Protecting Canada and improving cyber defence: three challenges

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  April 25, 2019 | Local, Aerospace

  Canada's fighter jet tender competition (finally) takes off next month

  Murray Brewster · CBC News The politically charged competition to replace Canada's aging fleet of fighter jets will rocket forward at the end of May as the federal government releases a long-anticipated, full-fledged tender call. There are four companies in the running: Saab of Sweden, Airbus Defence and Space out of Britain, and the American firms Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Once the request for proposals is released, the manufacturers will have until the end of the year to submit bids, defence and industry sources told CBC News. It was the former Conservative government that kicked off the effort to replace the three-decade-old CF-18s in 2010, an attempt that was shot down in a dispute over the way the F-35 fighter was selected. The program became mired in politics when the Liberals promised during the 2015 election campaign not to buy the stealth jet. A final decision will now have to wait until after this fall's election. The competition comes at a time of renewed geopolitical rivalry between the West and Russia and China, and the chief of the Swedish Air Force says his fighters have been busier than ever. Maj.-Gen. Mats Helgesson said Sweden, which has a long history of being a neutral and non-aligned country, has over the past few years found its airspace violated more frequently by both Russian and NATO warplanes. That has required a stepped-up state of readiness for the country's Gripen fighter jet squadrons. "When we look around our borders, especially over the Baltic Sea, we can see increased activity, not only Russia, but also NATO," Helgesson told CBC News in an interview. "We see exercises. We see daily training and we also see intelligence gathering in a way that we haven't seen for many years." The Swedish air force is about the same size as the Royal Canadian Air Force. It has long flown the homegrown Gripen, which has gone through various iterations and models since it was first introduced in the mid-1990s. Saab AB, headquartered in Stockholm, intends to offer the latest variant — the E version — as a replacement for Canada's current fleet of CF-18s. The aircraft's design improvements, said Helgesson, are a direct result of what the military and the country's engineers can see being developed in Russia. "It's no secret that we need to be able to meet, not only Russia, but also other high-performing aircraft in the future," he said, pointing to Russia's Su-30 fighter jet, the more modern Su-35 (known by the NATO designation "The Flanker") and the stealth Su-57. There has been a rigorous political and academic debate about whether Canada should choose a legacy design from the 1990s, such as the Gripen, or the recently introduced Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter. The notion that stealth fighters are needed for conflicts with countries like Russia — countries that have advanced air-defence systems — was partly dismissed by the Swedish Defence Research Agency in a recent report. Russia's anti-access/areas-denial weapons (known as A2/AD) are not all they're cracked up to be, said the report released last month, which looked at the use of such systems in the Syria conflict. "Much has, in recent years, been made of Russia's new capabilities and the impact they might have on the ability of NATO member states to reinforce or defend the vulnerable Baltic states in case of crisis or war," said the report. "On closer inspection, however, Russia's capabilities are not quite as daunting, especially if potential countermeasures are factored in." The Gripen is intended for operations in rugged environments, such as Sweden's Arctic region, Helgesson said. "We are operating from dispersed bases," he said. "We use highways and small airfields spread all over Sweden in remote places, far away. And the logistics footprint is very small." The Arctic is, naturally, an important area of operation for the Swedish air force, and having far-flung bases has required the force to become creative about warehousing fuel, ammunition and other supplies. Canada's CF-18s occasionally operate from forward bases in the North, but those deployments are infrequent compared with the routine activity of the Swedes, experts have noted in the past. Like Canada, Sweden has just started reinvesting in defence, Helgesson said. The competition among manufacturers for Canada's fighter jet business is expected to be intense. Lockheed Martin will again pitch its F-35 stealth fighter. Boeing is in line to offer the Super Hornet — a larger, more advanced version of the F-18. Airbus Military plans to offer its Eurofighter Typhoon. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fighter-jet-saab-airbus-boeing-lockheed-martin-1.5096811?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar

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  October 1, 2018 | Local, Naval

