Quebec's National Assembly unanimously adopts a motion in support of the Federal government's refresh of the National Shipbuilding Strategy

On the same subject

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  February 13, 2019 | Local, Naval, C4ISR

  Radar upgrades for Halifax-class frigates and other news on defence contracts

  DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN Here are some updates on defence and aerospace industry contracts and appointments, that I outlined in the latest issue of Esprit de Corps magazine: The Canadian government has awarded a contract to Saab Microwave Canada for radar upgrades on the Halifax-class frigates. The $21.7 million contract is to procure a modern electronically-stabilized antenna set for the Sea Giraffe 180 radar, already installed on the frigates. The contract includes an option to acquire 12 more antenna sets, which could bring the total investment to $97.5 million, according to the federal government. Sea Giraffe 180 is a medium-range air and surface search radar. The upgrades to the antenna set will enhance its performance, increase its reach to up to 180 km, and provide new 3-D detection and tracking capability, according to the government. The frigate to receive the first antenna is currently expected to be HMCS St John's, in early 2021. The installation will coincide with its planned maintenance period schedules. The first M-345 HET (High Efficiency Trainer) production basic/advanced trainer aircraft built by Leonardo successfully performed its maiden flight at Venegono Superiore airport in Varese, Italy in late December. The Italian Air Force, the launch customer, has a requirement for up to 45 M-345s (designated the T-345A by ITAF) to progressively replace 137 MB-339s, which first entered service in 1982, and to become the Italian Air Force's new aerobatic team airplane. At this point, the Italian Air Force has placed an order for five aircraft and the first will be delivered in early 2020. The new M-345s will integrate the M-346s used during the advanced training phase of the Italian Air Force's pilots. The new M-345 HET (High Efficiency Trainer) reduces the time required by Air Forces to train pilots, according to Leonardo. It also gives trainees the chance to fly an aircraft that features higher performance characteristics than other basic/advanced trainer aircraft currently in service around the world. The performance of the M-345 allows it to carry out the most demanding mission types found in a training syllabus, delivering high quality training at significantly lower cost. The M-345 cockpit architecture is the same as the frontline fighters. The M-345 can also perform operational roles, thanks to an extended flight envelope, with a high-speed maneuvering capability even at high altitudes, modern avionics systems, high load capacity and performance. Rheinmetall recently transferred a new nautical training facility to the German Navy School in Mürwik on the Baltic. One of the most advanced facilities of its kind, the German Navy will use it for training its bridge personnel, the company noted. It will be used for training all German Navy cadets, all future watch officers, and for preparing bridge personnel for nautical operations. The capability spectrum of the facility ranges from basic navigation and nautical training through to crew resource management, according to Rheinmetall. The facility includes two large and four small bridge simulators, six trainer stations, an auditorium for post-operation briefings as well as additional infrastructure for planning exercises and administrating and updating the database. Every surface combatant now in the German inventory – from minesweepers to supply ships – is modelled in the facility. This applies not only to the physical depiction of various ships and boats, but to their exact performance characteristics, Rheinmetall noted. In mid-December the Canadian Coast Guard received from Davie Shipbuilding the Captain Molly Kool, its first new icebreaker in the last 25 years. It is the first of three icebreakers that Davie will refit for the Coast Guard to fill a capability gap. The ship is named after Myrtle “Molly” Kool of New Brunswick who went on to become the first woman in North America to become a licensed ship captain. The federal government has approved a five-year contract extension with Quebec-based firm L3 MAS for the continued maintenance of the Royal Canadian Air Force's fleet of five CC-150 Polaris aircraft. The contract, valued at up to $230 million, is a renewal of the original in-service support contract awarded in 2013 to L3 MAS in Mirabel. The original contract included extension options for two five-year periods. The work will be done at Mirabel and at 8 Wing Trenton, ON where the fleet is based and operated by 437 Transport Squadron. The CC-150 Polaris is a multi-purpose, twin-engine, long-range jet aircraft that is used for strategic air-to-air refueling and transport. Two CC-150 Polaris aircraft are configured for strategic air-to-air refueling and the rest are used for transport and other roles. First-level maintenance will continue to take place at 8 Wing Trenton. The contract secures L3 MAS as the government's CC-150 support contractor up to March 2023, with eligibility for additional years (up to March 2028), subject to satisfactory performance. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/radar-upgrades-for-halifax-class-frigates-and-other-news-on-defence-contracts

