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April 25, 2019 | Local, Aerospace

F-35 Demonstration Team coming to Aero Gatineau-Ottawa air show

DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN

The U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team is now confirmed as coming to the Aero Gatineau-Ottawa 2019 air show. The team will be conducting only two displays outside the U.S. this year. The Aero Gatineau-Ottawa air show runs Sept. 6-8.

The RCAF Snowbirds and the CF-18 Hornet Demo team will also be at the show among other attractions.

In addition on Aug. 13 the Royal Air Force nine plane precision aerobatic team, the Red Arrows, will be coming to Gatineau-Ottawa for the first performance of their six-week North American tour, Aero Gatineau-Ottawa air show organizers point out.

Defence Watch will update with details as they become available.

The second location outside the U.S. for the USAF F-35A Demonstration Team will be in Bagotville, Quebec. The team will be at the Spectacle Aerien International de Bagotville which takes place June 22-23.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/f-35-demonstration-team-coming-to-aero-gatineau-ottawa-air-show

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  • Canada launches production of new combat vehicles

    August 6, 2020 | Local, Land

    Canada launches production of new combat vehicles

    ByDylan Malyasov Aug 5, 2020 Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan said that production on the first Armoured Combat Support Vehicle, or also know as ACSV, has begun in London, Ontario at the General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada manufacturing facilities. These new vehicles will fulfill a variety of combat support roles such as that of Troop/Cargo Vehicle (TCV), ambulance, command post, and mobile repair and recovery, according to a press release issued Tuesday by National Defense. The contract for this project was awarded last September, and since then, a number of subcontracts have been awarded by General Dynamics to allow work to start. These subcontracts represent over $137 million in investments to more than 30 Canadian businesses from coast to coast to coast, creating and sustaining over 400 jobs across the country. This is a big step forward as the government continues to deliver on Strong, Secure, Engaged, Canada's first fully costed and funded defence policy. As per the Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy, General Dynamics will re-invest an amount equal to the value of the contract to create and sustain well-paying jobs across the country. These vehicles will replace the current fleets of M113 Tracked Light Armoured Vehicle (TLAV) and the LAV II Bison. The first vehicle is expected roll off the production line this December, with deliveries occurring through February 2025. Testing, training, and procurement of spare parts will be required before the initial vehicles are distributed to Canadian Armed Forces bases in 2022. “These vehicles will form the backbone of the Army's combat support fleet, and be used on a wide range of operations including domestic disaster relief and international peace support missions,” said Harjit Sajjan. “Thanks to the flexibility found in our defense policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged, work on the vehicles has started years earlier than expected and ensures that we continue to support well-paying Canadian jobs and critical innovation in communities across the country.” The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry also added that “Our government has ensured that this contract supports Canadian jobs and provides benefits to Canadian industry, including small and medium-sized businesses. Through the Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy, this project will continue to strengthen key industrial capabilities that support the Canadian Armed Forces and help to keep Canada's economy strong.”

