November 28, 2024 | Local, Aerospace
Canadian military trying to fast-track delivery of air defence systems to troops in Latvia
DND has not said when the short range air defence battery would be acquired or delivered to Latvia.
December 21, 2020 | Local, Naval
Editorial: Choppy waters for Canada's warship program
The Canadian Surface Combatant project is moored in layers of unnecessary secrecy. Information that has trickled out has been fragmented and contradictory. This suggests anything but smooth sailing.
Author of the article:
Editorial Board
Perhaps, one day, Canada will have 15 splendid new warships, outfitted with cutting-edge technology, that boost our naval security, create thousands of high-quality jobs and offer myriad industrial benefits.
But meanwhile, the project to build the Canadian Surface Combatant vessels remains moored in layers of unnecessary secrecy. The information journalists and the Parliamentary Budget Officer have gleaned to-date has been fragmented and contradictory. This suggests anything but smooth sailing.
For one thing, there is the issue of cost. The plan to construct the warships has navigated its way through federal governments since the 1990s, but won't start until 2023. It has been delayed time and again; project requirements have changed; and most significantly, the price estimate has soared.
Let's start there. The original $14-billion estimate for these ships is now around $70 billion, according to experts. And, as explained by the Citizen's David Pugliese, officials have done everything possible to keep these swelling costs under wraps. While MPs focus on scandals such as the WE Charity debacle (which involved just under $1 billion in grants), there's been little serious parliamentary scrutiny of the spiralling costs of our new-age warships.
Next came allegations of bid-rigging (strenuously denied by the government) from some potential contractors, after the procurement rules were changed. In one legal filing, a company noted the parameters of the CSC project has been altered 88 times during the process.
Third, while politicians and bureaucrats have argued there will be thousands of high-paying jobs and other industrial benefits, insiders are more dubious. There are no consequences to contractors who don't meet job targets.
What is truly scandalous about the shipbuilding affair, however, is the blind insistence on secrecy from all levels of government. Canadian taxpayers will be on the hook for $70 billion (and perhaps more, by the time the first ship sails). Yet journalists from this news organization and others have seen straightforward questions go unanswered; have been threatened with lawsuits; or have had access-to-information queries (that's the law designed to get answers out of government) stalled for years. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has been refused information that was nonetheless shared by government with lobbyists and potential contractors.
Project defenders may deride those who raise problems. Yet with so much secrecy, it is impossible for a thinking voter to feel full confidence that the government is competently steering one of its most important files: the nation's defence. Such stonewalling reeks of confusion or incompetence. It's unacceptable in a liberal democracy, and must change.
https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/editorial-choppy-waters-for-canadas-warship-program
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February 17, 2021 | Local, Naval
DND unable to say exactly when delays in $70-billion warship program began
David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen, Postmedia News (dpugliese@ottawacitizen.com) Published: a day ago Updated: a day ago National defence says it doesn't know when it determined that a $70-billion project to buy new warships had fallen five years behind schedule, adding billions of dollars to the cost. That lack of knowledge about a massive mega-project is unprecedented, according to the department's former top procurement official, and is further proof the Canadian Surface Combatant project has gone off the rails. The Department of National Defence revealed Feb. 1 that the delivery of the first surface combatant ship would be delayed until 2030 or 2031. The first ship was to have been delivered in 2025, according to DND documents. The five-year delay will cost taxpayers billions of dollars, but the specific amount has yet to be determined. DND now acknowledges that while there were indications in early 2020 the project schedule was slipping, it doesn't actually know when it was determined the Canadian Surface Combatant program was facing significant delays. “There was no specific month/year,” DND spokesperson Jessica Lamirande wrote in an email to this newspaper. “It was an evolving schedule that continued to shift.” But Alan Williams, the former assistant deputy minister in charge of procurement at DND, said that lack of insight by DND staff is dangerous. On major equipment procurements, every step should be documented, as bureaucrats could be called on to justify future spending decisions and overall management of a project, he said. “It's totally absurd they can't even say when they first determined this project would be delayed by five years,” said Williams. “Is that not the definition of a total loss of accountability and control?” The Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) project would see the construction of 15 warships for the Royal Canadian Navy at Irving Shipbuilding on the east coast. The vessels will replace the current Halifax-class frigate fleet. However, the project has already faced delays and significant increases in cost, as the price tag climbed from an original $14-billion estimate to $26 billion and then to $70 billion. The parliamentary budget officer is working on a new report on the CSC cost, to be finished by the end of February. Each year of delay could cost taxpayers more than $2 billion, the PBO warned previously. Although the DND has a new delivery date for the initial ship in the fleet, that doesn't mean that the vessel will be ready for operations at that time. “We expect delivery of the first ship in 2030/2031, followed by an extensive sea trials period that will include weapons certification and the corresponding training of RCN sailors, leading to final acceptance,” Lamirande said. No dates, however, were provided on when that final acceptance of the first ship would happen. Troy Crosby, the assistant deputy minister of materiel at the DND, denied the CSC project is in trouble. “I wouldn't call it trouble,” he said in an interview with this newspaper in November. “Is it hard? Is it challenging work? Absolutely. But I wouldn't say we're in trouble.” Other defence analysts are arguing the CSC program is salvageable with better governance and oversight. But Williams said the CSC is like a train rolling down a hill without brakes. “You're heading for disaster and people are talking about improving governance,” he said. “That won't save this project.” Canada has yet to sign a contract to build the Type 26 ship proposed by the consortium of Lockheed Martin and BAE for the CSC. So far, taxpayers have spent $739 million preparing for the eventual construction, according to figures tabled with parliament. Australia and the United Kingdom also plan to purchase the Type 26. But the first ship, destined for the U.K., has yet to be completed. The Canadian government originally said it would only accept a winning bid based on a mature existing ship design or a ship already in service with other navies. That would eliminate technical risk, as the design would be a known and tested commodity. The Type 26 carries extra risk as its design has not yet been proven. Williams said Canada could build an initial three Type 26 ships and then purchase other warships based on a proven design at a much reduced cost. Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2021 https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/canada/dnd-unable-to-say-exactly-when-delays-in-70-billion-warship-program-began-552869/
