First Interim Fighter Jets Arrive in Cold Lake

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  July 24, 2018 | Local, Aerospace

  434 Squadron reformed as test and evaluation centre

  Chris Thatcher When your squadron lineage includes bomber, strike, fighter, operational training, and combat support roles, and your predecessors have flown everything from the Handley Page Halifax bomber to the Avro Lancaster, Canadair F-86 Sabre, Lockheed CF-104 Starfighter, Canadair CC-144 Challenger, and CT-133 Silver Star, it's perhaps fitting that you get reborn as an operational test and evaluation squadron. At a ceremony at 8 Wing Trenton, Ont., on May 31, the Royal Canadian Air Force reformed the 434 “Bluenose” Squadron as 434 Operational Test & Evaluation (OT&E) Squadron, under command of the RCAF Aerospace Warfare Centre (RAWC). The squadron last served as a combat support squadron in the 1990s, based at 14 Wing Greenwood, N.S. It was disbanded in 2002 and its colours placed in the All Saints Cathedral in Halifax. “The fact that [the squadron] has flown so many different aircraft is [appropriate], in that we have now taken on OT&E for every single aircraft within the RCAF,” said LCol Graham Edwards, a long-range patrol navigator and the new commanding officer. 434 Squadron is being reformed and re-branded in response to the government's 2017 defence policy. With 13 initiatives specific to the RCAF and many aircraft due to be replaced or modernized, the workload for operational test and evaluation is going to increase. By amalgamating five existing test and evaluation flights (TEFs)–helicopter, long-range patrol, transport, land aviation, and fighter–with two new flights for search and rescue and aerospace systems under one command, the Air Force hopes to better manage its limited resources as more platforms and systems require testing and evaluation. “It was deemed that the status quo won't work if we are to achieve success with those initiatives,” said Edwards. Historically, test and evaluation has been managed within each fleet of aircraft, but it has often drawn people from the operational squadrons and into the testing seats to conduct a trial of a new aircraft or aircraft system. Each community will continue to develop its own testing expertise, but by centralizing decisions about how those people are assigned, 434 Squadron hopes to manage the strain when capabilities are being introduced at the same time that the aircraft are being deployed. Search and rescue aircraft, the CP-140 Aurora or the strategic transport CC-177 Globemaster, for example, rarely have a dip in operational tempo. “They can keep the structure of their operational force together,” Edwards said of the operational squadrons. “As the fleets convert back to operations with the new platform, we'll take the people from the test and evaluation chairs and move them back to the operational chairs. And then I can reallocate those test and evaluation [positions] to the next fleet that is undergoing the next transition.” The two new flights are intended to address the arrival of the new CC-295W search and rescue aircraft into service in 2019 and the many ground-based and airborne systems that support all the fleets being introduced in the coming years, such as navigation aids, communication systems, ground-based radars, data link systems, and even simulators. “The new Aero TEF is going to provide that body of expertise and create a body that is responsible to deliver that ground capability,” said Edwards, noting that a coordinated process will ensure interoperability between all systems during the OT&E phase. “There's no sense modifying the fleet with data link systems when we have not done the ground support with it.” By including 434 Squadron under the RAWC, which has been transformed in recent years as one of the RCAF's core pillars with 1 Canadian Air Division (operations) and 2 Canadian Air Division (training), lessons acquired during the test and evaluation phase should be more readily incorporated into the development of doctrine and tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) that shape training and operations. Among Edwards' immediate priorities are the amalgamation of the TEFs and establishing a new governance structure, what he called an “air test and evaluation master plan.” But the process won't be completely new. As an exchange officer with RAF Waddington in 2008, he was part of the transformation of 56 Squadron into an OT&E unit for C4ISR (Command, Control, Computers, Communications and