  • An Investment in Capability

    October 25, 2018 | Local, Aerospace

    An Investment in Capability

    If you're planning to become hopelessly lost, my advice is to do it in Norway. That was the author's conclusion after Skies was invited to the Leonardo Helicopters facility in Yeovil, England, to fly the latest variant of the AW101 search and rescue (SAR) helicopter. The machine was brand new, pending delivery to Norway, but represented a configuration that Leonardo has proposed to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as an upgrade for Canada's fleet of CH-149 Cormorant SAR helicopters. AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE RCAF The CH-149 Cormorant entered RCAF service in 2002. While not an old airframe by Canadian standards, the subsequent evolution of the model has left our version somewhat dated, and Leonardo maintains that obsolescence issues are beginning to adversely affect operational availability Team Cormorant is an industry consortium composed of Leonardo Helicopters, IMP Aerospace & Defence, CAE, GE Canada and Rockwell Collins Canada. The group's unsolicited proposal to the Air Force is intended to guard against creeping obsolescence and ultimately to reduce the cost of operating the helicopter. Under Team Cormorant's proposal, the RCAF would also acquire a training facility with a modern full-mission simulator, likely to be installed at 19 Wing Comox, B.C. The machine on offer to Canada is an extensively upgraded version of the RCAF's existing airframe, based upon the AW101-612 configuration; 16 of which are destined for Norway under its Norwegian All-Weather SAR Helicopter (NAWSARH) program. Team Cormorant's proposal to Canada also seeks to take advantage of nine former VH-71 Kestrel airframes from the cancelled U.S. presidential helicopter program, acquired by the RCAF in 2011. These would be used to augment the Cormorant fleet from the current 14–widely acknowledged as inadequate for Canadian SAR requirements–up to potentially 21 machines. Enhanced fleet size would allow the RCAF to base the Cormorant at 8 Wing Trenton, Ont.; a move that would improve SAR capability in the vast Trenton SAR region. Compared to in-service CH-149 Cormorants, the upgrades on offer include new, more powerful, full-authority digital electronic-controlled (FADEC) General Electric CT7-8E turboshaft engines; a more modern Rockwell Collins cockpit and avionics suite; improved aircraft management system; and a newly designed, four-axis dual-duplex digital automatic flight control system (AFCS). The sensor package promises the biggest capability upgrade, and includes an electro-optical surveillance system; a multi-mode active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar; cell phone detection and tracking system; and marine automatic identification system (AIS) transponder receiver. AN OPPORTUNITY FOR COMPARISON In 2016, Skies dispatched me to fly the CH-149 Cormorant with RCAF's 442 Squadron at CFB Comox. It was an opportunity for this former Air Force CH-113/A Labrador SAR pilot to see first-hand how the Cormorant had changed the job I did decades ago in those same mountains. I recall that the Cormorant brought a lot of new technology to the SAR business, but the basic mission, like the mountains around us, was unchanged. After that flight, I reported: “Flying SAR was still a matter of cautious and skillful flying, using maps and looking out the window.” That experience left me with great regard for Air Force SAR crews and for the operational capability of the Cormorant, but also bemused to find that the business of searching still basically relied upon the “Mark 1 eyeball.” A flight in the latest variant of the AW101 was a terrific opportunity for a more contemporary comparison. The experience would demonstrate that leading-edge systems–particularly electro-optic sensor technologies–offer SAR capabilities that are as much a generational improvement over the current Cormorant as the Cormorant was over my beloved ol' Labrador. A CANADIAN FLIES A NORWEGIAN HELICOPTER IN ENGLAND Leonardo Helicopters test pilot Richard “Russ” Grant kindly offered me the right seat for our demonstration flight. Veteran flight test engineer (FTE) Andy Cotton served as sensor operator. Conditions were ideal, under a clear sky with a warm (24 C) gentle breeze along the century-old former-Westlands grass runway. Our test helicopter was the sixth production machine destined for Norway, operated by Leonardo under U.K. Ministry of Defence registration ZZ015. The helicopter's empty weight was 11,039 kilograms with much of its SAR interior yet to be fitted. Adding 2,000 kilograms of fuel (roughly half its 4,150-kilogram capacity) and three crewmembers brought the takeoff mass to 13,517 kilograms, which was well below the maximum allowable gross weight of 15,600 kilograms. The Cormorant that Skies flew with RCAF's 442 Squadron, although fully equipped for SAR with a standard fuel load of 2,400 kilograms and a crew of six, had a gross takeoff mass of 13,800 kilograms, which was below the maximum allowable gross weight of 14,600 kilograms. Direct comparison is difficult to establish, but the Norwegian machine is both heavier with installed systems and has more installed power than the CH-149, so the net result may be expected to be about the same operational power margin. Rapid dispatch can be facilitated by starting the auxiliary power unit (APU) while strapping in. Grant talked me through the engine starting procedure from memory. Air Force crews will use a checklist, but the procedure was quick and straightforward Engine controls consisted of three rotary knobs on the overhead panel in place of engine condition levers. I monitored the start, but Grant advised that in the event of a start-up malfunction the FADEC would shut down the engine faster than the pilots could react. We started the No. 1 engine first to power the accessory drive, providing hydraulic and electric power and bleed air. Starts of engines No. 2 and No. 3 were done simultaneously. Pre-flight checks and initialization of the aircraft management system (AMS, but think “master computer”) took Grant only minutes. Despite the functional similarity of the cockpit to the CH-149, the impression that I was amidst unfamiliar new technology was immediate. As ground crews pulled the chocks and busied themselves around the helicopter, the onboard Obstacle Proximity LIDAR System (OPLS, where LIDAR is light detection and ranging, since I needed to ask, too) annunciated their presence around the turning rotors. This system, which Grant described as being like the parking sensors in a car, provided a pop-up display and discretely-pitched audio cues depicting the range and azimuth to obstacles around the helicopter. Having come from a generation where we squinted into a landing light beam to guesstimate rotor clearance from obstacles, all I can say is, I want one! Full article: https://www.skiesmag.com/features/an-investment-in-capability

