is prepared to respond to new and emerging threats in the current geopolitical landscape – all while creating economic opportunities and jobs for Canadians.
These engagements will complement the Minister of National Defence and senior DND/CAF officials’ ongoing conversations with industry partners, defence and security experts, Parliamentarians, Indigenous communities, and international allies and partners, about building a modern 21st century military that can respond to the security challenges of today and into the future. They will also build on the extensive, multi-year consultations that DND/CAF undertook to inform Strong, Secure, Engaged, their consultations with a wide range of partners in the lead-up to the release of Canada’s NORAD modernization plan and recent, targeted engagements with partners on the DPU. Our forthcoming engagements will be held with industry, experts, governments, allies, Parliamentarians, Indigenous partners, and the Canadian public through a variety of fora to make sure we get this right.
In 2017, Canada’s released its defence policy—Strong, Secure, Engaged—a 20-year plan to provide the Canadian Armed Forces with the capabilities, equipment and culture needed to anticipate and respond to threats. The policy raises defence spending by over seventy percent between 2017 and 2026.
In addition to the planned increases associated with Strong, Secure, Engaged, Budget 2022 invests a total of $8 billion in new defence funding over five years.
In spring 2022, Minister Anand announced Canada’s NORAD Modernization Plan, which invests $38.6 billion over twenty years to modernize the Canadian NORAD capabilities that protect Canadians.
In spring 2022, Minister Anand accepted the final report of the Independent External Comprehensive Review. In December 2022, Minister Anand presented a report to Parliament detailing plans to respond to all 48 recommendations to build durable, meaningful culture change at the Department of National Defence and in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Support for Ukraine is a top priority for the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces. Since February 2022, Canada has committed over $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine, in addition to its ongoing efforts to train Armed Forces of Ukraine personnel, and transport Ukraine-bound military aid on Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) aircraft within Europe.
In November 2022, Canada released its Indo-Pacific Strategy, which enhances its defence presence in the Indo-Pacific Region.
Budget 2022 announced a review of Strong, Secure, Engaged to allow Canada to update its existing defence policy. To view the latest information on the DPU process and to provide comments online on our next steps, we encourage all Canadians and defence stakeholders to visit our web platform.
Submissions will be reviewed and considered from March 9 to April 30, 2023, to inform our path forward.
March 25, 2021 | Local, Aerospace, Naval
The Martin UAV V-Bat vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle's (UAV's) ability to autonomously turn into the wind in a hover is one reason why a company executive believes the aircraft has found success with...
October 22, 2019 | Local, Aerospace
JEAN-FRANÇOIS CODÈRE L'armée de l'air américaine a choisi vendredi sept entreprises, dont la montréalaise Top Aces, pour venir « jouer les méchants » lors de ses entraînements. Le contrat pourrait permettre à Top Aces de doubler sa taille et devrait confirmer qu'elle deviendra bientôt le premier opérateur privé au monde d'avions de chasse F-16. Fondée il y a 15 ans par trois anciens pilotes de chasse canadiens, Top Aces offre aujourd'hui aux armées canadienne et allemande des services d'entraînement pour leurs pilotes. Top Aces fournit ses propres pilotes, sélectionnés parmi les meilleurs de leur profession, et ses propres avions afin de servir d'adversaires. Le marché est prometteur. De 100 à 150 millions de dollars qu'il représentait jusqu'à tout récemment à l'échelle mondiale, il pourrait bientôt toucher les 3 milliards, gr'ce notamment à l'entrée en scène des Américains. Eux aussi ont découvert l'intérêt de sous-traiter le rôle de l'ennemi : coûts inférieurs et des heures d'entraînement plus productives pour les pilotes. « Un pilote qui joue à l'adversaire est limité et il n'utilise pas ses heures de vol à son plein potentiel », rappelle Didier Toussaint, cofondateur et chef des opérations de Top Aces. CONTRAT AMÉRICAIN Vendredi, l'armée américaine a retenu sept entreprises à l'occasion d'un appel d'offres pour un contrat-cadre d'une valeur maximale de 6,4 milliards US. Ces sept entreprises seront donc admissibles à participer aux appels d'offres à venir de 12 bases américaines. « Chacune de ces bases représente un contrat plus important que celui que nous avons pour l'ensemble du Canada. » — Didier Toussaint, cofondateur et chef des opérations de Top Aces Avec ses 29 appareils F-16 achetés de l'armée israélienne, Top Aces devrait être l'entreprise la mieux équipée du lot. Elle est déjà la plus importante en matière d'heures de vol effectuées. Elle devrait donc principalement se concentrer sur les bases aux besoins les plus évolués, celles qui abritent des F-35, par exemple. À elle seule, cette expansion américaine représente un investissement de 450 millions US pour Top Aces. En plus des appareils, il faudra embaucher des pilotes, des ingénieurs et des mécaniciens. Une cinquantaine de pilotes américains ont déjà reçu des promesses d'embauche. Un ancien officier américain de haut rang quittait le bureau de M. Toussaint au moment où La Presse y est entrée. Il venait de passer un entretien d'embauche. Top Aces s'apprête à accueillir de nouveaux investisseurs institutionnels, « dont