David Carl, Toronto - Jane's International Defence Review
General Dynamics Land Systems Canada (GDLS-C) unveiled two new variants of its light armoured vehicle (LAV) 6.0 family during CANSEC 2018 in Ottowa from 30–31 May. The company also spoke about its LAV 6.0 Air Defence concept, and the LAV 700 currently in production for an export customer.
The LAV 6.0 Reconnaissance, or ‘Recce', variant was developed from the LAV 6.0 baseline for the Canadian Army's LAV Reconnaissance Surveillance Suite Upgrade Program (LRSS-UP), a contract awarded to GDLS-C in late 2014 at a cost of CAD287 million (USD216 million) for 66 vehicles. First deliveries of the vehicles to the Canadian Army are expected in the early 2020s.
In addition to sharing common features with the LAV 6.0, such as the M242 25 mm chain gun, a double-V hull, and a 450-hp Caterpillar C9 engine, the LAV 6 Recce has extensive sensors for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.
The detachable electro optic/infrared (EO/IR) surveillance suite, mounted on top of an extendable mast, has a radar, a day/night imager, IR imaging, and a laser pointer/laser rangefinder (LRF) all fitted to a stabilised gimble. The mast can be extended up to 5 m when on the move, or up to 10 m while stationary.
The sensors on the mast feed information into the operator control station, which consists of two touchscreen displays, a keyboard, and a primary hand controller. The feed can be duplicated onto an onboard laptop, which can also control the mast while connected to the vehicle. The commander and gunner stations can access the sensor data from their own displays in their respective compartments. The vehicle also has an extended ‘silent watch' functionality, whereby it can turn off the engines and carry out its ISR functions using its onboard lithium batteries for up to eight hours.
August 11, 2022 | Local, Aerospace
Airbus was designated as the only supplier qualified to provide the tankers to the Royal Canadian Air Force. As a result, a formal request for its proposal for the planes was issued to the firm on May 13, 2022.
December 20, 2019 | Local, Naval
DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN The Canadian government announced today that Chantier Davie has been pre-qualified to become the third strategic partner under the National Shipbuilding Strategy. The NSS's third yard will build six program icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard. Davie has demonstrated it meets initial requirements related to experience, capability and capacity, as defined in the Invitation to Qualify issued on August 2, the federal government noted. The NSS is to build ships for the coast guard and Royal Canadian Navy. Davie operates the largest shipyard in Canada. Chantier Davie will now move to the next stage in the selection process, the Request for Proposal and evaluation stage, according to Public Services and Procurement Canada. This will include a third-party assessment of the shipyard's infrastructure, submission of a formal proposal, and a due diligence process to ensure the shipyard is financially capable of performing the work and making any necessary upgrades to its infrastructure. This assessment is similar to the process previously undertaken in 2011 to select Irving Shipbuilding Inc. and Seaspan Shipyards as strategic partners under the NSS. Once the phase is completed, Canadian government will begin negotiations for an umbrella agreement with Davie, which is expected to be put in place in late 2020. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/quebec-shipyard-selected-to-be-new-partner-under-shipbuilding-program-will-construct-six-icebreakers
July 15, 2021 | Local, Naval
A dedicated team is being created to start the process, which is sure to be the beginning of a controversial debate around the need for the vessels in the Canadian Navy.