October 21, 2018 | Local, Naval

Feds give Lockheed Martin first shot at $60-billion warship contract

OTTAWA — The federal government is giving U.S. defence giant Lockheed Martin the first crack at inking a contract to design Canada's $60-billion fleet of new warships.

Government officials say Lockheed's proposed design beat out two rival submissions in what has been a long and extremely sensitive competition to design replacements for the navy's entire frigate and destroyer fleets.

While the announcement marked the start of an important new phase in the largest and most expensive military purchase in Canadian history, it could also prove to be extremely controversial as some had questioned why the bid was allowed in the first place.

Still, Lockheed executives may not be popping the champagne just yet. Negotiators for both sides as well as Halifax-based Irving Shipbuilding, which will actually build the vessels, must now work out details — including the final cost — before an actual contract is awarded.

The stakes will be high for both sides, with hundreds of millions of dollars in play as well as pressure to make up for lost time as numerous delays — including in the design competition — have pushed the schedule for construction.

Irving has warned that it could be forced to lay off hundreds of employees if work on the warships is not ready to start by the time it finishes building the navy's new Arctic patrol ships in 2021 or 2022.

The Defence Department's head of military procurement, Patrick Finn, acknowledged the need for urgency.

But he also noted the need for care as whatever decisions are taken during the negotiations could have ramifications on the navy and taxpayers for decades.

“So it behooves us to stop and make sure we do the final checks in all of the areas,” Finn said this week in an interview.

Lockheed's victory is likely to be contentious as the federal government had originally said it wanted a “mature design,” which was widely interpreted as meaning a vessel that has already been built and used by another navy.

But the Type 26 frigate, upon which Lockheed's proposal is based, is only now being built by the British government and has not been used on operations.

The federal government has reserved the right to walk away from the talks — if Lockheed drives too hard a bargain — and negotiate with the second-place bidder, which was not identified. However, officials hope that won't be necessary and a contract will be signed this winter.

“We have notional time frames allocated,” said Andre Fillion, who oversees military and naval projects with Public Services and Procurement Canada.

“And should everything go according to plan, we're looking at winter 2019 for the award of the contract. If it doesn't go according to plan, then we go to Plan B — and obviously that would take longer.”

Lockheed's design was up against a pitch by U.S.-based defence company Alion, which proposed a design based on a Dutch frigate, and Spanish firm Navantia's proposal, which was modelled on a frigate used by the Spanish navy.

One of the big questions heading into the negotiations will be how much of Lockheed's design will need to be changed to reflect the navy's needs and how much the navy will have to shift its requirements because changing the design will take more time and money.

Government negotiators are also facing a potential battle over the amount of intellectual property that Lockheed will be required to hand over, which Ottawa wants so it can operate and maintain the vessels on its own after they are built.

Companies had originally been told that the winner would be required to turn over the full blueprints, but after significant resistance the two sides agreed the matter would be negotiated before a contract is awarded.

Officials remain focused on getting “the intellectual property access and rights that we need to not only build the ship but also to operate and maintain it for its entire life cycle,” Fillion said.

— Follow @leeberthiaume on Twitter

https://ipolitics.ca/2018/10/19/feds-give-lockheed-martin-first-shot-at-60-billion-warship-contract/

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June 11, 2018 | Local, Aerospace

L3 MAS Teams with Israel Aerospace Industries for the Royal Canadian Air Force’s Remotely Piloted Aircraft System Project
MIRABEL, Quebec, May 31, 2018 – L3 MAS announced today that it has teamed with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to form Team Artemis to offer the state-of-the-art Artemis Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), based on IAI's Heron TP, for the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) program. The Artemis UAS is a mature and highly capable platform with a proven operational track record. This Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAS will be equipped with a wide variety of sensors and other payloads designed specifically to meet Canada's requirements. The Artemis UAS is uniquely positioned to assist Canada in preserving its national security and sovereignty interests at home and abroad. L3 MAS will be the prime contractor for the team, building on its extensive In-Service Support (ISS), airworthiness, integrated logistics and program management experience. It will also lead the Artemis Canadian industrial team, including Pratt & Whitney Canada, which will provide the power plant for the air vehicle, as well as other prominent Canadian partners to be named at a later date. The Artemis solution will deliver substantial economic benefits to Canada, including the creation of high-value Canadian jobs. “RPAS provides a welcome opportunity to deliver a world-class UAS capability to the RCAF,” said Jacques Comtois, Vice President and General Manager of L3 MAS. “As the prime contractor, mission systems integrator and ISS provider, L3 MAS looks forward to breaking new ground in Canada's defence and aviation sectors with IAI's Artemis UAS.” “IAI is excited to propose our advanced, flexible and operationally proven Artemis solution for Canada's RPAS project,” said Shaul Shahar, IAI Executive Vice President. “We are excited to have L3 MAS as our partner to cooperate with and bring this impressive capability to the Royal Canadian Air Force. The unique solutions we are offering provide tremendous advantages to Canada, and we look forward to the opportunity to compete on the RPAS project.” Under the RPAS program, the Department of National Defence (DND) will procure a number of MALE UAS aircraft, with associated Ground Control Stations (GCS), sensor suites and support equipment. The contract is scheduled to be awarded in 2021-2022 and will include the acquisition of the equipment and the full spectrum of In-Service Support for 20 years. http://www.mas.l-3com.com/doc/Press_Release/L3%20MAS%20joins%20Forces%20with%20IAI%20on%20the%20RPAS%20Project.pdf
November 5, 2019 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

