Liberal government defence policy boosts military spending, commits to new purchases of helicopters, missiles, aircraft

On the same subject

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  March 10, 2020 | Local, Aerospace, Security

  Military search and rescue missions delayed by aircraft, refuelling problems: report

  A new Department of National Defence report says military search-and-rescue personnel were delayed and in some cases unable to provide emergency assistance on about one in 20 of the hundreds of calls they received last year. While some of the problems related to bad weather, animals on runways and having to wait for provincial medical teams to arrive, more than half were attributed to refuelling issues and breakdowns on the military's ancient search-and-rescue aircraft. The Canadian Armed Forces says the refuelling problems and breakdowns, which afflicted a total of 20 search-and-rescue missions, did not lead to any deaths. Yet they do raise questions about the military's ability to respond quickly to potentially life-threatening emergencies given the age of its search-and-rescue aircraft, some of which entered service in 1967. The Royal Canadian Air Force officially accepted the first of 16 new search-and-rescue planes from European manufacturer Airbus in December, but the aircraft is still in Spain where it was built and has yet to make the trip to Canada. The government has also said it plans to replace the air force's aging air-to-air refuelling tankers, but the first replacement isn't expected until 2028 at the earliest. https://globalnews.ca/news/6650860/military-search-rescue-mission-problems/

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  December 7, 2018 | Local, Aerospace

  First nine new RCAF fighter jets to be operating in 2026 but Conservative MP has his doubts

  DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN The Royal Canadian Air Force will be operating the first nine aircraft from its new fleet of fighter jets starting in 2026, Department of National Defence officials say. But at least one member of parliament questions whether the federal government will be able to meet its timetable to replace the CF-18 fighter fleet with advanced aircraft. MPs on the Standing Committee on Public Accounts received more details on Monday about the Liberal government's plan to buy 88 new fighter jets. Aircraft expected in the competition include Lockheed Martin's F-35, the Eurofighter Typhoon, Saab's Gripen and the Boeing Super Hornet. Pat Finn, assistant deputy minister for materiel at the DND, told MPS that the formal request for proposals will go out in the spring of 2019. Negotiations would be held in 2021 and a contract awarded in 2022. “We have tried to be very judicious and not have too risky a schedule to try to achieve some of that,” Finn explained to MPs. “But from the bids until the signing of the contract is where we've given ourselves two years for the competitive dialogue, the final negotiations and the various approvals we need to get, signing the contract in 2022.” The first aircraft would be delivered in 2025. Finn said this schedule has been shared with all the potential bidders and “they're comfortable with that approach.” Jody Thomas, the DND deputy minister, told MPs that the plan is to “achieve initial operating capability by 2026 with nine advanced fighters ready to fulfill the NORAD mission.” But one committee member, Conservative MP Pat Kelly, was wary of whether the aircraft acquisition would proceed as scheduled. The plan, he told Finn, doesn't leave a lot of margin for error. Everything would have to run like clockwork to meet the timetable and Kelly questioned if that would even be possible given the track record of defence procurement over the years. “We just don't have time in this for the kinds of delays and the kinds of failures of procurement that we have seen in other programs,” Kelly said. “I shudder to think of what many Canadians listening to this hearing might think about. What has the potential to go wrong to get to 2025? I'm going to leave it at that.” https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/first-nine-new-rcaf-fighter-jets-to-be-operating-in-2026-but-conservative-mp-has-his-doubts

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  September 26, 2024 | Local, Naval

  HMCS Vancouver completes rearmament in Australia

  September 26, 2024 – Broome, Australia – National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces His Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Vancouver completed a forward rearmament in Australia on September 23, 2024, more than halfway through its six-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region on Operation HORIZON.