September 22, 2024 | Local, Security
Major defence contractor lobbying feds on procurement opportunities
Raytheon Company was registered this past week by Daniel MacIsaac, a consultant with CFN Consultants.
November 8, 2018 | Local, Naval
OTTAWA, Nov. 8, 2018 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is making our oceans healthier, cleaner and safer than ever, thanks to the $1.5 billion Oceans Protections Plan. The Canadian Coast Guard's two new Channel Survey and Sounding Vessels (CSSVs) will support the ongoing commitment to ensure the safety of mariners in Canada as they serve as the platform for the Canadian Hydrographic Service's Channel Survey Program. The program collects information about channel conditions and water depth of the St. Lawrence waterway to assist in safe navigation.
The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard has accepted two new CSSVs, called the CCGS Jean Bourdon and CCGS Helen Irene Battle, into the Canadian Coast Guard fleet.
Under the Coast Guard's ship-naming policy, Channel Survey and Sounding Vessels are named after Canadian scientists, hydrographers, and explorers who have made significant contributions in their respective fields. In this case, Jean Bourdon carried out the first hydrographic studies of the St. Lawrence River, and Helen Irene Battle was an award-winning scientist and first woman in Canada to earn a PhD in marine biology. Both were important citizens whose contributions helped shape Canada.
These new CSSVs were made in Canada by Kanter Marine of St. Thomas, Ontario, as part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy. These vessels will enhance the capability of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, as well as other departments and agencies, to monitor and observe marine and environmental conditions. In addition, the new CSSVs will be able to assist with a number of activities related to search and rescue, aids to navigation, law enforcement, emergency response, and natural disasters, as well as supporting ecosystems and fisheries science in the region.
Quote
"This investment by the Canadian Coast Guard under the National Shipbuilding Strategy is a priority of the federal government. The new Channel Survey and Sounding Vessels will enable the Canadian Hydrographic Service to collect important data, while contributing to the safety of mariners through safe and efficient navigation on the St. Lawrence."
The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
Quick Facts
September 22, 2024 | Local, Security
Raytheon Company was registered this past week by Daniel MacIsaac, a consultant with CFN Consultants.
March 29, 2019 | Local, C4ISR
The Government of Canada has recently awarded Rheinmetall Canada a major support contract pertaining to Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance (ISTAR). The frame contract is currently worth up to CAD 57 million. The contract will take place over the next five years and will be expensed using a task mechanism over this period. The contract is part of the sustainment of the Land Command, Control, Communication, Computing, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) program and as the prime contractor, Rheinmetall Canada is to provide ISTAR in-service support services (ISS). “At Rheinmetall Canada, we are delighted to provide an important part of the ISTAR program” said Mr. Stéphane Oehrli, President and CEO of Rheinmetall Canada. “This contract represents a great opportunity to showcase our knowledge and capabilities in this high-end area of advanced technology”, he added. The ISTAR capabilities of the Rheinmetall Group are well established around the world. The goal of the ISTAR ISS contract is to provide the Canadian Armed Forces with an ISTAR Command and Control Information System (C2IS) capability. Rheinmetall Canada will maintain and enhance the specialized capability through the support contract. Rheinmetall Canada was selected under a competitive process where Value Proposition and the Industrial and Technological Benefit Policy (ITB) were applied. As one of the few companies to have reached over 1 billion dollars in ITB transactions since the inception of the policy, Rheinmetall Canada has put forward an outstanding Value Proposition. The Canadian supply chain of Rheinmetall Canada will benefit from this contract over the next years. About Rheinmetall Canada Rheinmetall Canada is a proud member of Germany's Rheinmetall Group, one of Europe's largest suppliers of systems and equipment for the armed forces. With approximately 300 employees at locations in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Ottawa, Rheinmetall Canada has demonstrated expertise in the development, integration, and production of platform-independent systems for more than 30 years. https://www.rheinmetall-defence.com/en/rheinmetall_defence/public_relations/news/latest_news/index_19712.php
October 29, 2020 | Local, Naval
David Pugliese Two reports by the parliamentary budget officer looking into the costs of major Canadian naval equipment projects have been delayed. The Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates had unanimously passed a motion in June to request the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer undertake a costing analysis of the Royal Canadian Navy's new joint support ships as well as the leasing of the Asterix supply ship from a private firm. The PBO study was to also look at the cost of building the joint support ships in Canada at Seaspan shipyard in Vancouver. The committee asked that the PBO report be provided by Oct. 15. Another motion from the committee, passed later in June, asked the PBO to examine the $60 billion price tag of Canada's proposed new fleet of warships – the Canadian Surface Combatant or CSC. Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux was tasked to investigate the cost of the CSC as well as examine the cost of two other types of warships: the FREMM and the Type 31. That study was supposed to be presented to the committee by Oct. 22. But those original motions from the committee expired when Parliament was prorogued. So new motions have to be provided to the PBO. The Commons committee passed a new motion on Oct. 19 on the Asterix and Joint Support Ship analysis. That analysis is to be delivered by Nov. 30, PBO spokeswoman Sloane Mask told this newspaper. A date for the analysis to be made public has not yet been determined. “Currently, we are also in the process of confirming the revised timelines for the CSC report,” she added.There is particular interest in the defence community about what the PBO determines is the current price-tag of the Canadian Surface Combatant project. Last year the Liberal government signed an initial deal on CSC that is expected to lead to the eventual construction of 15 warships in the largest single government purchase in Canadian history. Lockheed Martin offered Canada the Type 26 warship designed by BAE in the United Kingdom. Irving is the prime contractor and the vessels will be built at its east coast shipyard. Construction of the first ship isn't expected to begin until the early 2020s. But the Canadian Surface Combatant program has already faced rising costs. In 2008, the then-Conservative government estimated the project would cost roughly $26 billion. But in 2015, Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, then commander of the navy, voiced concern that taxpayers may not have been given all the information about the program, publicly predicting the cost for the warships alone would approach $30 billion. The overall project is currently estimated to cost around $60 billion. “Approximately one-half of the CSC build cost is comprised of labour in the (Irving) Halifax yard and materials,” according to federal government documents obtained by this newspaper through the Access to Information law. But some members of parliament and industry representatives have privately questioned whether the CSC price-tag is too high. There have been suggestions that Canada could dump the Type 26 design and go for a cheaper alternative since the CSC project is still in early stages and costs to withdraw could be covered by savings from a less expensive ship. Canada had already been pitched on alternatives. In December 2017, the French and Italian governments proposed a plan in which Canada could build the FREMM frigate at Irving. Those governments offered to guarantee the cost of the 15 ships at a fixed $30 billion, but that was rejected by the Canadian government. The other type of warship the PBO will look at is the Type 31, which is to be built for the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Those ships are to cost less than $500 million each. In 2017, then Parliamentary Budget Officer Jean-Denis Fréchette estimated the CSC program would cost $61.82 billion. The entry of the BAE Type 26 warship in the Canadian competition was controversial from the start and sparked complaints that the procurement process was skewed to favour that vessel. Previously the Liberal government had said only mature existing designs or designs of ships already in service with other navies would be accepted on the grounds they could be built faster and would be less risky. Unproven designs can face challenges if problems are found once the vessel is in the water and operating. But the criteria was changed and the government and Irving accepted the BAE design, though at the time it existed only on the drawing board. Construction began on the first Type 26 frigate in the summer of 2017 for Britain's Royal Navy. https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/canada/defence-watch-new-dates-set-for-budget-watchdogs-reports-on-major-naval-projects-512897/