March 23, 2024 | Local, Land
Congress passes defense spending bill after months of delays
Congress has passed an $825 billion FY24 defense spending bill, but the plan to get Ukraine military assistance across the finish line remains uncertain.
August 8, 2024 | Local, Other Defence
Joint Statement on Strengthening the Canada-Australia Defence Relationship
Statement
August 8, 2024 – Vancouver, B.C. – National Defence/Canadian Armed Forces
Today, the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence of Canada, and the Honourable Richard Marles, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence of Australia, released a joint statement following their bilateral meeting.
Statement
1. Canada and Australia enjoy a partnership based on shared history, values and friendship. Facing an increasingly complicated strategic environment, we commit to strengthen our defence relationship and reinforce our collective ability to respond to global challenges.
2. We commit to enhancing the interoperability of our armed forces. We will explore ways to reduce barriers to collaboration, including through arrangements to facilitate value-added defence and industrial activities and to support operational cooperation. We will reinforce collaboration in space, cyber, research and development, advanced capabilities, and science and technology. We remain committed to the Five Eyes partnership.
Increased Military Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific
3. As Indo-Pacific nations, we support a region that is peaceful, stable, prosperous, which includes respect for sovereignty and adherence to international law. We underscored the need for all countries to manage strategic competition responsibly and work to reduce the risks of conflict. We commit to deepen our operational cooperation, including by exploring opportunities to conduct joint sails, cooperative deployments, and multilateral exercises and training.
4. Australia welcomes Canada’s increased defence presence throughout the Indo-Pacific region, as outlined in Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy. Since the release of this strategy, Canada has increased its annual naval deployments and defence engagement throughout the region, creating additional opportunities for joint training in all domains. Canada welcomes the focus on the Indo-Pacific in Australia’s National Defence Strategy.
5. We continue to enhance our interoperability through participation in multilateral exercises, including in the South China Sea. Australia welcomes the involvement of His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Vancouver in Exercise KAKADU next month, and plans for a follow-on ship re-armament activity, which will demonstrate the ability to provide logistics support to regional operations. Australia welcomes Canada’s participation in Exercise TALISMAN SABRE in 2025 and similar future exercises.
Global Security
6. As the strategic environments of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific deteriorate we recognize developments in one region directly impact security in the other. We value Australia’s contribution to NATO as an Enhanced Opportunities Partner, which supports an integrated response to global challenges. We welcome the flagship projects NATO launched with its Indo-Pacific partners during the NATO Summit in July 2024, which address shared challenges such as cyber defence, hybrid threats, and resilience.
7. We reiterate our support for a sovereign and independent Ukraine, and our unequivocal condemnation of Russia’s illegal, unjustified, and full-scale invasion. We remain committed to supporting Ukraine to end the war on its own terms. We remain gravely concerned over the increased military cooperation between Russia and North Korea and call on all those with influence on Russia, particularly China, to exert it now to end the war.
8. Canada and Australia are concerned by China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea that are inconsistent with international law. We also emphasize the importance of all states’ ability to exercise rights and freedoms, including freedom of navigation and overflight, in a manner that is consistent with international law as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). We reiterate our strong opposition to destabilizing or coercive actions in the South China Sea, including dangerous maneuvers and the militarization of disputed features. We express grave concern over China’s dangerous actions against Philippine vessels near Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. These actions jeopardize regional peace, stability, and prosperity. We reaffirmed the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award as final and binding on the parties and noted all states have a responsibility to adhere to international law. We are encouraged by the Philippine’s and China’s diplomatic engagement and commitment to de-escalate tensions.
9. We reaffirm the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and our opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo. We call for the peaceful resolution of differences through dialogue without the threat or use of force or coercion.
10. We recognize the importance of the United Nations Command in securing lasting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. We condemn North Korea’s destabilizing launches using ballistic missile technology and its pursuit of nuclear weapons in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions. We are concerned by North Korea’s malicious cyber activity. We support international efforts to monitor North Korea’s sanctions evasion activities.
11. We reaffirm our call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the protection of civilians, the release of all hostages, and a sustained increase in the flow of assistance to address the catastrophic humanitarian situation. We reiterate our call on all parties to the conflict to agree to a comprehensive ceasefire deal. We are gravely concerned about the recent escalation of rhetoric and attacks across the Israel-Lebanon border as well as the prospect of further escalation which could destabilize the entire region. We support all diplomatic efforts to calm tensions and continue to urge de-escalation and restraint.
