L3Harris Technologies awarded contract for 3 Canadian special mission aircraft

On the same subject

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  January 4, 2019 | Local, Aerospace

  Deal to buy used Australian fighter jets finalized, with Canadian Forces set to be flying them by summer

  David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen Eighteen of the Australian F-18 aircraft will eventually be flying for the Canadian Forces, while another seven will be used for testing and spare parts Canada has finalized a deal to buy 25 used fighter jets from Australia, the first of which are expected to be operating by this summer, says the top procurement official at the Department of National Defence. “The first two aircraft will be here this spring,” Pat Finn, assistant deputy minister for materiel at DND, told Postmedia in an interview. “I would say it could be by the summer the first couple are on the flight line and painted with the maple leaf.” A second group of planes would arrive later this year. Eighteen of the Australian F-18 aircraft will eventually be flying for the Canadian Forces, while another seven will be used for testing and spare parts. Canada is paying Australia $90 million for the aircraft. The federal government originally estimated the purchase of the Australian jets would cost around $500 million, but Finn said that price reflected every aspect of the associated deal, not just the cost of purchasing the jets. Canada is also acquiring extra spare parts, the Australian jets will have to be outfitted with specific Canadian equipment and software and testing will be needed. The $500-million project estimate also included $50 million in contingency funds to cover any problems and another $35 million for the salaries of all civilian and military personnel involved over the life of the project. An additional $30 million will be spent on new infrastructure needed to accommodate the aircraft. Those costs add up to $360 million, Finn said. But DND also plans to upgrade its existing fleet of CF-18s with new communications gear and equipment required to meet regulations to operate in civilian airspace, improvements which the Australian jets will also eventually receive at a cost of around $110 million, an amount that brought the original estimate to nearly $500 million. The Liberal government had planned to buy 18 new Super Hornet fighter jets from U.S. aerospace giant Boeing to augment the Royal Canadian Air Force's CF-18s until new aircraft can be purchased in the coming years. But in 2017 Boeing complained to the U.S. Commerce Department that Canadian subsidies for Quebec-based Bombardier allowed it to sell its C-series civilian passenger aircraft in the U.S. at cut-rate prices. As a result, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump enacted a tariff of almost 300 per cent against the Bombardier aircraft sold in the U.S. In retaliation, Canada cancelled the deal to buy the 18 Super Hornets, which would have cost more than US$5 billion. Instead of buying the new Super Hornets, the Liberals decided to acquire the used Australian jets. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has said the extra jets are needed to deal with a “capability gap,” as Canada does not have enough fighters to handle its commitments to NATO as well as protecting North America. But Conservative MPs say the capability gap doesn't exist and was concocted by the government to delay a larger project to buy new jets, a competition that might end up selecting the F-35 stealth fighter that during the 2015 election campaign the Liberals vowed never to purchase. In the fall of 2016, then-Royal Canadian Air Force commander Lt.-Gen. Mike Hood told senators that the Liberal government brought in a policy change which required the RCAF to be able to meet both its NATO and North American air defence commitments at the same time. That, in turn, created the capability gap, he said. Hood said he was not told about the reasons for the policy change. In November 2018 Auditor General Michael Ferguson issued a report noting that the purchase of the extra aircraft would not fix the fundamental weaknesses with the CF-18 fleet which is the aircraft's declining combat capability and a shortage of pilots and maintenance personnel. “The Australian F/A-18s will need modifications and upgrades to allow them to fly until 2032,” the report said. “These modifications will bring the F/A-18s to the same level as the CF-18s but will not improve the CF-18's combat capability.” “In our opinion, purchasing interim aircraft does not bring National Defence closer to consistently meeting the new operational requirement introduced in 2016,” Ferguson's report added. The Canadian Forces says it is bringing in new initiatives to boost the numbers of pilots and maintenance staff. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/deal-to-buy-used-australian-fighter-jets-finalized-with-canadian-forces-set-to-be-flying-them-by-summer

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  September 24, 2019 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Want to Win Government Business? Don’t be too ‘Commercial-Centric’

