May 31, 2019 | Local, Aerospace
David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen
A Swedish aerospace firm that hopes to supply Canada's new fleet of fighter jets says it could build the aircraft in this country, making maximum use of the expertise of domestic firms and creating high-tech jobs.
Saab's pitch to build its Gripen E fighter jet in Canada further ups the ante on the $19-billion competition that will see the federal government purchase 88 new aircraft.
The Liberal government has been emphasizing the transfer of new technology and expertise to Canadian aerospace firms as well as the creation of high-tech jobs as among its key goals for the fighter jet program.
Another European firm, Airbus, has hinted it could also build its Typhoon fighters in Canada, but Saab said if the federal government wants the planes built on a domestic production line its commitment is solid.
For the Canadian program, Saab is hoping to follow the same process that helped it win a recent fighter jet competition in Brazil. The first batch of Gripen E fighter jets are being built in Sweden but the technology is then being transferred to Brazilian firms so they can assemble the remaining aircraft.
Certainly if that is what the customer values for Canada that is something that we can easily do
“We think that is the model that makes sense for Canada,” Patrick Palmer, senior vice-president of Saab Canada, told Postmedia. “We're going down that path but we're also looking at how the (request for proposals) is written and what the customer values. Certainly if that is what the customer values for Canada that is something that we can easily do.”
Aerospace firms have been told that the federal government will request their proposals in mid-July.
The fighter jet competition was launched on Dec. 12, 2017 and at this point four aircraft are to be considered. Those include the F-35, the Super Hornet, the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Gripen.
The Gripen E is the newest of the fighter jets being offered to Canada. The first Gripen E for the Swedish military is expected to be delivered later this year. The first of the 36 aircraft ordered by Brazil in a $5-billion program will be delivered in 2021.
The first delivery of jets for the Canadian program is expected in the mid-2020s with the full capability available in the early 2030s, according to documents produced by the Department of National Defence.
The issue of industrial benefits for Canadian companies will have a high profile in the competition.
In early May the Canadian government told potential bidders it was making changes to its fighter jet competition to allow the U.S. to enter the F-35 stealth fighter.
The changes, which industry sources say allow for a more flexible approach in determining the value of industrial benefits for the competition, came after a series of discussions with the U.S. government and threats by the Pentagon to withdraw the F-35 from consideration.
Canada is a partner nation in the development of Lockheed Martin's F-35, and U.S. officials had warned that the agreement Canada had signed prohibits partners from imposing requirements for industrial benefits as firms from those nations compete for work on the jets. Over the last 12 years, Canadian firms have earned more than $1.3 billion in contracts to build F-35 parts.
Per Alriksson of Saab Aeronautics said the Gripen is designed specifically for operations in the Arctic, giving it a leg up on other planes. “Sweden has air force bases in what you call the far North,” he added. “We operate there daily. (The Gripen) has Arctic DNA built into it.”
Alriksson said the Gripen E can operate from remote airfields in the north, landing and taking off on runways less than 800 metres in length. It has a quick turnaround time for missions, with technicians able to reload and refuel the planes in 10 minutes. “It is pretty good in operating in dispersed locations as you have in Canada,” he added.
Alriksson said the company can integrate U.S. and other equipment on the Gripen E so it is interoperable with American forces, another consideration for Canada. “Moving forward with the Gripen E, we see no problem whatsoever to integrate that fighter into a NORAD context.”
September 17, 2023 | Local, Security
Canada will contribute C$33 million ($24.5 million) to a British-led partnership that is buying air defense equipment for Ukraine to help it fend off Russian missile and drone attacks, Defence Minister Bill Blair said on Sunday.