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September 9, 2019 | Local, C4ISR
Norad asked Canada to 'identify and mitigate' cyber threats to critical civilian sites
by Murray Brewster The U.S.-led North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) asked the Canadian military to do an inventory of its bases and the surrounding civilian infrastructure, looking for critical systems vulnerable to a cyberattack. The letter to Canada's chief of the defence staff, written by then-Norad commander U.S. Admiral William Gourtney just over three years ago, was obtained by CBC News under access to information legislation. Despite the passage of time, two leading cyber experts said the request highlights an enduring concern of both defence planners and people in high-tech industries. The notion that a cyberattack could shut down civilian infrastructure — such as power grids, water treatment plants or traffic systems — in the vicinity of a military base is nothing new. What is unusual is that Norad sought reassurance, at the highest levels of the military, that Canada was on top of the evolving threat. The Norad commander asked Gen. Jonathan Vance to "identify and mitigate" Infrastructure Control Systems (ICS) vulnerabilities on Canadian military bases, particularly at "installations that are critical for accomplishing Norad missions." The March 24, 2016 letter also urged Canada's top military commander to "advocate developing capabilities to respond to cyber incidents on CAF [infrastructure control systems] and defend CAF [infrastructure control systems] if required." Gourtney's concern was not limited to defence installations; he asked Vance to "work with Public Safety Canada to identify civilian infrastructure that is critical to CAF and Norad missions. This includes developing processes for reporting cyber incidents on the identified civilian infrastructure." Vance responded to Gourtney (who has since retired and was replaced by U.S. Air Force Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy) three months later and directed the military to hunt for vulnerabilities. "I share Norad's concerns for the cybersecurity" of critical defence infrastructure, Vance wrote on June 10, 2016, in a letter obtained by CBC News under access to information legislation. He noted that the Canadian government has identified "adversaries" that pose "a significant threat and efforts have been made to identify and develop protective strategies for Canadian critical infrastructure." The Liberal government — through its defence strategy and overhaul of security legislation — tackled some of the concerns raised by Norad. It gave the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) and the military new powers to conduct offensive cyber operations. Perhaps more importantly, it set up the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security for civilian infrastructure, which — according to CSE — aims to "be a place where private and public sectors work side-by-side to solve Canada's most complex cyber issues." David Masson, a cyber expert, said minimizing the vulnerability of civilian, privately operated infrastructure continues to be an extraordinarily complex task. The major vulnerability is in what's known as operational technology systems, the kind of computer-driven tasks in utilities and other infrastructure that open and close valves or perform remote functions. The task of securing them is made extraordinary difficult in part by the wide variety of operating systems out there. "There's lots of them," said Masson, the director of technology at Darktrace, a leading cybersecurity company. "Look at it as 50, 60, 70 different bespoke communications systems. There's no real standardization because they're so old. Many of them were never expected to be connected to the internet." He pointed to the 2015 and 2016 cyberattacks on Ukraine's power grid, which in one instance cut electricity to 225,000 people, as examples of what's possible when hackers go after operational technology systems. It is also the kind of event that Norad is concerned about. "The kinds of equipment and machinery that supports the transport of natural gas or the provision of air conditioned services, or our water supply — all of those are critical to Canadians and our militaries," Lt.-Gen.Christopher Coates, the Canadian deputy commander, said in a recent interview with CBC News. He said Norad is focused on the capabilities that are essential to doing its job of defending North America against attack, and they try to "minimize those vulnerabilities where we can." There is, Coates said, an interesting discussion taking place at many levels of the military about what constitutes critical infrastructure. "You asked if we're satisfied. I get paid to be concerned about the defences and security of our nations. I don't think I should ever be satisfied," he added. 'Inauthentic activity' in Alberta election a possible preview of tactics in the federal campaign, report warns Privacy commissioner launches investigation into licence plate breach With ransomware on the rise, RCMP urging victims to 'be patient with police' Christian Leuprecht, a defence expert at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., said defining critical infrastructure is a complex and evolving task. He pointed to Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election; prior to that event, he said, the definition of critical infrastructure was limited to power plants, electricity grids and even the financial system. "A lot of things people are wrestling with the question of what institutions — take, for example, democratic institutions — become critical infrastructure," said Leuprecht. The Ukrainian attacks, in the view of many defence experts, are a blueprint of what the opening shots of a future war would look like. "There's a considerable and growing awareness that our defence and critical infrastructure systems are closely tied together because countries, such as China, preserve cyberattack as a first-strike option," Leuprecht said. Masson said there are ways to limit the vulnerability of operational technology systems. Not connecting them to the internet would be a start, but many companies are choosing not to do that for efficiency reasons. He said they also can be protected with "robust" security systems. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/norad-cyber-civilian-1.5273917