Common Platforms and Capability Development
12. Australia and Canada are making significant investments to bolster our defence capabilities in our national defence strategies. We will explore opportunities for mutual learning and training to increase the interoperability and skillset of military members on shared platforms, such as the F-35 fighter aircraft, the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, and our new warship classes based on the Type 26 frigate design of BAE Systems.
13. We recognize operational effectiveness is underpinned by the strength of our cooperation in science, technology, and capability development. We are prioritizing overcoming challenges to the research, development, procurement, and fielding of advanced military capabilities to maintain our technological edge and support regional stability and security. We look forward to further collaboration in that regard, and recognize Canada’s interest in collaborating on advanced capability projects under AUKUS Pillar II.
14. We will continue addressing challenges collaboratively through the combination of our innovation ecosystems. This will help to maintain our collective technological lead in cyber, autonomous systems, quantum technologies, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, space, defence against hypersonic and advanced cruise missiles, and undersea warfare.
Cyber and Space
15. We recognize malicious cyber threats and activities have increased in sophistication and scale. We reaffirm efforts to bolster our operational collaboration to address emerging cyber threats through the Five Eyes partnership, and we commit to deepening our cyber cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners.
16. As members of the Combined Space Operations Initiative and Operation Olympic Defender, we remain committed to a secure and stable space domain. We will continue to improve the coordination of space operations and interoperability of space capabilities, assure access to space, and promote the responsible, lawful, and sustainable use of the space domain.
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February 1, 2018 | Local, C4ISR
L3 WESCAM wins defense contracts valued at more than US$250 million
L3 WESCAM announced on Feb. 1 that it ended the second half of 2017 with more than US$250 million in contracts from military and law enforcement customers for its MX-Series electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) products and in-service support products and services. The orders will provide a range of MX imaging and targeting solutions to both experienced MX end users and military customers new to L3 WESCAM products and services. “For more than 40 years, L3 has been a key supplier of ISR technologies, including sensors and systems, to help military and law enforcement agencies stay on the leading edge as surveillance and reconnaissance missions evolve,” said Jeff Miller, L3's senior vice-president and president of its sensor systems business segment. “We have earned and maintained a very strong reputation for quality, performance, reliability and rapid delivery, having provided more than 4,100 MX surveillance and targeting systems worldwide.” New platforms, new end-user countries The demand for L3 WESCAM's ISR technologies continued to grow as systems were sold for the first time into four new countries across four separate continents, including Africa, Europe, Asia and North America. Additionally, MX-Series systems were purchased for the first time on six significant airborne platforms, including airframes developed in Europe, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. L3 WESCAM turrets are now operating in over 70 countries on more than 190 different types of platforms across the air, land and maritime domains. Continued growth for in-service support L3 continued to experience a growing demand for in-service support contracts from MX customers located across North America, Europe and Asia. To keep operators and maintainers of MX systems operating at maximum efficiency, L3 WESCAM held a series of highly interactive customer conferences in Italy, France, Australia and Canada. With over 230 MX operators and maintainers in attendance, L3 presented a series of technology sessions, gaining pivotal insight into each customer's direct experience with MX products and a better understanding of future surveillance and targeting requirements. Complementing these customer-centric user groups, L3's global in-service support infrastructure, composed of 13 service centres staffed by a team of dedicated field service support personnel, continued to provide unmatched maintenance and repair solutions to customers who rely on L3's airborne, land and maritime imaging capabilities 24/7. L3 WESCAM also conducted a series of new product demonstrations in the latter half of the year that were overwhelmingly successful, underscoring the company's commitment to anticipating customer needs and achieving the highest levels of performance possible. These trials will help to support future business opportunities moving into 2018 and beyond. L3 WESCAM is a world leader in the design and manufacture of stabilized, multi-spectral imaging systems. https://www.wescam.com/wp-content/uploads/Final_WESCAM_-second-half-2017-results.pdf
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March 7, 2022 | Local, Aerospace
Canada Issues RFP for FAcT Program to Qualified Suppliers