May 13, 2019 | Local, Aerospace
ELINOR SLOAN, CONTRIBUTED TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL
RICK BOWMER/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Elinor Sloan, professor of international relations in the department of political science at Carleton University, is a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
For a bid to buy a plane designed to cut quickly through the skies, Ottawa's pursuit of a future-generation fighter jet has been a long and torturous slog.
In 1997, Jean Chrétien's Liberal government joined the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, a U.S.-led initiative conceived as a new way for allies to work together to design, develop and produce a fifth-generation fighter aircraft. In 2006, Ottawa signed a formal memorandum of understanding that gave Canada and the other eight partner nations the exclusive right to compete for contracts to produce such aircraft and, since 2007, Canadian companies have won more than US$1.3-billion in defence contracts related to the Joint Strike Fighter. With a production line that will be operating at full capacity starting this year, and is expected to produce about 10 times as many aircraft as exist today over the next few decades, this number promises to grow substantially.
Meanwhile, Canada's nearly 40-year-old fleet of fighter jets – the CF-18s – continues to age. In 2010, the Harper government shelved its plan to sole-source buy the Joint Strike Fighter to replace them after a public outcry and a damning auditor-general's report that found significant weaknesses in the process used by the Department of National Defence.
Then, when the Liberals took office in 2015 and promised an open and fair competition to replace the CF-18s, it also banned the F-35 from bidding – two contradictory positions. The Trudeau government quietly dropped that ban last year, and pre-qualified four companies to bid on a contract worth at least $15-billion: Sweden's Saab Gripen, Britain's Airbus Eurofighter, the U.S.'s Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and, yes, Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
According to letters released last week, though, the U.S. government threatened to pull the Lockheed Martin F-35 from consideration last year over Ottawa's insistence that Canada receive industrial benefits from the winning bid. In response, Ottawa relaxed its requirement on Thursday: Where bidders once had to commit to spend 100 per cent of the value of the aircraft's acquisition and sustainment in Canada, bids will now only lose points in a three-category scoring system in the review process, instead.
With such exhausting twists and incompatible statements, it's little surprise that it took three and a half years of the government's four-year mandate just to get to the formal request-for-proposal stage.
But there is a way out of this morass: pursuing a back-to-basics focus on why we need this aircraft and what we need it to do.
To do so, we must focus on the proposed jets' promised technical capabilities, which are paramount, and rightly weighted the highest of that three-category scoring system. The second category is cost, which of course is important to any government. The third is creating and sustaining a highly skilled work force within our own borders, a goal enshrined in Canada's industrial trade benefits (ITB) policy, which requires a winning bid to guarantee it will make investments in Canada equal to the value of the contract. Each bid is scored by these three categories, weighed 60-20-20, respectively.
However, the Joint Strike Fighter program, which Canada has spent millions to join, does not fit neatly into the ITB policy. In those letters last year, the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin pointed out that Canada's ITB terms are inconsistent with – and indeed prohibited by – the memorandum of understanding Canada signed in 2006, which says partners cannot impose industrial compensation measures. The solution reached on Thursday allows that memorandum to be obeyed, but since Canada will still give higher grades to bids that follow its ITB policy, questions remain as to whether the playing field has really been levelled.
All of this is important because of the growing competition between the major powers. Russian bombers and fighters, for example, are increasingly testing the boundaries of Canadian and U.S. airspace. More than ever, the focus needs to be interoperability with the United States, working together on NORAD and helping NATO allies in Europe. As a flying command-and-control platform, rather than a mere fighter, Canada's next-generation jet must work with the United States' most sophisticated systems, and include a seamless and secure communications capability – that is a critical and non-negotiable criterion. Indeed, as DND has said,the United States will need to certify the winning jet meets Washington's security standards.
Some may question the federal government's decision to relax the ITB rules, and to grant this certification sign-off. But whatever Canada buys must be able to address threats to us and to our allies until well into the 2060s. Our relationship with the United States, both in terms of geopolitics and military technology, is crucial. Despite our trade tiff, the United States remains our most important strategic partner. Canada can either take an active part in our own security, or leave it to the United States.