  Governments may be open for business, but that doesn't mean doing business with a government is necessarily easy. Government procurement is complex - this is not by happenstance. The rules on public procurement stem from a number of sources including law (trade agreements, the common law and legislation) and policy. It can be a painful and costly learning curve for companies that want to sell goods and services to the country's largest buyers if they don't understand the rules. Government decision-makers are answerable to a very wide range of stakeholders, including the Canadian voters who put them in office and the Canadian taxpayers who fund their operations. In a public procurement, it's not just about getting the best deal – it is also about meeting the broader public interest and achieving long-term policy objectives. The Goal is to Promote Fairness Competition is the rule in public procurement because it offers a fair, open and transparent environment, and meets the public objective that all potential suppliers get a fair kick at the can to sell to government. This is important when you consider that, for example, the Department of National Defence is the largest Canadian purchaser of goods and services from the Canadian defence industry. Canada has implemented several trade agreements in the past few years, including the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) (which replaced the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT)). Understanding how these agreements impact procurement is even more important for suppliers and their federal, provincial and territorial government customers, as well as for the municipal, academic, school and hospital (MASH) sector which may now be subject to trade agreements for the first time or subject to additional or new rules brought about by these new trade agreements. Prepare your RFP Response Team for a Long Haul Businesses must understand the processes that come into play in public procurements, such as the need to resource their RFP response team for a long period of time or the impact of failing to meet mandatory RFP requirements (disqualification from the procurement process). Learning to manage the length of time it takes to progress through a procurement cycle, and to navigate the processes, is a big challenge. In business, relationships matter, but developing a good working relationship with key decision makers in government departments or agencies can be difficult since government tends to have greater workforce mobility and people change in and out of roles frequently. Further, dealing with government means complying with lobbying law and conflict of interest rules. In many jurisdictions, discussions about procurement requirements outside of public solicitation processes is considered lobbying, as it is attempting to sell products or services to the government. Conflict of interest rules may also preclude certain people from doing business with government officials. Approaching public procurement with a "commercial-centric" view often leads to frustration. The federal government does understand "how business works," but there are still many aspects of a public procurement that are not (and cannot be) commercially focused, including those related to complying with applicable trade agreements, protecting the public interest, and serving policy objectives such as regional development and economic diversification. Companies participating in a public sector procurement process face unique compliance requirements that don't come into play with a typical private commercial transaction. Expect Heightened Security Requirements With the increasing attention being paid to cybersecurity and data protection, companies will find they are now subject to more stringent security requirements, including an increased requirement for product functionality and security control disclosure in advance of their products or services being accepted by government buyers. This level of disclosure can extend through to greater access to the underlying technology used so that the customer itself can test for, and understand, cyber-threat vulnerabilities. Whether this is your first foray into the world of government procurement – and you need to understand the rules of public procurement so that you can properly understand the RFP documents and the plethora of government policies – or you have a broader interest focused on influencing government policy and direction as it relates to your business or your industry, knowing how to best position your organization to take advantage of both possible routes is critical to a successful government procurement business. Waiting until you have lost a bid is too late to effect a change for your organization's benefit. Be Proactive with the Right Advice Regardless of your focus, knowing how the system works and how to best advocate for your interests is a crucial and part of any successful business plan. Working with a legal team that has knowledge and experience in all of these areas and can assist with strategic planning and approach from start to finish is critical to success. https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=4d2ced7d-7e1a-47f0-bf39-ced9b8a0b39d

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  November 25, 2019 | Local, Aerospace

  Defence Construction Canada issues Advance Procurement Notice for the Future Fighter Capability Project

  Defence Construction Canada (DCC) has issued an Advance Procurement Notice (APN) for Solicitation No. APN-DC-2527 for construction programs for the Future Fighter Capability Project (FFCP). If contracts are awarded, the work will occur between 2020 and 2030. SECRET personnel, document safeguarding and facility security clearances will be required for all projects for contractors and consultants. Information management system clearance to the level of SECRET may be required, but will only be approved post-contract award. Potential bidders who do not currently meet these requirements can apply to the Industrial Security Program (ISP) for clearances. DCC is an approved sponsor under the ISP. Requests for security clearances must be received prior to January 7, 2020. Advance Procurement Notice, Future Fighter Capability Project (FFCP), Canada (APN-DC-2527) Project Infrastructure is required at the Main Operating Bases in Cold Lake and Bagotville, with potential for work at various Deployed Operating Bases; Forward Operating Locations[1] and Combined Air Operations Centres in support of Future Fighter Capability (FFC). ISP Backgrounder Government of Canada information is subject to data and information protection requirements. The ISP is responsible for granting the necessary security clearances to contractors and their subcontractors for access to Government of Canada information designated as PROTECTED or higher. Key requirements include: individual and facility security clearances must be received in advanceof any access to government information; individual and facility security clearance must match the level of security assigned to the information being accessed; security clearances cannot be extended, transferred or assigned between organizations; site-specific Document Safeguarding Capability (DSC) security clearance is required for organizations that handle government information or assets at their facilities; IT systems that will receive, store and process government information must be approved in advance; foreign-based employees accessing government information at Canadian facilities must obtain a visitor screening approval in advance; foreign-based employees accessing government information from locations outside of Canada require security clearances, as does the facility within which they are working; subcontractors who will receive, process, store or access government information are subject to all of the same assessments and requirements as are the prime contractors (those holding the contract with the Canadian government) and must possess a valid security clearance for each contract; and prime contractors remains solely responsible (and liable) for the subcontractors compliance with the ISP. Compliance with the Industrial Security Program is a material requirement for any government contract having a security requirement. Failure to comply with the ISP can result in suspension or termination of security clearances. The termination of security clearances is considered to be a breach of contract, which entitles the government to terminate the contract for default. The requirements for SECRET clearances are extensive, necessitating advance planning to gather the significant and necessary information that is required. Whether you are currently registered in the ISP or seeking to do so, understanding the requirements of the ISP is critical to your ability to successfully bid for federal government work. To view all formatting for this article (eg, tables, footnotes), please access the original here. https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=8a031226-d61b-424e-ac7b-ccc8b7df104b