Intelligence, Surveillances and Reconnaissance), conducting trials on unmanned aerial systems, Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft, and Hawker Siddeley Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft. The return of the squadron's colours was a proud moment and the members are keen to carry on its Bluenose traditions. No. 434 Squadron, adopted by the Rotary Club of Halifax, was the RCAF's 13th overseas bomber squadron, formed on June 13, 1943, at RCAF Station Tholthorpe in England. It was reformed as 434 Strike/Attack Squadron in 1963 and as 434 Operational Training Squadron in 1968. It was then re-designated 434 Tactical Fighter Operational Training Squadron in 1970, as 434 Composite Squadron in 1992, and finally as 434 Combat Support Squadron in 1993. In its first two years of operations, the squadron accomplished eight significant battle honours, reflective of what it is trying to do now in a brief period, said Edwards. But he's hoping to break with at least one 434 Squadron tradition. “The squadron would stand down every time it switched to a new aircraft. Now that we have all the aircraft of the RCAF under the remit of 434, I hope to see a bit more longevity in the squadron.” Helicopter Operational Test & Evaluation Flight at 12 Wing Shearwater, N.S., is responsible for the operationalization of the CH-148 Cyclone Maritime Helicopter. Long Range Patrol Operational Test & Evaluation Flight in 14 Wing Greenwood, N.S., is focused primarily on the CP-140 Aurora. Transport Operational Test and Evaluation Flight, located at 8 Wing Trenton, Ont., deals with all air mobility fleets like the CC-130J Hercules, CC-177 Globemaster, and CC-150 Airbus. Land Aviation Test and Evaluation Flight is in St Hubert, Que., and supports tactical aviation helicopters like the CH-147 Chinooks and CH-146 Griffons. Fighter Operational Test & Evaluation Flight is in 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alta. and deals with fighter aircraft. (new) Search and Rescue Test & Evaluation Flight will be stood-up at 19 Wing Comox, B.C., and will be responsible for the new Fixed-Wing Search and Rescue, CH-149 Cormorant, and the CC-130H Hercules and CH-146 Griffon SAR fleets. (new) The Aerospace Systems Test & Evaluation Flight will be co-located with 434 Squadron headquarters in 8 Wing Trenton and will deal with ground-based aeronautical systems such as radars, navigational aids, meteorological systems and data links. https://www.skiesmag.com/news/434-squadron-reformed-as-test-and-evaluation-centre/

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  May 25, 2020 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Defence procurement won't be so easy to cut in a time of COVID-19

  As governments around the world reassess national security, Ottawa could find it harder to delay plans for new ships, helicopters and fighter jets. Jeffrey F. Collins May 22, 2020 A few months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the first signs of impact on Canada's defence procurement plans are showing. The government has been following an ambitious multi-decade blueprint, starting in 2010, to kick-start the domestic shipbuilding sector, but some yards have had to scale back their workforces under public health orders. What this means for the National Shipbuilding Strategy and its more than $85 billion (by my calculations) in ongoing and planned construction of large ships is as yet unclear. The $19-billion Future Fighter Capability project, designed to replace the four-decade-old CF-18 fighter with 88 new jets, could also be affected. Government officials were adamant until early May that the June submission deadline for bids remained unchanged — before granting a 30-day extension. But with industry and public sector workers largely stuck at home, it is difficult to see how even the new July deadline can be met. In earlier times of economic strain, Ottawa found defence spending an easy target for cuts. This time could be different, as governments around the world reassess what national security means and how best to achieve it. Heading into 2020, things were still looking up for the capital spending plans of the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The Trudeau government's 2017 Strong, Secure, Engaged (SSE) defence policy had allocated $108 billion in capital expenditures over a 20-year timeframe, 2017-37. Then came the pandemic. There were more than a million job losses in March alone, and as of early May, the Parliamentary Budget Office was predicting a $1-trillion debt