Ottawa firm to support Royal Canadian Navy, local robotics company joins Rheinmetall

On the same subject

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  June 27, 2023 | Local, Naval

  Canadian Coast Guard to officially open new Search and Rescue station in Kingston, Ontario

  Kingston, Ontario –The Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Joyce Murray, and Mark Gerretsen, Member of Parliament for Kingston and the Islands will officially open the Canadian Coast Guard’s new Search and Rescue station in Kingston, Ontario. Date:                June 28, 2023 Time:               3:00 p.m. EDT Location:       Canadian Coast Guard Search and Rescue station                          Portsmouth Olympic Harbour (station is located in the harbour)                          93 Yonge St., Kingston, Ontario Note: The station is located in the southeast corner of the harbour. After turning into the harbour, proceed straight to the water, turn left (north), then east towards the prison wall along the water side. Turn right down the gravel service road that runs south to the Coast Guard station. https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-coast-guard/news/2023/06/canadian-coast-guard-to-officially-open-new-search-and-rescue-station-in-kingston-ontario.html

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  July 9, 2020 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Canadian Armed Forces equipment delivered late half the time, auditor general finds

  By Charlie Pinkerton. Published on Jul 8, 2020 10:32am Half of all late requests for military materials and equipment arrived in Canadian soldiers' hands more than two weeks behind schedule because of a problem-ridden supply chain that often forced the military to incur extra shipment costs, a new report from the Auditor General has found. “We concluded that National Defence often did not deliver on time the materiel the Canadian Armed Forces requested, and that it did not have the right controls in place to determine whether it avoided needless transportation costs,” said the report authored by Auditor General of Canada Karen Hogan, which was released on Wednesday. During the period of the audit, there were approximately 1 million requests for materiel — military materials and equipment — submitted and fulfilled by National Defence. The audit oversaw all materiel covered by the National Defence Act, with the exclusion of ammunition, bombs, missiles and large equipment like aircraft, vessels and vehicles. The Auditor General found that 50 per cent of all late materiel requests were delayed by at least 15 days and 25 per cent were at least 40 days late. Of the highest priority requests — of which there were about 86,000 observed — 60 per cent were late. Fifty per cent of all were at least six days late, and 25 per cent were at least 20 days late. The Auditor General found that 162,000 requests, about 16 per cent of all it tracked during its audit, were more than one year late, having been stalled at some point in the supply chain. The goal of National Defence's supply chain is to “fulfill materiel requirements in the most economical and timely manner possible,” the Auditor General's report says. It attempts to achieve this by keeping equipment nearby where it thinks it will eventually be used. However, most equipment bought by the military is initial delivered to Canadian Armed Forces supply depots in Edmonton and Montreal. They then supply regional warehouses, which supply smaller localized military units. Materiel is transferred at units' requests, which are made in a number of ways, but are defined as being of one of three levels of priority — high priority, essential and routine. “We found that National Defence's systems and processes often did not ensure the timely and efficient delivery of military supplies to the Canadians Armed Forces,” Hogan's report says. Stock shortages caused delays, National Defence poorly managed priorities and costs for transportation were bungled. Per it's report, the Auditor General made three recommendations. It suggested that National Defence review its materiel forecasting to ensure it sufficiently stocks items at the correct locations, that it improve its oversight of high-priority requests so that the categorization is only used when necessary, and that it provide clear guidance on how to select the proper mode of transportation for items to ensure that decisions about shipments are based on fully understanding how much it'll cost. In a statement released shortly after the Auditor General's report, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said he “welcome(s)” its findings and accepts all recommendations. Similar concerns were raised a few years ago by the Auditor General's office about National Defence's equipment supply. In the fall of 2016, it raised issues with the military's ability to properly account for its inventory. The same fiscal year, National Defence announced a 10-year inventory management plan to address the Auditor General's concerns. The Trudeau government also released its multi-decade defence policy in the spring of 2017. One of the focal points of Strong, Secure, Engaged was to ensure the military was properly equipped. “Providing (the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces) the training, equipment and care they deserve is the most important objective of this policy,” reads a line from the opening paragraph of Sajjan's opening message in more than 100-page policy. Upon being re-elected, Sajjan was again reminded of his responsibility to “ensure the Canadian Armed Forces have the capabilities and equipment required to uphold their responsibilities,” in the mandate letter assigned to him by Trudeau. In an emailed statement to iPolitics, Conservative Defence Critic James Bezan said “effective and efficient supply chains are crucial to the operating capability of the Canadian Armed Forces.” “Our military heroes rely on these supply chains to defend Canadians at home and abroad. It is clear that more work needs to be done in order to make these supply chains better for our men and women and uniform,” Bezan said. “The delivery of supplies must be timely so that materiel reaches military members when they need it,” Hogan's recently released report said. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said in a statement Wednesday that the Canadian Armed Forces will enhance its data analytics capabilities and “rely on real data to ensure” the military has the right supply chain approach for its ever-evolving requirements and to help better anticipate future needs. “These steps will make sure that we have the right equipment, in the right quantities, at the right places to meet the challenges we ask our members to face now and in the future,” he said. https://ipolitics.ca/2020/07/08/canadian-armed-forces-equipment-delivered-late-half-the-time-auditor-general-finds/

