September 24, 2020 | Local, Security, Other Defence
David Pugliese
The project to purchase pistols to replace the Canadian military's Second World War-era handguns is once again underway and National Defence hopes to have the new weapons by the summer of 2022.
The project had been stalled for years after small arms firms rejected in 2011 the federal government requirement that the guns be built at Colt Canada in Kitchener, Ont. In addition, the companies balked at the stipulation they had to turn over their proprietary firearms information to Colt, a firm that some saw as a competitor.
But with small arms companies reluctant to bid on the Canadian pistol project, the federal government has had no choice but to drop those requirements and have an open competition.
A request for bids will now be issued in early 2021, DND spokeswoman Jessica Lamirande confirmed to this newspaper.
She said a “minimum of 9,000” handguns will be purchased. “These are mainly intended for the Canadian Army, and will be issued as required,” she added.
The department hopes to have a contract in place by the summer of 2021, with initial deliveries by the summer of 2022, she added.
The DND declined to discuss the amount of money that taxpayers will spend on the project.
The new handguns will replace the Second World War-era Browning Hi-Power pistols used by the Canadian Forces.
The replacement program for the 9mm Browning Hi-Power pistols has been on the books for years. In the fall of 2011, the DND abruptly cancelled plans for the purchase of 10,000 new pistols. The decision to shut the process down came after international firearms companies balked at the stipulation the firms turn over their confidential technical data to Colt Canada so the guns could be manufactured in Canada.
Colt is the country's Small Arms Strategic Source and Centre of Excellence.
The DND was told at the time by industry representatives that it didn't make economic sense to have Colt manufacture the guns in Canada or to have parts shipped to Colt so the guns could be assembled in Canada.
The handgun replacement project has been seen as an example of a highly dysfunctional military procurement system. At one point the DND tried to prevent small arms companies from talking to journalists about the bungled procurement but the department's decree was largely ignored.
Under the Munitions Supply Program sole source deals have been directed to Colt Canada to maintain a small arms expertise in the country. In late January Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced the purchase of more than 3,600 new C6AI FLEX General Purpose Machine Guns from the company. The $96-million order was a follow-on deal to the 2017 contract for 1,148 of the same machine guns. Some spare parts are included along with cleaning kits and carrying slings in the purchase.
Critics pointed out that the cost of each gun worked out to around $27,000, at least twice the amount that other militaries are spending. In February and April two other contracts were directed to Colt to produce a semi-automatic rifle in 7.62 calibre to be used by Canadian Forces sniper teams as an auxiliary weapon.
Lamirande said in 2018 changes were made to improve the Munitions Supply Program. Under those changes, new business was no longer automatically given to members of the supply program.
Instead a thorough analysis is to be done to decide whether it is better to open a project up to competition or sole source the deal to firms in the Munitions Supply Program.
“Factors that are considered include performance, value for money, flexibility, innovation potential, and socio-economic benefits,” Lamirande explained. “We also include considerations for current availability within timeframes and the long term sustainability of the solution.”
July 27, 2023 | Local, Aerospace
Design work is underway on a program that will deliver 16 almost-new CH-149 Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopters to the RCAF over the next six years.
December 31, 2018 | Local, Security
By Amanda Connolly National Online Journalist Global News There are not many military threats that directly loom over Canadians as the country heads into the new year. But of those that do, one of the most significant is the increased frequency of major natural disasters. In a year-end interview with the West Block‘s Mercedes Stephenson, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance said while there are a number of threats that are evolving and taking shape, one of the most concrete ones the military is facing right now comes from Mother Nature herself. “There are very few large military threats to Canada,” he said. “There are certainly threats that are evolving right now that can reach Canada, be they missiles or threats against our cybersecurity, threats to our oceans and to our shores. We face a significant threat almost every year now with natural disasters, forest fires and floods and so on that affect Canadians. So in our role to defend Canada and protect Canadians, that's been significant.” The military gets called in to help with the response to natural disasters when those disasters overwhelm provincial authorities, which have the first responsibility to respond when things like floods, forest fires or ice storms hit. Military responses to natural disasters happen under what's known as Operation Lentus. In 2018, the military deployed to six natural disasters after provincial authorities in all cases determined the scale of the damage was too much for them to handle alone. Those disasters included the winter storms in Eastern Quebec and the Iles-de-la-Madeleine in November, sending hundreds of soldiers and transport aircraft to assist with evacuations from the B.C. and Manitoba forest fires and deploying to take on the heavy spring flooding in B.C., New Brunswick and on the Kashechewan First Nation. Forest fires and severe flooding saw the military also respond to six disasters last year. Both represent sharp increases compared to years past as climate change continues to cause more extremes that result in the droughts, storms and thaws behind things like dangerous forest fires and floods. In 2016, for example, the military only deployed once: to the devastating Fort McMurray wildfires. They deployed twice in 2015, four times in 2014, once in 2013, three times in 2011 and once in 2010. In addition to continuing to deploy to missions overseas, the added demands on responding to disasters at home mean the military will need to increase recruitment or start to feel the strain, Vance said. And in an uncertain world, the circumstances around those missions continues to evolve. Most recently, Russia attacked three Ukrainian naval vessels passing through the shared territorial waters of the Kerch Strait. Dozens of Ukrainian sailors on those ships were detained by the Russians as prisoners of war. Vance said while that kind of aggression from Russia doesn't directly impact Canadians deployed in the ongoing training mission in Ukraine, it does factor into considerations of what they are ultimately going to be able to achieve. “It raised the stakes somewhat,” he said. “It hasn't affected this mission Operation UNIFIER at this juncture, but it doesn't point to a peaceful and ultimate resolution of Ukraine that we'd like to see.” The 24 detained Ukrainian sailors have yet to be released. © 2018 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc. https://globalnews.ca/news/4785907/jonathan-vance-canadian-forces-natural-disasters/
July 19, 2023 | Local, Aerospace
Écoutez le président de l'entreprise discuter avec l animateur Louis Lacroix des appareils de surveillance dont a besoin le gouvernement canadien.