Troy Crosby named new Assistant Deputy Minister of Materiel at DND
DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN Troy Crosby has been appointed Assistant Deputy Minister of Materiel at the Department of National Defence. His appointment is effective Nov. 11. The ADM Materiel position opened up in August when Pat Finn decided to retire. At that time, Crosby (pictured above) assumed the role of Acting ADM(Materiel). In addition, Rear Admiral Simon Page will retire from the Royal Canadian Navy and will be appointed Chief of Staff Materiel. Page will start in that position starting Dec. 16th. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/troy-crosby-named-new-assistant-deputy-minister-of-materiel-at-dnd
March 17, 2020 | Local, C4ISR, Security

Online 'phishing' attacks expected to target housebound staffers as COVID-19 spreads
It's a 'huge opportunity' for online crime, one expert warns The number of "phishing" attacks meant to steal the online credentials of public servants and corporate sector employees now housebound due to the COVID-19 pandemic is on the rise, one cyber security expert warns. Many attempts are being made against employees who are working from home on virtual private works (VPNs). Cyber experts are still gathering data to establish a direct correlation between the pandemic crisis and the increase in malicious activity. But Rafal Rohozinski, chief executive officer of the SecDev Group of Companies, said this pandemic moment — when large numbers of employees are at home and receiving instructions from their workplaces on how to connect to internal networks — offers online thieves a "huge opportunity." Federal government and corporate sector systems were never designed to support a sudden, mass migration of employees from offices to their homes, he said. "The opening that creates for those who want to wreak havoc through ransomware and malware is really, really significant," said Rohozinski. "And I don't think we're anywhere near prepared for that. "What we're seeing is an increase in phishing being used as a means to get people's credentials." U.S. Health Department attacked The U.S. Health and Human Services Department's website was hit by a cyber attack over several hours on Sunday, an incident which involved overloading its servers with millions of hits. Officials said the system was not penetrated, although media reports in Washington described it as an attempt to undermine the U.S. government's response to the coronavirus pandemic — and may have been the work of a foreign actor. Rohozinski said that while the facts are not all in yet, his "professional guess" is that there's a link between the attack and the COVID-19 crisis. Last week, Canada's top military commander warned that he'd seen recent indications the country's adversaries intend to exploit the uncertainty, confusion and fear generated by the pandemic. Send in the trolls: Canada braces for an online disinformation assault on COVID-19 Gen. Jonathan Vance, chief of the defence staff, was not specific about the potential threats — but experts say they could range from hacking to online disinformation campaigns aimed at discrediting the federal government's response. Rohozinski said he's concerned about the federal government's technical capacity to support thousands of employees on private networks. "Everybody's moving on to VPNs. Everybody," he said. "This is an enormous pinpoint and an enormous vulnerability." Federal Digital Government Minister Joyce Murray's office was asked for a response Monday, but was unable to provide an immediate comment. Many of the country's leading information technology companies are part of the Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange (CCTE), a nonprofit centre where companies can swap information and insights. A CCTE spokeswoman said the corporate sector is better prepared to face the challenges posed by the mass movement of employees to home networks. Canada to bar entry to travellers who are not citizens, permanent residents or Americans Canadian military bans international travel in response to COVID-19 Still, there is reason for concern. "Given we are moving people to work from home now, companies need to ensure that the work from home environment is as safe as the corporate environment and that people are trained to notice these phishing campaigns, just like they were in the corporate environment," said Mary Jane Couldridge, director of business development at the CCTE. "It's a matter of keeping our community aware of what is impacting Canada daily so we know how to react to it and prevent it from spreading — and not chase rainbows." Most corporations have plans they'll activate now to cover the wholesale movement of employees to networks outside of the office, she added. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/online-hacking-phishing-covid-19-coronavirus-1.5499725

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