Epic expedition: Proving the CH-148 Cyclone's capabilities in the North

On the same subject

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  November 28, 2018 | Local, Naval

  Frigate design decision faces another delay after latest challenge

  Murray Brewster · CBC News The federal government's plan to award a group of companies led by Lockheed Martin Canada the contract to design and support the construction of the navy's new frigates was dealt another setback late Tuesday by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, CBC News has learned. The agency said it intends to investigate a complaint by one of the other bidders, Alion Science and Technology Corp., and its subsidiary Alion Canada.The tribunal ordered the Liberal government to suspend negotiations with Lockheed Martin, which was selected last month by Public Services and Procurement Canada as the preferred bidder on the $60 billion program. "You are hereby ordered to postpone the award of any contract in connection with the above-mentioned procurement until the Canadian International Trade Tribunal determines the validity of the complaint," said a copy of the letter that was obtained late Tuesday by CBC News. Alion asked the CITT last week to investigate the procurement deal, saying the preferred warship design will need substantial changes and that it doesn't meet the navy's requirements as spelled out in the government tender. Last week, the company asked the Federal Court in a separate filing for a judicial review of the long-awaited decision.Three companies were in the running to design the next generation of warships to replace the navy's aging Halifax-class frigates. Navantia, a Spanish-based company, was the other bidder in the competition. Alion proposed its De Zeven Provinciën Air Defence and Command (LCF) frigate, a Dutch-designed warship, for the Canadian competition. The ship is already in service in other countries. No one from the trade tribunal, nor the federal government was immediately available for comment late Tuesday. Program already behind schedule Experts had warned the trade challenge and the court case might delay the program, which is already behind schedule. The design competition stretched for almost two years as public services officials and executives at the federal government's go-to shipyard for combat vessel construction, Irving Shipbuilding of Halifax, worked with bidders to ensure a fair competition and to avoid post-decision court fights. Public Services and Procurement Canada declined comment when the court challenge was launched last week. But a senior federal official, speaking on background at the time, said the federal government has up to 20 days to respond in Federal Court. The official — who was not authorized to speak on the record because of the sensitivity of the file — said there is flexibility built into the timeline and the government is optimistic it can meet its goal of an early 2019 contract signing. The substance of the Alion complaint is that the Lockheed Martin Canada-led bid should have been disqualified from the outset because it allegedly doesn't meet the navy's criteria in terms of speed and crew space. The Liberal government said it wanted to go with a proven warship design, rather than starting from scratch, because it would be faster and cheaper. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/frigate-design-decision-faces-another-delay-after-latest-challenge-1.4923364

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  November 9, 2023 | Local, Aerospace

  US Navy eyes two-submarine delivery rate in 2024 after schedule upset

  After trying to deliver 2 subs this year but facing delays over the summer, the Navy hopes 2024 will be the year to get back to 2-a-year deliveries.

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  December 24, 2018 | Local, Aerospace

  Canada to deploy cargo plane part time for UN missions in new year

  Murray Brewster · CBC News A Canadian military Hercules transport will soon begin once-a-week support missions for United Nations peacekeeping operations in Africa, the country's top military commander said. Those flights, by a C-130J, will eventually morph to a full-fledged deployment and deliver on the second in a long list of capabilities promised over a year ago by the Liberal government at a star-studded international conference in Vancouver. Gen. Jonathan Vance, chief of the defence staff, refused to be pinned down to a specific date when asked in a year-end interview with CBC News. His remarks were made prior to last weekend's quick, clandestine trip by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to visit Canadian aircrew and personnel taking part in the UN mission in Mali. 'This hasn't been done before' The aircraft being used will split its time between supporting operations in Iraq and flying out Entebbe, Uganda, for the UN. A letter to assist, which sets out the terms of the arrangement with the UN, has yet to be finalized and Vance defended the amount of time it has taken to fulfil what was expected to be an easy promise. "This hasn't been done before," he said. "It's pretty new. This is Canada offering up a capability where there wasn't necessarily a capability before." Usually as peace support operations unfold the UN makes requests for specific military equipment and personnel. But with the medium-lift cargo plane, Vance said, Canadian planners pointed out to the UN the need for an aircraft to support operations in Africa. "There's always need for air power," he said. There has been frustration with Canada at UN headquarters in New York. After many lofty, high-profile words of political support, the Liberal government has over the last three years turned down a number of specific peacekeeping requests, including mission command posts. A copy of the 2017 list of requests for multilateral peace operations — known internally within government as the evergreen list — was obtained by CBC News under access-to-information legislation. It shows that after being spurned throughout 2016 the UN appeared to scale back what it asked of Canada to only a handful of assignments involving single soldiers or pairs of soldiers, for leadership training or advising missions. Trudeau touts Mali mission as success Over the weekend in Mali, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused to extend the anticipated mid-summer end of Canada's helicopter support mission in the war-torn country. The UN requested the time to cover an anticipated gap between the current detachment and the arrival of the Romanian relief force. He declared the Mali mission to be a success and even suggested it was contributing to the peace process in that country by giving UN operations more certainty. Canada's approach of sharing its expertise and refined equipment is, Trudeau insisted, the best approach. "Part of the way Canada can best help involves coming, taking on an operation, demonstrating how it can be done in the absolute best possible way and helping others gain in those capacities," he said while answering questions from reporters on Saturday. Even still, there remains a long list of unfulfilled promises to the UN, said Walter Dorn, a professor of defence studies at the Canadian Forces College. At the Vancouver conference, the Liberal government promised to deliver a quick reaction force of 200 soldiers for a future peacekeeping mission as well as military training for other less experienced countries that contribute to operations. It also pledged to help get more women involved in peacekeeping through a measure known as the Elsie Initiative. That, Dorn said, is "inching along," with two partner countries, Ghana and Zambia, selected earlier this year, "but I haven't heard of actual progress." Vance said he is working with a three-to-five year timeline, and the initiatives promised in Vancouver were not intended to be delivered all at once. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-to-deploy-cargo-plane-part-time-for-un-missions-in-new-year-1.4958079