November 7, 2018 | Local, Aerospace
Written by Wings Staff The international expansion of CAE continues with four major training agreements announced in Madrid, Spain, during the 2018 European Airline Training Symposium at the 2018 European Airline Training Symposium. This includes deals with CityJet, easyJet, Polish Airlines and Vueling Airlines. easyJet deal The agreement with easyJet is the largest new contract of the four, valued at more than $170 million over the next 10 years. Under the agreement, all of easyJet's pilots will train at CAE, which will expand its training network to provide the airline with three new European pilot training locations, equipped with a fleet of CAE's latest XR Series flight simulators. CAE will provide easyJet with state-of-the-art pilot training solutions at training centres located in London-Gatwick and Manchester in the UK, as well as Milan, Italy. During easyJet's fiscal year 2018, ending September 30, 2018, the airline has recruited 460 pilots, which is a pilot recruitment record for the airline as it continues to expand across Europe. In the last year alone easyJet has added bases to its network in Berlin Tegel and Bordeaux and now flies more than 1,000 routes on over 300 Airbus A320 family aircraft. In July 2018 easyJet took delivery of the first of 30 A321neo aircraft. As part of the contract, CAE will build a new training centre in London-Gatwick with a dedicated space to serve easyJet's training needs. It will deploy nine Airbus A320-family full-flight simulators (FFSs) and three flight training devices (FTDs) in the new London-Gatwick centre. The agreement also includes two additional training locations in Manchester, UK, and Milan, Italy. The centres will be ready for training starting in the second half of 2019. “This represents one of the biggest deals of its kind in Europe in the last five years and we are pleased to be working with CAE as a trusted and highly innovative training provider to help ensure easyJet is a centre of excellence for crew training,” said Chris Browne, easyJet's chief operating officer. The agreement will see easyJet become the launch customer for new CAE 600XR FTDs, featuring the Tropos 6000XR collimated visual system and a fully enclosed instructor area. easyJet will also utilize the CAE 7000XR Series full-flight simulator with features like CAE XR simulation fidelity and instructor interface, CAE XR lesson and flight-plan upload capabilities. CAE has been delivering pilot training solutions to easyJet pilots since 2004. In 2010, easyJet selected CAE as its launch partner for a cadet Pilot Programme based on the Multi-Crew Pilot Licence (MPL). To date, CAE has selected, assessed, trained and delivered more than 900 co-pilots and captains through the easyJet MPL Integrated ATPL and type-rating training programs for the airline. LOT Polish Airlines deal CAE also reached an exclusive two-year pilot training agreement with LOT Polish Airlines (LOT), flag carrier of Poland, on various Boeing, Bombardier and Embraer aircraft platforms. The airline's pilots began training earlier this fall at multiple CAE training locations in Europe, including CAE Amsterdam, CAE Madrid, CAE London Gatwick and CAE Stockholm. “This agreement helps us invest in the future growth of LOT and helps us attract new pilots on the global competitive aviation market,” said Maciej Wilk, chief operations officer of LOT. The airline's first new pilots have already started their training with CAE. CAE and LOT Polish Airlines share a long-standing relationship of more than 10 years, with the provision of pilot training. “It's an honour to support the growing pilot training needs of LOT Polish Airlines across CAE's training network in Europe, near our airline partner's base in Warsaw,” said Nick Leontidis, CAE's group president, Civil Aviation Training Solutions. CityJet deal CAE also signed an exclusive long-term pilot training agreement with regional airline CityJet. Based in Dublin, Ireland, CityJet operates a fleet of 44 regional jets on a network of wet lease and scheduled services across Europe. CityJet employs over 1,200 staff with crew bases in Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki, Paris, Stockholm, Tallinn and Vilnius. CityJet operated over 80,000 flights in the last year carrying over 4.7 million passengers. Under terms of the agreement, CAE will deliver Bombardier CRJ900 pilot training to the airline for a period of eight years following the start of training expected by May 2020. As a result, CAE will deploy a new CAE 7000XR series CRJ900/1000 full-flight simulator (FFS) at CAE Amsterdam by 2020, and will update its current CRJ200/900 FFS to the latest CRJ900 configuration at CAE Copenhagen by the end of 2019. CAE instructors will also provide Bombardier CRJ900 type-rating training at CAE Copenhagen. The airline's flight and cabin crew will continue to train on the platform at CAE Amsterdam, CAE Brussels, CAE Copenhagen and CAE Stockholm. Additionally, to support CityJet's growth plans and meet its training needs, CAE will train the airline's future pilots starting with 12 cadets next year, building on its previous agreement. As part of their 18-month training program, cadets will complete their ground school and flight training at CAE Oxford and CAE Phoenix. Upon successful completion of their training, graduates will be employed by CityJet. “CAE has been a tremendous partner for CityJet over the past few years, developing our future pilots, and providing an outstanding training experience to our pilots and cabin crew,” said Capt. Robert Campbell Smith, General Manager Flight Operations at CityJet. “With this announcement, the increased capacity and the upgraded simulator at CAE Copenhagen will ensure our training needs will be met in the coming years.” CAE explains it has been CityJet's training partner of choice since 2016, providing cadet to captain and cabin crew training, as well as crew resourcing services. Vueling Airlines deal CAE also reached a deal to launch a cadet pilot training program in partnership with Vueling Airlines based in Barcelona, Spain. CAE will select, assess and train up to 80 new pilots over the next four years for the European airline. Starting in the fall of 2018, the selected candidates will begin an 18-month training program at CAE Madrid. The first group of Vueling's cadets will begin EASA theoretical knowledge training at CAE's training centre in Madrid, followed by flight training at CAE Phoenix and CAE Oxford before returning to CAE Barcelona to complete their Airbus A320 type-rating training. “We are excited to partner with CAE and we are confident that our training partner of choice will deliver professional pilots who will be ready to fly confidently,” said Alberto Guerrero, pilots training director at Vueling. CAE has been providing pilot and cabin crew training to Vueling for almost 15 years. More than 1,000 pilots and cabin crew members have been trained for the Spanish carrier, which is part of the International Airlines Group. https://www.wingsmagazine.com/news/cae-europe-15962
