Minister Blair participates in Fifth North American Defence Ministerial meeting

On the same subject

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  February 25, 2020 | Local, Aerospace

  Canada backs businesses to join in the next chapter of lunar exploration

  Canada has joined humanity's return to the Moon – an investment in science, innovation and research to unlock new opportunities for economic growth and to help us answer important questions about our planet, universe and ourselves. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is presenting Canada's space community, including small and medium-sized businesses, with the opportunity to contribute technologies to national and international efforts of exploring the Moon. This is a crucial step in humanity's quest to travel further in space, onwards to Mars. The CSA is awarding 7 contracts worth a total of $4.36 million to five companies and one university to advance concepts for nano- and micro-rovers, as well as autonomous science instruments. These advancements will serve as the first steps towards landing and conducting Canadian science on the surface of the Moon. “Our Government is positioning Canada's space sector to reach for the Moon and beyond. This investment will help Canadian businesses bring their technologies to market, creating opportunities for them to join the growing space economy while supporting Canada to achieve world firsts in space science and exploration,” said Navdeep Bains, minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. The contracts being awarded are as follows: ABB (Quebec) will receive $693,193 to design, build and test the prototype for an autonomous lunar exploration infrared spectrometer that will remotely measure and study the mineralogical composition of the Moon's surface. Bubble Technology Industries Inc. (Ontario) will receive $698,321 to develop a spectrometer that will autonomously search for hydrogen to indicate the presence of water and ice near the Moon's surface. Canadensys Aerospace Corporation (Ontario) will receive two contracts worth a total of $1,099,366 to develop concept designs, technologies and prototypes for two different classes of small Canadian lunar science rovers – a nano-rover and a micro-rover. Magellan Aerospace (Manitoba) will receive $607,258 to develop a lunar impactor probe that will deliver instruments to the surface of the Moon, including sensors to detect water in the permanently shadowed regions of the Moon. Mission Control Space Services Inc. (Ontario) will receive $573,829 to advance an autonomous soil assessment system as an AI-based science support tool for rovers navigating on the Moon. Western University (Ontario) will receive $690,123 to develop an integrated vision system for surface operations that will be used for identification of the geology of the lunar surface and for rover navigation. https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/canada-backs-businesses-to-join-in-the-next-chapter-of-lunar-exploration

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  November 19, 2020 | Local, Naval

  Canada’s surface combatant costs might be taking on water

  By DAVID PERRY NOVEMBER 18, 2020 It is unclear where exactly the project stands, as the government has said virtually nothing about the progress on the project since February 2019. https://www.hilltimes.com/2020/11/18/canadas-surface-combatant-costs-might-be-taking-on-water/271931

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  January 28, 2019 | Local, Naval

  Storied Coast Guard ship can’t be fixed, shipyard says, highlighting yet again, Canada’s shipbuilding problem

  By David Akin A Quebec shipyard hopeful of getting more federal work has condemned a storied Coast Guard ship as beyond repair, declining to bid on a lucrative contract to overhaul the 56-year-old CCGS Hudson on the grounds that it “presents a serious and real threat to the safety of life at sea.” In a letter delivered Tuesday to officials with Public Services and Procurement Canada, Davie CEO Jared Newcombe said his company, based in Lévis, Que., would not bid on the contract to upgrade the Hudson as Davie believes the vessel to be beyond repair. A copy of that letter was provided to Global News. The federal government was trying to squeeze another few years of service out of the Hudson which, having been commissioned in 1963, is the oldest ship in the Coast Guard's fleet. Bidding on the life-extension contract, expected to be worth about $20 million, ended this week. It is the latest headache to bedevil a federal shipbuilding process that has been rife with delays. Davie's remarkable letter — procurement experts cannot recall a bidder ever recommending scrapping a major vessel when offered a chance to upgrade it — underscores the difficulties successive federal governments have had in updating an aging Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy fleet. “The Coast Guard ships are in serious need of replacement now,” said David Perry, a defence procurement expert and senior analyst at the Ottawa-based think tank, the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. The average service of a Coast Guard ship is about 36 years. Canada's Maritime peers typically replace their Coast Guard vessels within 30 years of service. The Harper government announced in 2007 that the Hudson was to be replaced by 2012 and the contract to replace her was awarded to Vancouver's Seaspan shipyard. But that project is mired in delays and it is not clear when there will be a replacement. There is not yet a confirmed date for construction to start while the projected budget of $331 million to build the Hudson's replacement is under review. The Hudson did have a $4-million refit in Hamilton, Ont., in 2016, and has had more work done on it since it returned to its East Coast port in Dartmouth, N.S., in 2017. But Davie told the government that, in its view, the Hudson has now reached the end of the line. “The level of degradation to the hull, fuel tanks, onboard systems and other structural elements presents a serious and real threat to the safety of life at sea as well as the environment,” Newcombe wrote. Newcombe said his company had to consider its own liability should it have won the current life extension contract, “as well as ethical, repetitional and environmental considerations.” Full article: https://globalnews.ca/news/4884924/coast-guard-ship-cant-be-fixed-canada-shipbuilding-problem/