DND Selects Seven Engineering and Costing Proposals for Space-Based Surveillance System

On the same subject

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  November 11, 2017 | Local, Aerospace

  Canadian air chief looks to speed up up fighter buy

  DUBAI — Canada will kick start its competition for a future fighter jet in 2019 with the hopes of awarding a contract by 2021, but the head of the Royal Canadian Air Force wants the process to move as quickly as possible. “The plan right now is to have a request for proposal out to industry by 2019. we're in discussions and have been in discussions with a number of the people who are considering competing for that, and what I'd like to see is that accelerated as much as possible,” said RCAF commander Lt. Gen. Michael Hood, in an exclusive interview with Defense News. “A 2019 RFP would get us into contract probably by 2021, and certainly my advice to government is the sooner the better.” The RCAF wants to procure 88 fighter jets to replace its current inventory of aging 76 F/A-18 Hornets, which are nearing the end of their lifespans. Canada is an international participant in the F-35 joint strike fighter program and has helped pay for the development of the aircraft. But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed not to procure the F-35 during his campaign, and his government has opened up the competition to industry instead of moving forward with a sole-source acquisition. The Eurofighter Typhoon, Dassault Rafale, Boeing Super Hornet and Saab's Gripen E are all projected to compete for the opportunity. To bridge the gap between its Hornet fleet and a future fighter, the RCAF initially intended to procure 18 F/A-18 Super Hornets from Boeing — a move some analysts speculated could trigger a larger procurement later on. However, the Canadian government suspended the deal due to Boeing's legal complaint against Canadian aerospace company Bombardier over its commercial business. With a Super Hornet buy unlikely as long as Boeing and Bombardier feud, and Trudeau's promise not to buy the F-35, U.S. defense experts worry that Canada could be driven into the arms of a European fighter manufacturer, thus eroding Canada's long tradition of flying U.S. jets — a move that increases the militaries' interoperability. However, Hood stated that interoperability with the United States continues to be “the most important thing to me as command of the Royal Canadian Air Force.” “Every step less of interoperability is one step less of effectiveness, so interoperability is right at the top of the list beside operational advantage,” he said. “I want the young men and women that are going to be flying fighters into harm's way to have an operational advantage, and that will be key to me in the competition that's coming.” That need for interoperability with the U.S. Air Force does not diminish the chances of European fighters, he added. Canada continues to investigate alternative ways to acquire an interim fleet of F/A-18s, including potentially buying used Hornets from Australia. However, a potential deal for Super Hornets with Boeing is still on the table, Hood said. “I think the government has been presented with the FMS case for Boeing. And as they're looking at options, that's one option,” he said. “The Australian aircraft are another, and the government has not made a decision yet.” If the RCAF moves forward with a used Hornet buy from Australia, it will have to extend the lives of the airframes, which are meeting their structural ends, Hood noted. That business would likely go to L3 Technologies, which has done life extension work on the Canadian F/A-18s in the past. But Canada would still be able to acquire the aircraft “within the next couple of years” once a decision is made. Lockheed officials have said that if Canada ultimately decided not to procure the F-35, it could end its industrial partnership with Canadian firms — which totals 110 Canadian companies with $750 million in contracts, according to Lockheed — that already help manufacture the F-35. However, asked whether Canada was concerned about losing that business, Hood demurred. “I'm not privy to the industrial aspects of our partnership with Lockheed Martin,” he said. “What I can say is Lockheed Martin is a fantastic partner for Canada and for the Royal Canadian Air Force, has been for years. We remain very, very strongly engaged both in the joint project office and helping to continue with the development of the F-35, and Canadian companies continue to bid and win on contracts with that.” https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/dubai-air-show/2017/11/11/canadian-air-chief-the-sooner-the-better-on-fighter-acquisition/

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  January 16, 2019 | Local, Naval

  Business group wants National Shipbuilding Strategy reopened for Quebec shipyard

  Murray Brewster · CBC News Association puts pressure on Liberals to direct new projects to Davie yard A Quebec-based business association claiming to represent over 1,000 companies inside and outside the province is launching a high-profile campaign to convince the Liberal government to reopen the oft-maligned National Shipbuilding Strategy. The group is demanding the federal government include the Davie shipyard, in Levis, Que., in the policy and plans to make it a major issue in the October federal election. The Association of Davie Shipbuilding Suppliers, which has been around for about a year, represents companies that do business with the shipyard. It plans an online campaign, beginning Thursday, and will lobby chambers of commerce as well as federal and provincial politicians. It is hoping to use its extensive membership and thousands of associated jobs to put pressure on the government in an election year to direct the building of additional coast guard ships exclusively to the Quebec yard, one of the oldest in the country. The shipbuilding strategy, conceived under the previous Conservative government but embraced by the Liberals, has turned into a giant sinkhole for federal cash with little to show for it, Simon Maltais, the association's vice-president, told CBC News. "We can call it a boondoggle," he said. "It has been seven years in the making. At the moment, there is absolutely no operational ship afloat and working for Canada." The Conservatives under former prime minister Stephen Harper chose two shipyards — Irving Shipbuilding of Halifax and Seaspan in Vancouver — as the government's go-to companies for the construction of new warships and civilian vessels. The Davie shipyard was, at the time, emerging from bankruptcy, and under the strategy it only became eligible for repair and refit work on existing vessels and perhaps the construction of smaller vessels. Delays and cost overruns Irving and Seaspan have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in modernizing their yards and have just begun to produce new vessels. The first Arctic offshore patrol ship for the navy is being outfitted in Halifax and others are in various stages of construction. Three offshore fisheries science vessels, constructed in Vancouver for the coast guard, are undergoing repairs after defective welds were discovered last year. The entire program has been beset with delays and rising cost estimates. Last year, Public Services and Procurement Canada refused to release a revised timeline for the delivery of ships from Seaspan, including construction of a heavy icebreaker and the navy's two joint support ships. Politics and shipbuilding Maltais said it makes no sense to keep excluding Davie from full-fledged ship construction work when much of the coast fleet is over three decades old and in dire need of replacement. Refreshing the strategy would insure the federal government gets the ships it needs and Quebec companies "get their fair share" of the program. "We know it's an electoral year and, yes, we want the federal government and the people in the election to talk about it," he said. Maltais clams members of his association have been talking to federal politicians on both sides of the aisle in the province and they support the idea. "They seem to be on the same page as us," he said. Defence analyst Dave Perry, an expert in procurement and the shipbuilding program, said the political campaign has the potential to make the federal government uncomfortable, but he doubts it will achieve the objective of reopening the strategy to add a third shipyard. "That would certainly be a major change in the strategy," he said. "There had been a view of doing something less than that." The proposal being put forward by the association would not take any work from Halifax or Vancouver, but instead direct all new work, on additional icebreakers for example, to the Quebec yard. Just recently, Davie was awarded a contract to convert three civilian icebreakers for coast guard use, but the association argues the need is greater. The federal government did debate an overhaul of the strategy, according to documents obtained and published by CBC News last summer. The size and scope of the "policy refresh" was not made clear in a heavily redacted memo, dated Jan. 23, 2018. So far, nothing has taken place and government officials have insisted they were still committed to the two-yard strategy. During the last election campaign, the Liberals pledged to fix the "broken" procurement system and invest heavily in the navy. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/business-group-wants-national-shipbuilding-strategy-reopened-for-quebec-shipyard-1.4979592

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  June 23, 2024 | Local, Land

  Gen. Eyre: Liberals provided more money to military, so it’s time to push a more positive message

  Wayne Eyre tells officers a new PR strategy should push positive message about Canadian Forces because of a funding boost from government.