November 19, 2023 | Local, Aerospace, Land, Security
Today, the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence, officially opened the 15th annual Halifax International Security Forum.
November 29, 2023 | Local, Aerospace
François-Philippe Champagne told industry upgrades to Aurora aircraft a 'Canadian success story' but cautioned not to tell Boeing
May 14, 2018 | Local, Aerospace
Trevor Nash Following an industry ‘engagement session' in Ottawa on 2 May, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) has provided additional information to industry about its Future Aircrew Training (FAcT) requirement. Like many air forces around the world, the RCAF is looking at methods to both streamline and reduce the costs of producing aircrew, pilots, Air Combat Systems Officers (ACSO) and Airborne Electronic Sensor Operators (AES Op). The RCAF's preference is to opt for a training service provision model that is generated by one or more commercial contractors. At present, pilot training is conducted through two services contracts known as NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) and Contracted Flying Training and Support (CFTS). These two contracts include classroom instruction, simulator training and flight training. These have been independently provided by CAE and KF Aerospace respectively however, these companies have recently combined their efforts to form a new 50:50 joint venture company named SkyAlyne that will now service both requirements. Although NFTC and CFTS training has been provided by industry, ACSO/AES Op training is delivered by 402 Squadron in Winnipeg using only DND personnel and equipment. Flying training is undertaken on the CT-142 (Dash-8) aircraft. These aircraft are approaching their end of life date and the ground training system that supports them is also old and needs replacing. According to the RCAF document issued prior to the industry engagement session: ‘The confluence of concluding pilot training service contracts, the need for revitalisation of the ACSO and AES Op training system, and the significant overlap of core knowledge and skills between these three occupations provide the opportunity to streamline key elements of aircrew training. ‘This approach will realise efficiencies in not only training time and cost, but also in training methodologies and incorporation of modern and evolving technologies. Additionally, the synthetic training environment will be leveraged to the greatest extent possible to maintain an aircrew training system that will remain relevant into the middle of the century. ‘It is essential that continuity of aircrew training be maintained throughout the transition.' Like most military procurements, FAcT has been a long time in the making with the first RFI issued in September 2013. If all goes well, contract award is scheduled for 2021 with a ramp-up during which ‘partial FAcT operations begin' during 2021-23. Full operating capability is not expected until 2027. Numerous companies have expressed interest including Boeing and Lockheed Martin as well of course, as SkyAlyne. The incumbent Canadian providers would appear to be in a strong position after pooling their resources. https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/training-simulation/itec-2018-rcaf-looks-future/
October 1, 2018 | Local, Naval
© 2018 FrontLine Defence (Vol 15, No 5) The Canadian Surface Combatant program is the largest and most complex procurement to be undertaken by the Canadian Government to date. This program intends to replace the existing Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) frigates (specializing in anti-submarine capabilities and multi-role mission support) and the now-retired destroyers (providing anti-air capabilities) with a fleet of 15 versatile new warships that will be in service to the mid 21st century, if not longer. As outlined in its defence policy, the Government remains committed to replacing the Navy's surface fleet with 15 surface combatants, which will all be built by Irving Shipbuilding as part of the “combatant” portion of the National Shipbuilding Strategy. Although rumours are swirling about the possibility of two variants on a common platform, a DND spokesperson confirms that “the current requirement is that all 15 CSC ships will have the same capabilities: anti-air warfare, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, electronic warfare as well as command and control.” The DND email to FrontLine goes on to say that “Funding has been set aside to deliver the full complement of ships the Royal Canadian Navy needs, in order to provide capability across the full range of operations. This will replace both the recently retired Iroquois-class destroyers and the Halifax-class frigates with a single class of ship capable of meeting multiple threats on both the open ocean and the highly complex coastal (littoral) environment.” Full article: https://defence.frontline.online/article/2018/5/10490-CSC-2018-Evaluation-Stage