Feds going ahead with plan to buy used jets, says Defence minister

On the same subject

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  January 7, 2019 | Local, Aerospace, Security

  UAVs remain a persistent problem around Canadian airports

  by Ken Pole Transport Canada data on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) flown in or near controlled airspace in 2018 show that this remains a persistent problem, even as the federal government continues to work on updated regulations. Interim regulations in effect since last May prohibit UAVs inside controlled or restricted airspace, and require them to be flown at least 5.6 kilometres away from any area where aircraft take off or land. These regulations also require unmanned aircraft to be at least 1.9 kilometres away from heliports. UAVs must be flown only during daylight hours, always in line of sight, below 90 metres above ground level (AGL), and at least 30 to 76 metres from vehicles, vessels and the public. The only exception is for operations from a field or an event approved by the Model Aeronautics Association of Canada. Last summer, Transport Canada initiated two pilot projects involving emergency responders and several private companies which operate UAVs beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) in an attempt to collect safety information to help regulators understand the challenge. “Transport Canada has indicated that they have now completed a few operational tests and will continue their trials,” wrote aviation lawyer Auriol Marasco, a partner in the Toronto law firm Blake, Cassells & Graydon, in a Jan. 3 website article. “The industry is anxiously awaiting the results as they will provide key indications as to how the BVLOS operations will be regulated.” Marasco also said Transport will be releasing updated regulations for UAV operations within visual line-of-sight (VLOS). Updated rules were expected by the end of December, but a Transport Canada spokesperson told Skies in a Jan. 4 email that the department “continues to work on getting the final regulations published . . . as soon as possible in 2019.” Meanwhile, the department's Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System (CADORS) for last year–which could be amended as any year-end reports are incorporated–includes at least 123 reports involving UAVs not in compliance with the regulations. In some cases, the UAV was close enough for pilots to identify the make, model, and even estimate its weight. All major scheduled and charter carriers have filed reports about encounters at various altitudes, some within close proximity to runways. In June, the crew of an Air Inuit Boeing 737 on final approach 3.7 kilometres from Montreal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport reported an orange UAV at some 360 metres AGL. At the same airport three months earlier, the tower advised an aircraft taking off that there was a UAV approximately 900 metres from the runway threshold at about 200 metres AGL. Quebec accounted for “only” eight CADORS reports in 2018. Given their traffic volumes, Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta topped the list with 48, 37 and 16 reports, respectively. One of the B.C. reports came from the crew of an Air Canada Airbus A321 on final approach to Vancouver International Airport. Descending downwind, they reported a UAV “whizzing by” at approximately 7,000 feet AGL. In another notable incident, the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre (VHFC) reported a UAV some 200 feet above the floatplane docks as a Seair Seaplanes aircraft was taxiing out for departure. The only other detail provided in the CADORS was that “the UAV operator was located and counselled by a VHFC representative” and that the UAV had been landed. Reports were filed by commercial, corporate, private and military fixed-wing and helicopter pilots as well as members of the public. In most cases, the CADORS notes “no impact on operations.” However, that wasn't the case last February with a Cessna 172S registered to B.C.-based Chinook Helicopters. On a training flight from Abbotsford to Chilliwack, as it turned on right base to Chilliwack, the pilot reported that the leading edge of his left wing had been struck by an unknown object. He landed without further incident and police were advised. No UAV debris was found but blue paint was evident on the Cessna's damaged area. It was a situation that clearly could have been much worse. https://www.skiesmag.com/news/uavs-remain-a-persistent-problem-around-canadian-airports

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  October 5, 2021 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contracts for October 1, 2021

  Today

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  September 29, 2020 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

  COVID-19 further delaying some overdue military procurements

  Lee Berthiaume OTTAWA — While the federal government is pressing ahead with plans to buy billions of dollars worth of much-needed equipment for the Canadian Armed Forces, the Department of National Defence's top procurement official says COVID-19 is further slowing down some already delayed purchases. The past six months have seen a number of major milestones for Canada's beleaguered military procurement system, including last week's unveiling of the first of 16 new military search-and-rescue planes after 16 years of delays and controversy. Procurement officials are also now reviewing three bids that were received from fighter-jet makers at the end of July as Canada inches closer to selecting a replacement for the aging CF-18s following more than a decade of political mismanagement. The list of recent successes also includes Halifax-based Irving Shipbuilding having delivered the first of six new Arctic offshore patrol vessels in late July, while progress has been made on a number of other files, such as the long-overdue purchase of new engineering vehicles for the Army. Yet some of those milestones would have been achieved earlier had it not been for COVID-19. And Troy Crosby, the Defence Department's assistant deputy minister of materiel, acknowledges many other projects are being affected as well. That includes the more than 100 military procurements — roughly half of them dealing with new equipment and the rest focused on building new infrastructure on Canadian Forces bases across the country — that were listed as already delayed before the pandemic hit. "COVID didn't speed anything up," Crosby said in an interview with The Canadian Press. "I think everybody would understand that that's going to have some impact. And exactly what that impact is difficult to tell right now." Delays in military procurements can have several impacts. In some cases such the CF-18s, the Canadian Armed Forces is being forced to keep using equipment that was supposed to have been retired years ago. In others, delays drive up the cost of the new purchases due to inflation. The projects most likely to be delayed due to COVID-19 are those in production, Crosby said. Examples include the construction of new naval ships by Irving and Seaspan ULC in Vancouver, which have had to adopt physical distancing and other COVID-19 measures at their shipyards. "For the projects that are at a stage where the work is office-based ... once we got over that initial hump as everybody had to as we moved toward a remote-work posture, the work continued," said Crosby. "If you're in a shipyard and you're trying to advance the production of a ship given all of the physical distancing requirements and the health and safety considerations, that's challenging." Crosby has previously argued much of the frustration around military procurement is the result of unrealistic expectations born of a lack of understanding and appreciation for how the system — which is dealing with more projects than at any time in recent history — actually works. COVID-19 has also prompted speculation the Liberal government could start cutting back on its promise, unveiled in 2017, to spend $553 billion on the military over the next 20 years. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan told The Canadian Press earlier this month that the funding is "secure." Asked about the spending plan — which is contained in the Liberals' defence policy and known as Strong, Secure, Engaged — Crosby said: "Strong Secure Engaged continues to be our focus and it laid out a program of work and we're trying to get that program of work delivered. "It's been that way right through this whole COVID situation. That hasn't changed anything. ... The people in the materiel group, the people we're working with across government, we're all seized with the program forward." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2020. https://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/news/covid-19-further-delaying-some-overdue-military-procurements-1.24211049