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February 13, 2023 | Local, Aerospace

More than $6 billion earmarked for F-35 weapons - cost separate from aircraft purchase

The funds will be for new advanced air-to-air missiles, still-to-be-determined weapons projects for the stealth fighters and maintenance of the weapons stockpiles.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/more-than-6-billion-earmarked-for-f-35-weapons-cost-separate-from-aircraft-purchase

On the same subject

  • Cost of 15 new Canadian warships rises to $70 billion: PBO report

    June 25, 2019 | Local, Naval

    Cost of 15 new Canadian warships rises to $70 billion: PBO report

    By Christian Paas-Lang Canada's 15 new warships will cost almost $70 billion over the next quarter-century, according to Parliament's budget watchdog, and the cost could change further depending on the final design of the ships and when they actually get built. The estimate, released in a report by the parliamentary budget office Friday, is up substantially from a Canadian government estimate in 2017 that pegged the price of the project at between $56 billion and $60 billion. The 2017 estimate was itself a revision of the project's original $26-billion price tag. Also in 2017, the PBO estimated the total cost of the ships to be $61.8 billion, but its report released Friday updates that to reflect the design of the ships — frigates known as “Type 26” — which wasn't known at the time. It also accounts for delays in the project. The Canadian government will now pay out $69.8 billion over 26 years, the PBO estimates. In a statement released shortly after the PBO report, the Department of National Defence said it remained “confident” in its 2017 estimate, and that the “vast majority” of the difference between the estimates came from the PBO's choice to include taxes in its projections. Taking away taxes brings the two estimates to within 10 per cent of each other, the DND said. But the department conceded that any small difference means hundreds of millions of dollars in costs for taxpayers. The PBO report says the difference in the estimates is due to a later start date for construction and a heavier ship design. The report assumes ships will start being built by the 2023-2024 fiscal year, three years later than its 2017 projection. As the timeline extends into the future, costs increase due to inflation. The PBO originally projected a displacement, or weight, of 5,400 tonnes for each ship but the Type 26 design is a heftier 6,790 tonnes per ship, an increase of more than 25 per cent. The report also includes an analysis of what effect further significant delays would have on the project. For a one-year delay, the PBO estimates, an extra $2.2 billion will be added to the project cost, and a two-year delay would cost the government $4.5 billion. In an interview Friday, the top bureaucrat in charge of procurement at the DND expressed skepticism that the heavier ships will result in as much increased cost as the PBO suggests, but he did say the potential for delays was something he is “watching more carefully.” “The labour piece is always where uncertainty can remain,” said Pat Finn, the department's associate deputy minister for material, noting labour can make up around 40 per cent of the cost of a ship. Finn said the DND is in the “same place” as the PBO on the cost of “slippage” — delays in the project — but that he is confident the structure of the National Shipbuilding Strategy will mean the project could benefit from a skilled workforce and ongoing expertise. The purchase of additional Arctic patrol ships, announced last month, means there will not be a lapse in efficiency at Irving's Halifax shipyard, which is building the warships, Finn said. He set a goal for start of construction earlier than the PBO assumes in its report. “We would say between mid-2022 and mid-2023, we're in-contract and cutting steel,” Finn said. Potential delays would certainly increase costs, and it would be “absolutely no shock if there was additional delays,” said Dave Perry, a procurement expert with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. “To this point in time, the government has not been able to meet any of the timelines that have been put forward publicly,” he added. Still, the closer you get to construction, Perry said, the less uncertainty there should be about costs and the potential for further delay. The last thing that might change the final cost of the ships is the specifics of what components are chosen to fill out the design — which radar equipment, for example, Perry said. The DND is deciding on those components as it reconciles the requirements of the ships with costs. “You could potentially get a few-percentage-point swing” in price in either direction based on those choices, said Perry. “But if you're talking about several tens of billions of dollars, a few-percentage-points swing is real money.” https://globalnews.ca/news/5418997/canada-warships-cost/

  • New Classified Stream of IDEaS

    February 16, 2021 | Local, C4ISR, Security

    New Classified Stream of IDEaS

    Hello, The Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) recognize that some of the largest and most challenging defence and security issues are classified in nature, and that defence technologies will increasingly be needed from sectors dealing with information and communication, cyber, and other emerging sensory and data processing technologies and software. DND/CAF are seeking innovative science and technology (S&T) solutions to Canada's classified defence and security Challenges through a classified Call for Proposals process. Classified challenges will have a Secret security designation. DND/CAF will support Challenges under the Classified Stream to increase the base of suppliers with classified capabilities to DND, and to address topics specifically linked to the mission of DND/CAF. The Classified Stream will enable the possibility to share secure information about classified Challenges so that tailored solutions may be proposed. The seven domains currently under consideration are as follows: Underwater Warfare Cloud-based Data Fusion and Automation Space Sensor Payloads Counter Explosive Threat (CET) Defeating Radio Controlled Improvised Explosive Devices (RC-IED) Counter-Uninhabited Aerial Systems (C-UAS) Soldier Systems Integration Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) on behalf of the DND/CAF IDEaS program, to seek industry feedback on the potential development of a classified stream Call for Proposals (CFP). To view the RFI, please visit: https://buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/tender-notice/PW-21-00945859 We welcome your input and look forward to launching the new Classified Stream of IDEaS soon! Thank you, Eric Fournier Director General Innovation Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS)

  • Last operational CC-115 Buffalo finds final resting place at Canada Aviation and Space Museum - Skies Mag

    December 9, 2023 | Local, Aerospace

    Last operational CC-115 Buffalo finds final resting place at Canada Aviation and Space Museum - Skies Mag

    The last operational CC-115 Buffalo, No. 115-452, now resides in the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, safely preserved for generations to appreciate.

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