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  October 30, 2019 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  TRAINING ON THE CANADIAN DEFENCE MARKET

  Aéro Montréal tient actuellement une formation de deux jours sur le marché canadien de la défense. Cette formation permet à une trentaine de participants de mieux comprendre les bases du processus d'approvisionnement du gouvernement du Canada et du ministère de la Défense nationale, la stratégie d'approvisionnement en matière de défense, les outils disponibles, les rôles et responsabilités des différents paliers gouvernementaux... Le descriptif des thèmes abordés durant les deux jours est disponible ici https://lnkd.in/gUmQhG8

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  January 16, 2019 | Local, Naval

  Business group wants National Shipbuilding Strategy reopened for Quebec shipyard

  Murray Brewster · CBC News Association puts pressure on Liberals to direct new projects to Davie yard A Quebec-based business association claiming to represent over 1,000 companies inside and outside the province is launching a high-profile campaign to convince the Liberal government to reopen the oft-maligned National Shipbuilding Strategy. The group is demanding the federal government include the Davie shipyard, in Levis, Que., in the policy and plans to make it a major issue in the October federal election. The Association of Davie Shipbuilding Suppliers, which has been around for about a year, represents companies that do business with the shipyard. It plans an online campaign, beginning Thursday, and will lobby chambers of commerce as well as federal and provincial politicians. It is hoping to use its extensive membership and thousands of associated jobs to put pressure on the government in an election year to direct the building of additional coast guard ships exclusively to the Quebec yard, one of the oldest in the country. The shipbuilding strategy, conceived under the previous Conservative government but embraced by the Liberals, has turned into a giant sinkhole for federal cash with little to show for it, Simon Maltais, the association's vice-president, told CBC News. "We can call it a boondoggle," he said. "It has been seven years in the making. At the moment, there is absolutely no operational ship afloat and working for Canada." The Conservatives under former prime minister Stephen Harper chose two shipyards — Irving Shipbuilding of Halifax and Seaspan in Vancouver — as the government's go-to companies for the construction of new warships and civilian vessels. The Davie shipyard was, at the time, emerging from bankruptcy, and under the strategy it only became eligible for repair and refit work on existing vessels and perhaps the construction of smaller vessels. Delays and cost overruns Irving and Seaspan have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in modernizing their yards and have just begun to produce new vessels. The first Arctic offshore patrol ship for the navy is being outfitted in Halifax and others are in various stages of construction. Three offshore fisheries science vessels, constructed in Vancouver for the coast guard, are undergoing repairs after defective welds were discovered last year. The entire program has been beset with delays and rising cost estimates. Last year, Public Services and Procurement Canada refused to release a revised timeline for the delivery of ships from Seaspan, including construction of a heavy icebreaker and the navy's two joint support ships. Politics and shipbuilding Maltais said it makes no sense to keep excluding Davie from full-fledged ship construction work when much of the coast fleet is over three decades old and in dire need of replacement. Refreshing the strategy would insure the federal government gets the ships it needs and Quebec companies "get their fair share" of the program. "We know it's an electoral year and, yes, we want the federal government and the people in the election to talk about it," he said. Maltais clams members of his association have been talking to federal politicians on both sides of the aisle in the province and they support the idea. "They seem to be on the same page as us," he said. Defence analyst Dave Perry, an expert in procurement and the shipbuilding program, said the political campaign has the potential to make the federal government uncomfortable, but he doubts it will achieve the objective of reopening the strategy to add a third shipyard. "That would certainly be a major change in the strategy," he said. "There had been a view of doing something less than that." The proposal being put forward by the association would not take any work from Halifax or Vancouver, but instead direct all new work, on additional icebreakers for example, to the Quebec yard. Just recently, Davie was awarded a contract to convert three civilian icebreakers for coast guard use, but the association argues the need is greater. The federal government did debate an overhaul of the strategy, according to documents obtained and published by CBC News last summer. The size and scope of the "policy refresh" was not made clear in a heavily redacted memo, dated Jan. 23, 2018. So far, nothing has taken place and government officials have insisted they were still committed to the two-yard strategy. During the last election campaign, the Liberals pledged to fix the "broken" procurement system and invest heavily in the navy. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/business-group-wants-national-shipbuilding-strategy-reopened-for-quebec-shipyard-1.4979592