certains québécois », qui lui permettront de franchir cette étape. Clairvest, de Toronto, et JPMorgan ont déjà une place dans son capital. D'autres bonnes nouvelles pourraient aussi survenir au cours de la prochaine année. Le Royaume-Uni est à la recherche de services du même genre, tout comme l'Australie, dont Top Aces a été le fournisseur pendant une période d'essai de deux ans. MOINS COÛTEUX Si les services de Top Aces représentent des économies pour les armées de l'air, ce n'est pas en raison du coût du personnel. Les pilotes sont rares et l'entreprise doit les payer à leur valeur, dit M. Toussaint. L'économie vient plutôt des appareils. En attendant ses F-16, Top Aces fournit ses services à l'armée canadienne avec 16 appareils Alpha Jet, des avions d'abord conçus pour l'entraînement et qui coûtent moins cher à manœuvrer que les F-18 de l'armée. Leurs performances moindres ne sont pas vraiment significatives dans la plupart des contextes, explique M. Toussaint. « On n'est pas à 50 % des F-18, on est plutôt autour de 90 %. C'est le dernier 10 % qui coûte cher. » — Didier Toussaint, cofondateur et chef des opérations de Top Aces Environ 2000 heures de vol sont encore effectuées par des F-18 qui servent d'adversaires dans les contextes où la performance de l'appareil est critique. Top Aces s'occupe du reste. Les jeunes pilotes, moins expérimentés, gagnent à affronter des avions inférieurs dirigés par des pilotes plus expérimentés, indique d'abord M. Toussaint. Les Alpha Jet sont aussi convenables dans des simulations impliquant de nombreux appareils, où la performance de chacun est moins importante. Finalement, l'entreprise fournit aussi des services à la marine, aux forces spéciales et à l'armée de terre. Les soldats s'entraînent à commander des frappes aériennes et la nature de l'appareil qui répond à leurs commandes importe peu. Quant à la marine, elle s'exerce à tirer sur des cibles en forme de missiles traînées par des avions d'affaires Learjet, au bout d'un c'ble. Si l'interminable saga du renouvellement de la flotte d'avions de chasse finit par aboutir, le Canada se retrouvera équipé d'avions encore plus performants que les F-16 que détiendra Top Aces. Encore là, pas de souci, selon M. Toussaint. « Ce qu'on réplique, ce sont des avions ennemis, essentiellement russes ou chinois pour être clair. Nos F-16, qui seront bien équipés, vont faire le travail. » http://plus.lapresse.ca/screens/b56ec892-2a8d-495c-8972-04df52fe2b08__7C___0.html
July 15, 2021 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Colleagues and Partners in Defence, Like most of Canada's business and industry sectors, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on much of our work here at the Department of National Defence over the past 18-months. Nonetheless our teams have been working diligently to ensure that key projects continue to move forward so our members in uniform have the equipment they need, and so Canadian industry has a sustainable workload. While the full impact of the pandemic is not yet known, we are now sharing updated information about our key, major equipment procurement projects that reflects the effects of the first year of COVID-19. As you will see in the documents attached we continue to evaluate the effects of the pandemic and any changes these may bring to project schedules or costs. Some of the main changes that you will notice include: A potential delay of 16 months to the delivery of the final Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship due to work adjustments caused by COVID-19 and other programmatic considerations. This should not impact operations, or production of future ships at the same shipyard, but we continue to monitor the schedule closely. Significant progress on the Joint Support Ship, with 122 of 123 blocks of the first ship under construction. Since the documents attached were prepared, progress has continued and all 123 blocks are under construction or substantially complete. Based on this, we expect the delivery of the first ship as planned, in 2023. Progress on the Fixed-Wing Search and Rescue Aircraft Replacement Project, with six aircraft now accepted in Spain, two of which have been delivered to Canada. This keeps us on track with our plan for initial operational capability in 2022. Significant changes to the Cormorant Mid-Life Upgrade Project, as the original proposal was found unaffordable. We continue to work with the original equipment manufacturer to find an acceptable solution, but this will likely cause some delays to the project. Continued production of the Armoured Combat Support Vehicle, with fourteen vehicles now produced, which keeps us on track for initial operational capability in 2023. Since the documents attached were prepared, production has continued, and a total of 22 vehicles have now rolled off the production line. Completion of the Medium Support Vehicle System Project and Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle. Now that all vehicles have been received, and full operational capability has been achieved, this project will now be considered closed. Our webpages will be updated in the coming days to reflect this latest information, and will continue to be updated should any changes develop in the future. You can always access information about all our major equipment procurements at https://www.canada.ca/en/services/defence/defence-equipment-purchases-upgrades.html. We welcome your questions and commentary, and hope that you will continue to be involved in this effort as it evolves. Vance White C.V. (Vance) White, CD Acting Director Directorate of Outreach and Speechwriting [DOAS] | Assistant Deputy Minister (Public Affairs) [ADM(PA)] Department of National Defence | Government of Canada Vance.White@forces.gc.ca | C: 613-222-3272