Liberal government increases secrecy over multibillion-dollar defence purchases

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  September 30, 2019 | Local, Aerospace

  RPAS community gathers for Tech Demo 2

  Once again this year, nearly 150 players in the aeronautics industry met at the Centre d'excellence sur les drones (CED) for the second edition of Tech Demo, where the remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) community got together to share technological advances. During this event, which took place on Sept. 25 and 26 in Alma, Que., participants learned more about the latest developments from Transport Canada, the Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Canadian Navy, and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). They also attended various conferences exploring drone image recognition, multi-mission systems, the niche of excellence in civil and commercial UAVs, ways to reduce time to market through drone simulation and trends in the drone ecosystem. Guests also had the opportunity to discuss issues related to operations beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), and take part in three panels about anti-UAV systems and airspace management. Seven system demonstrations were also carried out during the event, including one featuring a mastodon weighing more than 300 kilograms. “This autonomous system was developed for various surveillance and civil security missions by Quebec company Laflamme in collaboration with the American company General Dynamics. It was the first public technological demonstration of this system in Quebec, which generated a great deal of interest from the stakeholders present,” commented CED director general Marc Moffatt. He also added that, once again this year, the activity welcomed several major manufacturers, including Bell Helicopter, Bombardier, General Atomics, CAE, L3, Leonardo, and many others. According to CED president Alain Fortin, hosting an event like Tech Demo is very significant for the industry. “The drone community needs events around which to gather to feed each other. We are obviously thrilled with the scope of this second edition and, above all, very proud of the quality of the speakers in attendance. Several actors who orchestrate the development of drone regulation in Canada were among us over the past two days to listen to what the community had to teach them and to learn more about the potential of the CED,” said Fortin. “Our speakers come from all over the world, including the United States, England, Italy and even Ukraine. Over the years, the CED and its partners have built a whole regional ecosystem around the drone and we can see now that its strategic role in the development of this sector is recognized and well established,” he added. Made possible with the financial support from the Ministère de l'Économie et de l'Innovation as well as General Dynamics Missions Systems, Kongsberg Geospatial Ltd. and CAE, the event has become a major annual event that is eagerly awaited by the industry. https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/rpas-community-gathers-for-tech-demo-2

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  September 19, 2018 | Local, Aerospace

  Canadian air force short 275 pilots as attrition outpaces recruitment, training

  By Canadian Press OTTAWA — The Royal Canadian Air Force is contending with a shortage of around 275 pilots and needs more mechanics, sensor operators and other trained personnel in the face of increasing demands at home and abroad. The Air Force says it is working to address the deficiencies and that they have not negatively impacted operations, but officials acknowledge the situation has added pressure on Canada's flying corps and represents a challenge for the foreseeable future. “Right now we're doing everything we can to make sure we recruit, train and retain enough personnel to do our current mission,” said Brig.-Gen. Eric Kenny, director general of air readiness. “In the next 20 years, it's going to be a challenge to grow the force at the rate that we would like.” The shortfall in pilots and mechanics was referenced in an internal report recently published by the Department of National Defence, which also flagged underspending on maintenance for bases and other infrastructure, as well as reductions in annual flying times thanks to Conservative-era budget cuts. Some of those issues have since started to be addressed by the Liberals through their new defence policy, but the personnel shortage remains an area of critical concern given the need for pilots and others to fly and maintain the military's various aircraft fleets at home and abroad. Those include the planes and helicopters involved in Canada's military missions in Iraq, Latvia, Mali, and Ukraine; domestic search-and-rescue aircraft; and the CF-18 fighter jets deployed in Romania and guarding against a foreign attack on North America. The Air Force is authorized to have 1,580 pilots, but Kenny said in an interview the Air Force is short by around 17 per cent — or about 275 pilots — along with similar shortfalls for navigators and sensor operators, who work onboard different types of aircraft, as well as mechanics. Kenny also acknowledged the threat of burnout as service members are forced to pick up the slack left by unfilled positions, and the added burden of promised new drones, fighter jets and other aircraft arriving in the coming years, which will require even more people to fly and maintain. Efforts to address the shortfalls have looked at retaining service members with tax breaks, additional support and services for family members to ease military life, and plans to free up experienced personnel by assigning administrative staff to do day-to-day tasks. Several initiatives have also been introduced to speed up recruitment and training, and attract older pilots back into the Forces, which has borne some fruit and aimed at buying time for officials to decide whether to change the length of time pilots and others are required to serve before they can leave. “This is beyond just looking at benefits,” Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said Tuesday. “We're looking at a much more holistic approach in how we look after them.” But the current training system means the Air Force can only produce 115 new pilots each year, which commanders have said is insufficient to meet needs given the rate at which military pilots have moved on to commercial opportunities in recent years. Conservative defence critic James Bezan suggested one reason the military is losing pilots is because they are being asked to fly older planes, including CF-18 fighter jets that are close to 40 years old. “If pilots aren't getting new aircraft, why are they sticking around?” Bezan said. “And so, the idea of bringing in used fighter jets from Australia that are even in worse shape than the current CF-18s that we fly today, why would they stick around?” The Department of National Defence is drawing up plans for a new system that officials hope will be in place by 2021 and include the ability to expand or shrink the number of trainees in any year given the Air Force's needs. Kenny said the shortfalls will remain a challenge since the current system will remain in place for several more years — and because it takes four and eight years to train a pilot from scratch. “We know what capabilities we're receiving and now we can start working to make sure that we have personnel that are trained to be able to meet those requirements,” he said. “But I'm not going to lie: It's definitely a challenge.” https://ipolitics.ca/2018/09/18/canadian-air-force-short-275-pilots-as-attrition-outpaces-recruitment-training-2/

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  December 7, 2024 | Local, Land

  BAE wins $2.5B deal to supply more CV90 vehicles to Denmark, Sweden

  Denmark and Sweden are collectively spending $2.5 billion to bolster their CV90 combat vehicle stock while still supplying more vehicles to Ukraine.