June 16, 2020 | Local, Naval
The decision signals the project won't be delayed by pandemic-driven deficit spending Murray Brewster · CBC News · Posted: Jun 15, 2020 2:45 PM The Liberal government has awarded a $2.4 billion contract to finish the overall construction of the navy's long-awaited supply ships. Today's announcement moves forward a Joint Support Ship program over a decade-and-a-half in the making. It also appears to signal the federal government remains committed to its multi-billion shipbuilding program despite record levels of pandemic-driven federal deficit spending. The contract, with Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards, is for the construction of two replenishment vessels, Public Services and Procurement Canada said in a statement. Now that the construction deal has been signed, the overall price tag of the program — including design — is expected to be $4.1 billion, up from an earlier estimate of $3.4 billion. Seven years ago, the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) predicted the cost would end up where it has — an estimate that was roundly criticized and dismissed by the Conservatives, who were in power at the time. "The government announcement today did not have a whole ton of detail, so it's hard to do an exact comparison, but I certainly think that PBO estimate from a long time ago has held up pretty well over time," said Dave Perry, an expert in defence procurement and vice president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. The first supply ship is to be delivered in 2023, and the second vessel is supposed to arrive two years later. The yard started construction on certain portions of the first ship in 2018, while final design work was still underway — something that alarmed and even baffled some defence and shipbuilding experts. 'Business as usual' With the federal deficit expected to swell to over $252.1 billion because of COVID-19 relief measures, many in the defence community had been speculating that existing spending plans for the supply ships would be curtailed or scaled back. In a statement, federal Public Services Minister Anita Anand suggested the Liberal government is committed to staying the course. "This contract award is yet another example of our ongoing commitment to the National Shipbuilding Strategy, which is supporting a strong and sustainable marine sector in Canada," she said. Perry said he takes it as a sign the Liberals intend to proceed with their defence construction plans in the face of fiscal and economic uncertainty. "It is an indicator that, despite being business under some very unusual circumstances, it is still government business-as-usual under COVID," he said. In the same government statement, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan pointed out that an enormous amount of preparation work has been done already and he's pleased the project is moving forward. "An impressive amount of work has already gone into the construction of these new ships, and I look forward to their arrival in the coming years." said Sajjan. Construction during COVID-19 A senior executive at Seaspan said work to adapt the design from the original German plan (the Canadian ship is based on the German Navy's Berlin-Class replenishment vessel) was completed last year and work on the superstructure of the first Joint Support Ship — started in 2018 — has been proceeding apace, even through the pandemic. "It is well advanced," said Amy MacLeod, the company's vice-president of corporate affairs. "We are ready to continue. We're very, very happy with the quality of the ship, the progress of the ship, the momentum that we have and the expertise we have gained." The shipyard did not pause construction due to the pandemic — but it did have to figure out ways to carry on under strict physical distancing rules. "We, like everybody else, had to understand how to run a business in a pandemic," said MacLeod. "We made a lot of changes on how we build our ships." Turnstiles to enter and exit the yard were eliminated and the company went high-tech with a "heat map" that shows where everyone is working and how much space there is between individual workers. "And where we couldn't ensure appropriate social distancing because of COVID, we stopped that work." Perry said the gap between the construction of the two supply ships worries him to a degree. Seaspan intends to construct an ocean science vessel for the coast guard under a plan agreed to with the Liberal government in 2019. Any delay or hiccup in the construction of that ship could mean the delivery of the second naval vessel is pushed back even further, Perry said. Extending the navy's range News of the contract will come as a relief to the navy. Having replenishment ships to refuel and rearm frigates would allow the navy to deploy entire task groups to far-flung parts of the world. "With these warships, the Royal Canadian Navy will be able to operate with even greater flexibility and endurance," said Vice-Admiral Art McDonald, commander of the navy. "These ships will not only form part of the core of our naval task groups, they also represent a vital and strategic national asset that will enable the Navy to maintain its global reach and staying power." A tortured history It was 1994 when the replacement program was first discussed. The deficit-slashing years of that decade meant the plan was shelved. Resurrected in 2004, the Liberal government of former prime minister Paul Martin hoped to have the ships in the water by 2008 to replace the three-decade-old supply ships the navy had been operating. Faced with cost estimates well over what they had expected, the Conservative government of former prime minister Stephen Harper shelved the Liberal plan on the eve of the 2008 federal election. More than five years later, the navy was forced to retire both aging supply ships after one of them was crippled by a devastating fire. The absence of replenishment capability led the Harper government to lease a converted civilian supply ship from a private company, Federal Fleet Services, which operates out of the Davie Shipyard in Levis, Que. That plan led to a political and legal scandal when the former commander of the navy, Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, was accused of leaking cabinet secrets related to the plan. The Crown withdrew the charge a year ago after a protracted pre-trial court battle. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/supply-ship-navy-seaspan-1.5612770