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  December 4, 2020 | Local, Aerospace

  Top Aces secures approval for F-16 adversary air fleet

  Posted on December 4, 2020 by Chris Thatcher Top Aces has received approval to acquire and import up to 29 F-16 aircraft from an undisclosed country, the company confirmed Thursday. The Dorval, Que.-based air combat training firm said in a statement that the Block 10 aircraft would be upgraded with its open architecture mission system and offered as a platform to support United States Department of Defense training beginning in 2021. While Top Aces would not yet confirm the country of origin, Israeli media on Dec. 2 claimed the seller is the Israeli Defense Ministry. According to CTech, the F-16s are 1980s-era aircraft that were retired as of 2016, and the Defense Ministry's export agency is overseeing the deal. The company has been pursuing a fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16s for some time, to meet the training requirements of preparing next-generation pilots flying the F-35 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor. Top Aces confirmed in an interview in November 2019 that it was seeking to acquire 12 Block 15 A/B models from an undisclosed allied country. “The F-16 really is our growth platform for the future, especially for advanced adversary training,” said Paul Bouchard, president and chief executive officer. “It is the most prolific adversary aircraft in the Western world. It is the adversary aircraft of choice just because of its performance characteristics. It is a fourth-generation aircraft, so from an aircraft architecture standpoint, it can be equipped and configured in so many different ways. . . . And it is also scalable given there were more than 4,000 F-16s built. It is still a production aircraft. It has a lot of existing support in terms of sustainment.” If the deal with Israel is confirmed, the F-16 jets would be added to Top Aces' current fleets of Dornier Alpha Jets and Douglas A-4 Skyhawks, and initially based at the F-16 Center of Excellence near the company's U.S. headquarters in Mesa, Ariz. In October 2019, the company received an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract that will allow it to compete with Air USA, Airborne Tactical Advantage Company, Blue Air Training, Coastal Defense, Draken International, and Tactical Air Support for adversary air services at 12 U.S. Air Force bases. Under the US$6.4 billion Combat Air Force Contracted Air Support (CAF CAS) contract, the Air Force can solicit individual tenders from those seven companies for advanced adversary air (ADAIR) capabilities as required, at 12 USAF bases. The contract runs until October 2024 and is estimated to involve between 40,000 to 50,000 flying hours. “As a named winner in the [CAF CAS] contract, Top Aces is uniquely positioned to offer the F-16 as the most capable and flexible ADAIR platform supporting the U.S. Department of Defense,” a spokesperson said on Thursday. Top Aces has been a pioneer in contracted aggressor or “red” air training for militaries, simulating hostile threats for fighter pilots, naval crews, and land forces for the Canadian Armed Forces since the mid-2000s. In October 2017, the company won a competition to retain the Canadian Contracted Airborne Training Services (CATS) program under a 10-year deal worth about US$480 million, which includes options to extend the service to 2031 and the value to as much as US$1.4 billion. The Canadian program is delivered with the Alpha Jet and Bombardier Learjet 35A aircraft, but Top Aces has proposed adding the F-16 when the Royal Canadian Air Force acquires its next-generation fighter. The high standards of the CATS program have opened the doors to international opportunities. The USAF contract would not have been possible without the “industry-leading” certification and airworthiness standards demanded by the RCAF and Transport Canada, Bouchard acknowledged in 2019. Top Aces secured a similar training support contract with the German Armed Forces in 2014 and, more recently, a two-year trial with the Australian Defence Force. https://www.skiesmag.com/news/top-aces-f16-adversary-air-fleet

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  March 5, 2019 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

  Feds to invest billions less in new military equipment, may fall short on NATO spending target

  By Lee Berthiaume The Canadian Press The federal government will invest billions of dollars less in new military equipment than promised this year, raising concerns about the readiness of the Canadian Forces and the prospect that Canada will fall short on another NATO spending target. The Trudeau government in 2017 released a defence policy that included dramatic increases in the amount of money to be spent on new aircraft, ships, armoured vehicles and other military equipment each year for the next two decades. The investments are considered vital to replacing the Canadian Forces' aging fighter jets, ships and other equipment with state-of-the-art kit. Yet while the government is on track to invest more in new equipment for the second year in a row, budget documents show the Defence Department will still fall short more than $2 billion on the government's plan to spend $6.5 billion. The government spent $2.3 billion less than planned last year, largely because of delays in projects such as the government's huge plan to buy new warships, though also because some things ended up costing less than expected. The department's top civil servant, deputy minister Jody Thomas, told a House of Commons committee last week that about $700 million was because some projects came in under budget and other “efficiencies, so we didn't need that money.” But Thomas acknowledged the department was to blame for some of the other underspending and industry has also faced challenges in delivering on projects – though she said it shouldn't be a surprise there have been some problems given the number of projects underway. “There are going to be some slowdowns by us,” she said, adding: “If money isn't moving quite quickly enough because of a problem with a particular supply chain, a particular supplier, a contract, the way we've defined a project, we work with industry to try to resolve that.” While the fact the department saved money on some projects was seen as a positive development, Conservative defence critic James Bezan said he is nonetheless concerned that hundreds of millions of dollars in promised new investments aren't being realized. “Despite the explanation that was given by officials at committee, we still feel projects are falling behind, promises are going to be broken and ultimately the Canadian Armed Forces will not get the equipment that it needs in a timely manner,” Bezan told The Canadian Press. “The whole idea that they're finding efficiencies is good news. But at the same time, those dollars should be getting re-invested in other capital projects that aren't off the books yet.” Thomas did not say which projects will be affected by the underspending. And the underspending doesn't just mean delivery of some promised equipment will be delayed, said defence analyst David Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute; it also threatens Canada's ability to meet a key NATO spending target. All members of the military alliance agreed in 2014 to spend two per cent of their gross domestic products on the military within a decade – a commitment that has since taken on new importance with U.S. President Donald Trump's demanding all NATO allies spend more. While Canada has long resisted that target and the Liberal defence policy shows spending only reaching 1.4 per cent of GDP by 2024-25, the Liberal government has said it will achieve another NATO target to direct 20 per cent of defence spending to new equipment. “So the military is not getting re-equipped as fast as intended when the defence policy was published,” Perry said in an interview. “And we had basically reassured NATO that we were going to really do a good job at spending on recapitalization, and we're not nearly as far ahead as we should be on that.” https://globalnews.ca/news/5018310/federal-government-military-spending-nato/

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  June 2, 2022 | Local, Aerospace

  Griffon : le choix de Bell confirmé - Les Ailes du Québec

  C’est donc un total 76 Griffon qui seront mis à niveau ailleurs qu’à Mirabel. La livraison des appareils mis à niveau devrait s’échelonner