  • Canadian military to get new sniper rifles

    May 13, 2020 | Local, Land

    Canadian military to get new sniper rifles

    David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen, Postmedia News (dpugliese@ottawacitizen.com) Published: 23 hours ago Updated: 6 hours ago Canadian military sniper teams will be getting new rifles with the first expected to be delivered in the fall. The Liberal government is spending $8.5 million on purchasing the 272 rifles and spare parts. The C20 will replace the C8 as the personal defence weapon for Canadian Forces sniper teams, confirmed Department of National Defence spokeswoman Andrée-Anne Poulin. The government will also launch a competition sometime this month to buy 229 bolt action sniper rifles. That rifle, designated as the C21, will be used for long-range shooting and will come in two different calibres. The Canadian Forces says the new C20, which will be in 7.62 calibre, will be more accurate and an improvement over the current C8 used by sniper teams. The federal government initially awarded a $2-million contact to Colt Canada in Kitchener on February 28 to establish the production line to produce the C20 weapon. That contract also includes an initial delivery of 10 of the C20 rifles. That early production run is to ensure Colt has the technical proficiency to deliver the new weapon, added Poulin. The federal government then awarded a $6.5-million contract to Colt Canada on April 17 to produce 262 additional C20 rifles, associated equipment and spare parts. No announcement was made of the deal, in contrast to the announcement by defence minister Harjit Sajjan on Jan. 24 that the government was purchasing 3,600 machine guns from Colt. DND said an announcement wasn't made about the sniper rifles because the government is focused on its efforts to send out information about the novel coronavirus. Defence officials, however, privately say the deal wasn't publicized because there was concern about the political optics of such an announcement coming just before the Liberal government banned assault rifles, including those made by Colt Canada, from being owned by private citizens. Sajjan's office and the Prime Minister's Office are now carefully reviewing all communications the department sends to the news media, even on non-COVID-19 issues. DND didn't have a per-unit cost for the new C20 rifles. But officials acknowledge that taxpayers are paying a premium to have the guns manufactured in Canada under what is called the Munitions Supply Program, which sees such work directed to Colt Canada. For instance, the machine guns that Sajjan announced in January cost about double what other militaries pay for similar weapons. The Canadian Forces expects deliveries of the new C20 to begin in November. The last deliveries are expected in March 2021, Poulin noted. It was decided to forgo a competition for the new C21 rifle because an analysis under the Munitions Supply Program showed that having Colt create a new production line for just 229 rifles would be too expensive, according to DND. There are many manufacturers of such bolt action rifles throughout the world. Colt was also given another contract under the Munitions Supply Program to refurbish 75 C15 rifles at a cost of $281,000. Those rifles are in .50 calibre. The Canadian Forces expects delivery of those refurbished rifles to be completed by March 31, 2021, according to Poulin. The Canadian Forces has a program to outfit its sniper teams with modern equipment ranging from optical sights, new body armour, night vision equipment, ballistic calculators and “concealment kits.” Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2020 https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/canada/canadian-military-to-get-new-sniper-rifles-448930/

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