by 2021. Given the rapid drop in both domestic and global consumer demand, the price collapse in the country's key commodity, oil, and the accompanying decline in the Canadian dollar, the country is now in a recession for an unknown period. If past is prologue and the virus persists without a vaccine for the foreseeable future, the likelihood of the government delaying or cancelling projects or trimming its orders for ships and planes is growing. When faced with economic pains in the past, federal governments scaled back procurement plans. The staggering debt and deficit in the late 1980s and 1990s led the Brian Mulroney government to drop its ambitious bid to acquire up to a dozen nuclear submarines in 1989, a mere two years after announcing the project in the 1987 defence White Paper. In 1993 the Jean Chrétien government infamously scrapped the contract to replace the 1960s-vintage Sea King helicopter (at a cost of $478 million in penalties). The following year's defence White Paper outlined $15 billion in delays, reductions and cancellations to the DND's procurement budget; this was in addition to large-scale base closures and 20 percent reductions in both CAF regular force personnel and the overall defence budget. The ostensibly pro-military Stephen Harper Conservatives announced 20-year funding plans, as ambitious as the SSE, in the 2008 Canada First Defence Strategy but deviated from them in the aftermath of the 2008-09 global recession. With a goal of returning to balanced budgets after $47 billion in stimulus spending, the Harper government delayed or cut over $32 billion in planned procurement spending and laid off 400 personnel from DND's procurement branch. Among the casualties was the army's $2.1-billion close-combat vehicle. There are several reasons why this pattern has repeated itself, but two stand out. First, defence is a tempting target for any government belt-tightening drive, typically accounting for a large share of discretionary federal spending. With most federal money going to individual citizens (employment insurance, pensions, tax benefits) and provinces (health and social transfers), there simply is little fiscal room left outside of defence. To remove money from these politically popular programs is to risk voter resentment and the ire of provincial governments. In short, when past federal governments confronted a choice between cutting tanks and cutting transfers, they cut the tanks. Second, Canada's geostrategic position has helped. Sitting securely atop North America in alliance with the world's pre-eminent superpower has meant, in the words of a defence minister under Pierre Trudeau, Donald Macdonald, that “there is no obvious level for defence expenditures” in Canada. Meeting the terms of our alliances with the United States and NATO means that Canada has to do its part in securing the northern half of the continent and contributing to military operations overseas, but generally in peacetime Ottawa has a lot of leeway in deciding what to spend on defence, even if allies growl and complain. Yet it is this same geostrategic position that may lessen the impact of any cuts related to COVID-19. Unlike the Mulroney and Chrétien governments, who made their decisions amid the end of Cold War tensions, or the Harper government, which was withdrawing from the combat mission in Afghanistan, this government must make its choices in an international security environment that is becoming more volatile. The spread of the virus has amplified trade and military tensions between the world's two superpowers and weakened bonds among European Union member states as they fight to secure personal protective equipment and stop the contagion at their borders. Governments worldwide are now unabashedly protectionist in their efforts to prevent the export of medical equipment and vital materials. As supply chains fray, pressures mount for each country to have a “sovereign” industrial capability, including in defence. In fact, the Trump administration has turned to the 1950 Defense Production Act to direct meatpacking plants to remain open or to restrict the export of health products (three million face masks bound for Canada were held up, then released). The pandemic is intensifying the Trump administration's skepticism of alliances and international institutions; in late March, there was even discussion of stationing US troops near the Canadian border (the plan was eventually abandoned). Smaller powers like Canada that have traditionally relied on American security guarantees will