Heron and MQ-9 drones approved for Canadian military program

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  June 23, 2020 | Local, Aerospace

  Peraton Canada announces launch of new website

  Peraton Canada Corp., a supplier to the aerospace and defence industry for more than 35 years, announce the launch of its new website. As the trusted partner and prime contractor for avionics sustainment for the Canadian Armed Forces and the Royal Canadian Air Force's CF-188 fighter platform, Peraton Canada's new website is scheduled to go live on Canada Day and will showcase a comprehensive list of the company's industry capabilities and services. “We are very pleased with the release of our new website,” said Jim Gillespie, vice-president of Peraton Canada. “The site identifies our core capabilities and wealth of experience in the Canadian market. It will provide visitors with a view of the full range of our services, and current contracts serving our growing customer base.” Peraton Canada's new website will feature the company's scope of world-class mission sustainment, through its reliable supply chain management, comprehensive maintenance and repair services, and innovative engineering solutions, including, automated test equipment (ATE) development, logistics support analysis, program management, and proactive obsolescence management. “The new Canadian website is a big step forward in increasing the brand awareness of Peraton Canada and provides our customers and partners with a central location for information on our offerings,” said Marie Darling, Canadian director, Business Development. “The timing is perfect, as we have scheduled our launch date for the new site on Canada Day.” As a leader in in-service support/integrated logistics support (ISS/ILS), Peraton Canada is proud to have completed over 50,000 repairs to-date on Canada's current fighter fleet. The company leads all avionics, electronic systems, and ATE under the CF-188 Avionics Optimized Weapon System Support contract. Offering a robust and scalable sustainment model, Peraton's platform-agnostic ISS/ILS services are designed to optimize program performance and can be readily replicated for any defence program or platform — air, land, or sea. https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/peraton-canada-announces-launch-of-new-website

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  February 11, 2019 | Local, Aerospace

  'Strategic messaging': Russian fighters in Arctic spark debate on Canada's place

  Bob Weber / The Canadian Press Recent Russian moves in the Arctic have renewed debate over that country's intentions and Canada's own status at the top of the world. The newspaper Izvestia reported late last month that Russia's military will resume fighter patrols to the North Pole for the first time in 30 years. The patrols will be in addition to regular bomber flights up to the edge of U.S. and Canadian airspace. "It's clearly sending strategic messaging," said Whitney Lackenbauer, an Arctic expert and history professor at the University of Waterloo. "This is the next step." Russia has been beefing up both its civilian and military capabilities in its north for a decade. Old Cold-War-era air bases have been rejuvenated. Foreign policy observers have counted four new Arctic brigade combat teams, 14 new operational airfields, 16 deepwater ports and 40 icebreakers with an additional 11 in development. Bomber patrols have been steady. NORAD has reported up to 20 sightings and 19 intercepts a year. Commercial infrastructure has kept pace as well. A vast new gas field has been opened in the Yamal Peninsula on the central Russian coast. Control and development of the Northern Sea Route — Russia's equivalent of the Northwest Passage — has been given to a central government agency. Russian news sources say cargo volume is expected to grow to 40 million tonnes in 2020 from 7.5 million tonnes in 2016. Canada has little to compare. A road has been completed to the Arctic coast at Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories and work for a port at Iqaluit in Nunavut is underway. The first Arctic patrol vessel has been launched, satellite surveillance has been enhanced and a naval refuelling station built on Baffin Island. But most northern infrastructure desires remain unfilled. No all-weather roads exist down the Mackenzie Valley or into the mineral-rich central N.W.T. Modern needs such as high-speed internet are still dreams in most of the North. A new icebreaker has been delayed. Nearing the end of its term, the Liberal government has yet to table an official Arctic policy. Global Affairs Canada spokesman Richard Walker said in an email that the government is "firmly asserting" its presence in the North to protect Canada's sovereign Arctic territory. Walker said Canada cooperates with all Arctic Council members, including Russia, to advance shared interests that include sustainable development, the roles of Indigenous peoples, environmental protection and scientific research. "Given the harsh environment and the high cost of Arctic operations, Canada believes that cooperation amongst Arctic nations is essential," Walker wrote. "While we perceive no immediate military threat in the Arctic region, we remain vigilant in our surveillance of our Northern approaches." Canada needs to keep pace if only because it can't count on the current international order to hold, said John Higginbotham of the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo. "If the globalized system fragments, we're going to get a world of blocs. The blocs will have power to close international shipping channels. "It's a dreadful strategic mistake for Canada to give up our own sea route." Arctic dominance would also give Russia a potent card to play, said Rob Huebert of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary. "It gives you presence," he said. "Whenever there's issues that happen to occur elsewhere, we've already seen the behaviour of the Russians — they start doing overflights of other countries to bring pressure." Norway, the Baltics and the United Kingdom have all reported increased airspace violations, Huebert said. Few expect Russian troops to come pouring over the North Pole. The country is sticking with a United Nations process for drawing borders in Arctic waters and is a productive member of the eight-nation Arctic Council. "There's vigorous debate over whether their posture is offensive-oriented," Lackenbauer said. "The Russians insist this is purely defensive. It also offers possibilities for safe and secure shipping in the Northern Sea Route. "They're not doing anything wrong." Canada would be mistaken to ignore the awakening bear, said Ron Wallace of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute in Calgary. "It's important for Canadians to be aware of their Arctic and the circumpolar Arctic and what's going on in the North," he said. Canada is unlikely to take much from Russia's command-and-control style of development, Wallace said, but there are lessons to learn. Combining civilian and military infrastructure is one of them. "That's the kind of thinking I haven't seen here, but that's the thinking the Russians are using," he said. "They see the northern trade route as an excuse to put up military bases at the same time they're working with the Chinese to open up trade routes for the export of their resources." That would also help fulfil federal promises to territorial governments, said Wallace. "Somewhere in the middle there is a better policy for northern Canada." — Follow Bob Weber on Twitter at @row1960 https://www.burnabynow.com/strategic-messaging-russian-fighters-in-arctic-spark-debate-on-canada-s-place-1.23629355

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  April 5, 2023 | Local, Other Defence

  French envoy: Canada should link with Europe, surpass ‘weak’ military engagement

  OTTAWA — France's ambassador to Canada says Ottawa must choose between tying itself entirely to Washington or broadening its links to partner more with Europe — while also calling out Canada's "weak" military engagement. "This nagging question of the future American commitment offers, in any case more than ever, the opportunity for Europe, France and Canada to play a role together," Michel Miraillet said in a French-language speech Tuesday to the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations. Miraillet argued that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year was the culmination of a decade of Moscow and Beijing working to weaken democracies.