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  December 17, 2020 | Local, Naval

  BAE Systems secures Fleetway contract to provide digital support to Royal Canadian Navy

  Naval News December 2020 Navy Forces Maritime Defense Industry POSTED ON WEDNESDAY, 16 DECEMBER 2020 15:05 BAE Systems has been awarded a contract by Fleetway Inc. to deliver a range of digital solutions for on-shore support of Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) vessels. This contract will see the deployment and integration of BAE Systems' Integrated Data Environment (IDE) to enable effective and efficient shore-side support to Halifax-Class frigates. Fleetway will benefit from access to a range of BAE Systems digital capabilities, including its expertise in configuration management, obsolescence management, and digital twinning. The IDE will allow Fleetway engineers and their enterprise partners to collaborate easily and gain access to engineering life cycle management data, as well as to share, withdraw, edit and re-publish data necessary for supporting the vessels. It will also facilitate a clearer understanding of the complex network of interdependencies between ship systems and components. This will help decrease support time and cost and enable Fleetway to maximise fleet availability. “As the prime contractor providing in-service support to the Halifax Class frigates, Fleetway is well known for its outstanding naval engineering and design services,” commented John Newton, Managing Director Fleetway. “To meet the challenges of the next phase in the life of these incredible Canadian-built warships, we have partnered with a world-best to assure excellence in the delivery of our services to the Royal Canadian Navy. Our combined intellect and efforts, especially the adoption of advanced digital tools informed by decades of learning on these complex ships will facilitate agile, smart and efficient solutions to the toughest engineering and maintenance challenges while keeping the fleet available for operations.” “This contract is testament to our pedigree in naval ship support and the value that our digital solutions and expertise have been shown to deliver,” added Darren Nice, Head of Digital Services at BAE Systems Maritime Services. “As organisations and armed forces around the world continue to digitise their operations, we will continue to develop a range of first-class integrated, through-life, digital solutions that help organisations deliver operational excellence and maximum availability.” BAE Systems brings a strong pedigree of maritime and information management expertise to this partnership. The Company has recently delivered a number of sophisticated information and data management and digital support solutions for other navies around the world. This is the latest in a series of contracts awarded to BAE Systems for work with the Royal Canadian Navy. In February 2019, BAE Systems' Type 26 Global Combat Ship was chosen as the design for the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC), Canada's 15 new multi-purpose frigates. BAE Systems also supports and repairs Canada's Victoria-class submarines and BAE Systems recently hosted the Royal Canadian Navy's Halifax-class frigate, HMCS Toronto, at Portsmouth Naval Base, where it performed a number of repairs. This Halifax-class project further underscores the trust placed in BAE Systems to deliver technological innovation to the Canadian Armed Forces. https://navyrecognition.com/index.php/news/defence-news/2020/december/9427-bae-systems-secures-fleetway-contract-to-provide-digital-support-to-royal-canadian-navy.html