have to maintain their defence spending, or even increase it, as they try to strengthen old alliances and create new ones. As Timothy Choi, a naval expert at the University of Calgary, has told me, an irony of the pandemic is that it may see the National Shipbuilding Strategy become a “major destination for stimulus spending in times of recession.” Either way, by the time the pandemic subsides, Canadians may yet find out that there is indeed an “obvious level” to defence spending. This article is part of the The Coronavirus Pandemic: Canada's Response special feature. Photo: The Halifax-class navy frigate HMCS Fredericton in the waters of Istanbul Strait, Turkey. Shutterstock.com, by Arkeonaval. https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/may-2020/defence-procurement-wont-be-so-easy-to-cut-in-a-time-of-covid-19/

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  December 17, 2019 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Interview de fin d’année avec le Ministre de la Défense nationale, Harjit Sajjan

  Par Nicolas Laffont À l'occasion de la fin d'année et peu après le Discours du Trône, 45eNord.ca a discuté de l'année écoulée et de ses futures priorités avec le ministre de la Défense nationale, Harjit Sajjan. Processus d'acquisition D'entrée de jeu le ministre Sajjan se dit satisfait cette année des avancées faites dans le domaine de l'approvisionnement. «Nous avons des projets comme celui des navires de combat de surface qui avance très bien, mais on a également le processus en lui-même qui est plus rapide. Le projet des véhicules de soutien devait prendre cinq ans, mais nous avons été en mesure d'annoncer l'attribution d'un contrat cet été». La livraison des premiers véhicules doit intervenir aussi tôt que fin 2020. «Nous avons aussi le nouvel avion de recherche et sauvetage qui s'en vient [le CC-295 d'Airbus], c'est une autre étape importante pour les Forces armées canadiennes». Inconduites et extrémisme Reconnaissant clairement qu'il y a «encore du travail à faire», le ministre de la Défense fait savoir que dès qu'un incident se produit, «il est pris très au sérieux. Les Canadiens doivent comprendre que notre organisation est «focusé» à répondre vigoureusement à ce genre de situation». «Le travail est en cours et pendant que nous faisons tout notre possible pour créer un environnement de travail plus inclusif, nous voulons aussi nous assurer que notre réponse soit toujours en phase avec la situation». Réserve en force Le Canada sera de plus en plus fragile face aux changements climatiques. Déjà les effets s'en font sentir, avec une augmentation sensible d'évènements climatiques de grande ampleur. En raison de ces changements climatiques, les Forces armées canadiennes se déploient de plus en plus au pays, pour combattre les feux de forêts ou les inondations, «et cela ne fait qu'empirer». La présence de la Réserve et de ses réservistes sera donc plus forte à l'avenir, en raison évidemment du lien entre les unités et leur communauté. «À chaque fois que j'ai visité les troupes et que l'on parle de l'intégration des réservistes avec les forces régulières, les opérations LENTUS sortent du lot. Les réservistes amènent en plus leur propre expérience acquise dans le civil. Je me souviens d'un endroit où l'officier commandant connaissait très bien les lieux parce qu'il travaillait dans le coin et il a pu faire des évaluations rapides et efficaces au point où des vies ont clairement été sauvées.» Les Nations Unies oubliées ? En 2018-2019, le Canada a envoyé une force opérationnelle au Mali pour évacuer des blessés et aider le transport tactique et logistique de la mission des Nations Unies (MINUSMA). La mission s'est achevée à l'été 2019 et s'il se dit «très fier» du travail accompli par les hommes et femmes des Forces armées canadiennes dans la région, le ministre Sajjan reste prudent quand on lui parle de contributions supplémentaires (pourtant annoncées!). «Nous sommes en Ouganda quelques jours par mois pour fournir un transport aérien tactique aux Nations Unies. Mais nous devons prendre une décision avec en tête où nous pouvons avoir le meilleur impact», explique Harjit Sajjan. «Avant d'aller au Mali, nous nous sommes posés cette question de où avoir le meilleur impact. N'oublions pas que pour être efficace, il est important que les nations apportent des capacités de haute valeur, comme nos hélicoptères d'évacuation médicale». Le ministre révèle que des discussions sont en cours avec le Secrétaire général des Nations Unies afin de déterminer quelle pourrait