  Canada and the U.S. reach 11th-hour trade deal

  By Kelsey Johnson After almost 14 months of tough bargaining, Canada and the United States have settled their trade differences and reached an agreement on a new North American free trade agreement. This one won't be called NAFTA, however. The trilateral deal will now be known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The new name seems to be a nod to U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said he didn't like the name NAFTA. The federal cabinet met at 10 p.m. Sunday for about an hour to discuss the agreement and, after it ended, the prime minister said it was “a good day for Canada” as he left the building. He said he'd have more to say on Monday. Officials from the Prime Minister's Office said there will be another cabinet meeting in the morning and likely a news conference, too. A joint statement was released by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. “Today, Canada and the United States reached an agreement, alongside Mexico, on a new, modernized trade agreement for the 21st Century: the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA),” it stated. “USMCA will give our workers, farmers, ranchers, and businesses a high-standard trade agreement that will result in freer markets, fairer trade and robust economic growth in our region. It will strengthen the middle class, and create good, well-paying jobs and new opportunities for the nearly half billion people who call North America home.” The two lead negotiators added: “We look forward to further deepening our close economic ties when this new agreement enters into force.” They thanked their Mexican counterpart, Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo, for his work on the deal. On Twitter, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said “a good NAFTA deal is critical to Canada's economy.” “Millions of Canadian jobs rely on having free trade with the U.S. and Mexico. We will take a close look at the agreement's provisions as soon as they're available to evaluate the deal Justin Trudeau and the Liberals have signed.” Perrin Beatty, the president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said that with a deal like this, it's important to see all the elements, but details are still scarce. “However, if the broad lines are as reported, @cafreeland and the Canadian negotiating team have managed to preserve the most important elements of #NAFTA under very challenging circumstances,” he said on Twitter. Canada and the United States have been working hard to resolve their NAFTA differences since the end of August, after American and Mexican officials reached a bilateral agreement of their own. However, the prime minister has said throughout the process that his government would not sign a modernized NAFTA just to get a deal. Issues at the table have included the automotive industry, dairy, dispute resolution, cultural industries and intellectual property. Canada's dairy industry, in particular, has been in American crosshairs for months, with the United States demanding more access to this country's market, as well as changes to parts of Canada's domestic milk-pricing system. The U.S. has wanted access to about 3.5 per cent of Canada's dairy market, which is similar to what Canada granted under the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership. There were strong indications this was also part of the deal reached Sunday night. Media reports say farmers will be compensated. The Americans have also asked for changes to several dairy classes. iPolitics has learned that the contentious Class 7 has been eliminated in this deal. Class 7 is a domestic pricing class that governs milk ingredients such as skim milk powder and milk proteins. The difficult politics of the trade deal were immediately on view with Parti Québécois Leader Jean-François Lisée saying on social media that Quebec dairy farms had been sacrificed by Trudeau. Quebec voters will elect a new government on Monday, with all parties saying the new trade deal could not touch Canada's dairy market. The Toronto Star is reporting that Canada has been able to preserve the dispute-resolution mechanism known as Chapter 19. The federal government had wanted to hold onto that to avoid having disputes settled in U.S. courts. Other reports say Canada has been able to maintain its exemption for culture. Ministers had arrived for the cabinet meeting Sunday amid strong indications the end was in sight for a renewed NAFTA. Freeland and Ambassador to the United States David MacNaughton had spent the day in Ottawa, taking part in an aggressive, long-distance, last-minute push to get Canada into a free trade deal. Trudeau arrived at his downtown office, located directly across from Parliament Hill, around 7:30 p.m. He did not comment as he headed into the building, but media reports from the U.S. capital were indicating a deal was near. While most ministers also stayed mum, Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay said he's “always concerned about the agriculture industry.” He was joined in the meeting room by his deputy minister Chris Forbes. With files from the Canadian Press https://ipolitics.ca/2018/09/30/canada-and-the-us-reach-11th-hour-trade-deal/

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  March 5, 2019 | Local, Aerospace

  Budget Officer’s analysis of used Australian F-18 deal to be released Thursday

  DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN The Parliamentary Budget Officer will release his report Thursday on the federal government's purchase of used Australian F-18 fighter jets for the Canadian Forces. Yves Giroux's report will be a fiscal analysis of the government's acquisition of the 25 aircraft. Eighteen of the Australian F-18 aircraft will eventually be flying for the Canadian Forces, while another seven will be used for testing and spare parts. The Royal Canadian Air Force are using the jets as interim fighters to boost the capability of the current fleet of CF-18s until a new generation aircraft can be bought. The Royal Canadian Air Force recently received its first two used Australian fighter jets at 4 Wing Cold Lake in Alberta. The first two aircraft were F/A-18A models, which means they are single seat aircraft. The aircraft were flown to Cold Lake, Alberta, from Nellis, Nevada, where they were participating in Exercise RED FLAG. The aircraft will be employed at 3 Wing Bagotville and 4 Wing Cold Lake, according to the RCAF. Deliveries of the Australian jets will continue at regular intervals for the next three years, and aircraft will be integrated into the CF-18 fleet as modifications are completed, according to the RCAF. The final aircraft are expected to arrive by the end of 2021. A second group of planes are expected to arrive later this year. Canada is paying Australia $90 million for the aircraft. The federal government originally estimated the purchase of the Australian jets would cost around $500 million, but the Department of National Defence's procurement chief, Pat Finn, said that price reflected every aspect of the associated deal, not just the cost of purchasing the jets. Canada is also acquiring extra spare parts, the Australian jets will have to be outfitted with specific Canadian equipment and software and testing will be needed. The $500-million project estimate also included $50 million in contingency funds to cover any problems and another $35 million for the salaries of all civilian and military personnel involved over the life of the project. An additional $30 million will be spent on new infrastructure over the years needed to accommodate the aircraft. Those costs add up to $360 million, Finn said. But DND also plans to upgrade its existing fleet of CF-18s with new communications gear and equipment required to meet regulations to operate in civilian airspace, improvements which the Australian jets will also eventually receive at a cost of around $110 million, an amount that brought the original estimate to nearly $500 million. The Liberal government had planned to buy 18 new Super Hornet fighter jets from U.S. aerospace giant Boeing to augment the Royal Canadian Air Force's CF-18s until new aircraft can be purchased in the coming years. But in 2017 Boeing complained to the U.S. Commerce Department that Canadian subsidies for Quebec-based Bombardier allowed it to sell its C-series civilian passenger aircraft in the U.S. at cut-rate prices. As a result, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump enacted a tariff of almost 300 per cent against the Bombardier aircraft sold in the U.S. In retaliation, Canada cancelled the deal to buy the 18 Super Hornets, which would have cost more than US$5 billion. Instead of buying the new Super Hornets, the Liberals decided to acquire the used Australian jets. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/budget-officers-analysis-of-used-australian-f-18-deal-to-be-released-thursday