October 12, 2022 | Local, C4ISR
Innovative Solutions Canada along with the Department of National Defence are seeking a quantum-enhanced Radio-Frequency (RF) sensing technology solutions to improve target detection using radars via quantum-enhanced radar transmitters and/or radar receivers. https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/innovative-solutions-canada/en/quantum-enhanced-radio-frequency-sensing
October 13, 2020 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence
CBC News Trump and Biden have different ideas about trade, defence, China, energy and migration The fallout from an American election touches countries around the world — starting with its neighbours next door. And on some issues with clear implications for Canada, Joe Biden and Donald Trump offer contrasting positions. The CBC has explored a few of these topics, in stories summarized here with links to a deeper dive on each. Here are five areas where the Nov. 3 presidential election might affect Canada. Energy and the environment There are striking differences between the candidates. Trump promises more oil drilling, more pipelines — and less regulation. Joe Biden, on the other hand, says he'd cancel Trump's permit for the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada. Biden wants to invest massively in clean energy; rejoin the Paris Accord; and, finally, name, shame and potentially punish countries with green tariffs if they fail to cut emissions. International trade Some irritants would remain no matter who wins. For instance, Biden promises more Buy American policies and perennial disputes like softwood lumber would not disappear. But Biden says he'd drop some of Trump's most aggressive moves against allies, like the steel and aluminum tariffs based on alleged national-security grounds. He has also hinted he might, eventually, try negotiating U.S. re-entry into the pan-Pacific trade pact now known as CPTPP. Trump's administration prides itself on a hard-nosed, transformative trade policy that includes lots of tariffs and duties, and has essentially paralyzed the World Trade Organization's dispute system. His trade team says it has a long-term plan; its critics say the results so far offer more chaos than benefits. Canadian defence policy has long rested on the assumption of an unshakeable partnership with the United States. Yet old alliances suddenly seem less sturdy. Trump has rattled old assumptions, repeatedly criticizing NATO allies for under-spending on their military. Past administrations have made similar complaints. But under a barrage of demands from Trump, allies have, in fact, upped their spending. Some defence analysts, and a top former aide to Trump, still fear he might withdraw from NATO in a second term. That uncertainty lingers over a deployment of Canadian troops in Eastern Europe. Biden is a staunch NATO advocate, and under his watch, Canada could face a different challenge: conversations about NATO's future role and missions. One major issue continues to hover over the continent: whether Canada will wind up spending billions to install new radar over the Arctic. China When the globe's two superpowers clash, Canada risks getting sideswiped. Just ask the Canadians in Chinese jail cells and the canola, pork and beef farmers punished by Beijing after Canada executed a U.S. arrest warrant against a high-profile Chinese telecom exec. China-U.S. tensions now loom over myriad global issues, touching the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization, agriculture, educational exchanges, journalism, new technologies and sanctioned goods. Trump made these issues top priorities. And they're not going away. Biden, however, says he wants to approach things differently — for starters, by working more closely with allies. He plans to host a summit of democracies to discuss ways governments and private-sector companies like banks and social media platforms might push back against global authoritarianism. One thing Trump has not clearly articulated — and it's something Biden would be pressed to offer — is a sense of the long-term goal: How does the U.S. intend to coexist with China? Immigration Trump has indicated that for a second term, he would carry on with some of the more restrictive temporary work visa programs he established during his first term. Just recently, for example, he announced a major overhaul for H1-B visas. He is also seeking to end the temporary humanitarian protection of thousands of migrants who face threats back home, and decrease the overall number of refugees who come to the U.S. All this could put pressure on Canadian borders. Meanwhile, Biden has said he would reverse Trump's H1-B visa freeze, review the decision to end humanitarian protection for migrants, repeal Trump's travel ban and increase the number of refugees coming into the U.S. to 125,000. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/5-ways-the-u-s-election-result-could-impact-canada-1.5753574
May 28, 2024 | Local, Aerospace
Formerly the RCAF’s fighter lead-in advanced jet trainer, the Hawk is finding new life as a maintenance trainer for aircraft technicians in training.