être la prochaine contribution canadienne. «Le travail est en cours, et dès que nous en saurons plus, nous informerons les Canadiens. [...] Nous regardons quelles autres capacités nous pouvons fournir, surtout en lien avec l'Initiative Elsie afin d'avoir plus de femmes dans les opérations de paix, et aussi [en lien] avec les Principes de Vancouver initiés par le général Romeo Dallaire, sur la prévention du recrutement et de l'utilisation d'enfants soldats. L'OTAN, les nouveaux engagements L'analyse réalisée pour établir la nouvelle politique de Défense canadienne a permis d'établir les priorités et l'une d'elle était l'OTAN. Le Canada a donc annoncé de multiples opérations et déploiement sous l'égide de l'alliance transatlantique. Dans cette perspective, la nouvelle lettre de mandat du premier ministre au ministre de la Défense cite l'opération IMPACT au Moyen-Orient, la présence avancée renforcée de l'OTAN en Lettonie, et la mission de l'OTAN en Irak. Et, toujours dans le même esprit, le Canada a annoncé le 4 décembre qu'il augmentait son engagement dans le cadre de l'initiative de préparation de l'OTAN en fournissant 6 avions de chasse additionnels et une frégate de plus, à la demande du Secrétaire général. Par conséquent, la contribution canadienne pourra s'élever au total, si besoin, à 12 avions de chasse CF-18, une force opérationnelle expéditionnaire aérienne, un avion de patrouille maritime, trois frégates, un sous-marin, un bataillon d'infanterie mécanisée, un hôpital mobile et un peloton spécialisé en décontamination chimique, biologique, radiologique et nucléaire. Par ailleurs, on apprenait cette semaine que le ministre de la Défense Harjit S. Sajjan, accompagné de deux parlementaires de l'opposition, se rendra en Italie et au Koweït, du 15 au 19 décembre 2019, pour assister à la cérémonie de passation de commandement du 2e Groupe maritime permanent de l'OTAN, dont le Canada assure le commandement, et pour rendre visite aux membres des Forces armées canadiennes en déploiement. Plus de contributions ? Plus d'argent ? Revenant sur le fait que le Président américain Donald Trump demande, dès que l'occasion se présente, à ses alliés d'augmenter drastiquement leurs dépenses en matière de Défense, le ministre Sajjan rappelle qu'en réalité la précédente administration demandait déjà cela. «En fait, c'est ce que la précédente administration demandait déjà lorsque j'ai effectué ma première visite en tant que ministre de la Défense lorsque le président Obama était là. C'est d'ailleurs pour cette raison que nous avons réalisé une étude approfondie pour étonner même quelque peu nos alliés avec notre plan, cette première politique de Défense qui avait enfin de l'argent attaché avec elle». Même si le président Trump répète à outrance que le Canada est «un peu délinquant» en ne respectant pas sa promesse d'atteindre les 2% de son PIB consacré à la Défense, il est clair pour nos voisins du sud que l'argent ne fait pas tout. «Nous n'avons même pas à leur dire, ce que nous apportons concrètement comme contributions», indique M. Sajjan. «Ils le savent déjà, parce qu'on le fait avec eux. Comme par exemple commander le groupement tactique en Lettonie ou la mission de l'OTAN en Irak. Et n'oublions pas non plus nos contributions en dehors de l'OTAN comme l'Opération NEON où nous aidons au renforcement des sanctions contre la Corée du Nord, avec l'aide des États-Unis. Ils savent aussi la contribution que nous apportons avec l'Opération CARIBBE, cette opération d'interdiction de drogues avec la Garde côtière américaine. Je sais que c'est quelque chose qui est immensément apprécié vu tout ce que est saisi et qui aurait fini aux États-Unis». Finalement, le ministre Sajjan rappelle de nouveau que même si les chiffres ne font pas tout, ils y sont cependant. La nouvelle politique de Défense promet ainsi une augmentation de 70% d'ici 20 ans du budget de la Défense nationale, et ce, sans inclure le coût des opérations qui vient en plus. «La politique de Défense porte strictement sur les politiques et l'approvisionnement dont ont besoin les Forces armées canadiennes. Les opérations ne font pas parties de la politique de Défense et sont une dépense séparée, en plus de ce que nous avons déjà promis». Une chose est sûre cependant, «le seul focus qui est et ne changera jamais pour moi est l'emphase à mettre sur nos hommes et nos femmes en uniforme. Les soutenir eux et leurs familles», de conclure le ministre de la Défense. http://www.45enord.ca/2019/12/interview-fin-annee-ministre-defense-nationale-harjit-sajjan/