Rescuing SAR in Canada - Skies Mag

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  December 23, 2022 | Local, Aerospace

  Minister Anand announces Cormorant Mid-Life Upgrade and Simulator Solution Contracts Award to ensure continued Search and Rescue capabilities

  December 22, 2022 - National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces – Ottawa, Ontario Today, Minister of National Defence Anita Anand, on behalf of Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Helena Jaczek, announced the award of two contracts to support the CH-149 Cormorant helicopter fleet and ensure the continued contribution of the fleet to Canada’s search and rescue (SAR) operations. The two contracts for the Cormorant Mid-Life Upgrade and its simulator solution, valued at up to $1.24 billion (taxes included), were awarded to CAE Inc. of Montreal, Canada and to Leonardo U.K. Ltd of Yeovil, United Kingdom. The CH-149 Cormorant fleet has been providing reliable and crucial service to Canada since 2001 and requires upgrades to remain operationally effective. Through the contract with Leonardo U.K. Ltd., we will upgrade our current fleet to the most advanced version of the helicopter, and acquire additional airframes/parts to increase our fleet size from 13 to 16 aircraft. This will ensure that we can continue to perform SAR operations from Comox, B.C., Gander, N.L., Greenwood, N.S., and add to the SAR capacity from Trenton, Ont. Moreover, this project addresses the need for an improved training solution. By providing a domestic flight simulator configured to our modernized aircraft, our aircrews will have dedicated training capacity in Canada that is representative of our modernized fleet; and will no longer need to travel to the United Kingdom to train on simulators that may not be consistent with our aircraft. As outlined in Canada’s defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged, the Government of Canada is making investments to ensure the members of the Royal Canadian Air Force have the equipment they need to fulfill their domestic and international missions, including SAR operations here at home. Quotes “The top item in my mandate letter from the Prime Minister is to ensure that the Canadian Armed Forces has the capabilities, equipment and culture needed to implement the objectives in our Defence Policy. The CH-149 Cormorant helicopter is a critical asset for search and rescue operations in Canada – and these contracts provide the best solution for Canada to upgrade its fleet and provide the accompanying training tools to our aviators so that they can continue to keep Canadians safe – now, and in the years to come.” - The Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of National Defence   “I am pleased that today’s contract award announcement to CAE Inc. and Leonardo U.K. Ltd will enable our government to continue to provide the Royal Canadian Air Force and its members with the advanced equipment they need to do their job, at the best value for Canadians.”  - The Honourable Helena Jaczek, Minister of Public Services and Procurement “Through these contracts, our government will provide the Canadian Armed Forces with the equipment it needs while ensuring long-term economic benefits for Canadians. This procurement will advance Canadian innovation in our world-class defence and aerospace industries while creating jobs and contributing to economic growth in Canada” - The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Quick facts These contracts are valued at $1.168 billion for the helicopter upgrades, and $78 million for the training solution (taxes included). Capability enhancements and equipment improvements will be implemented on the CH-149 fleet to improve service to Canadians and meet the operational availability requirements to support the national 24/7 SAR service. With this project the CH-149 fleet will be upgraded to the most advanced version of the helicopter, the AW101 612; the same model Norway has recently procured to conduct its rotary-wing SAR missions. Using this already established configuration accelerates the project considerably. Training solutions will also be acquired under the project to move aircrew training home to Canada. Additional airframes/parts will be acquired from Leonardo U.K. Ltd to increase the fleet size from 13 to 16 helicopters. These additional aircraft, will be produced with predominantly new parts and some used parts in inventory from the VH-71 and current CH-149 fleets which include transmissions, landing gears and control surfaces to reduce costs and ensure value for money. CH-149 Cormorant aircraft are currently based at 19 Wing Comox, 9 Wing Gander, and 14 Wing Greenwood and the addition of aircraft will enable a return to 8 Wing Trenton. Delivery of these upgrades and training systems are expected to begin in 2026, and anticipated to be fully operational in 2029.  The Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy will leverage economic benefits for Canadian industry equal to the value of the contracts. Leonardo U.K. Ltd and CAE Inc. are working with several Canadian companies as part of their industrial commitments to Canada including in Key Industrial Capability (KIC) areas such as defence system integration, training and simulation, aerospace systems and components.  Through the application of Canada’s Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) Policy, both CAE Inc. and Leonardo U.K. Ltd will enter into high quality business activities within the world class Canadian aerospace and defence industry.  https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2022/12/minister-anand-announces-cormorant-mid-life-upgrade-and-simulator-solution-contracts-award-to-ensure-continued-search-and-rescue-capabilities.html

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  August 27, 2020 | Local, Aerospace

  St. John's tech start-up ready to 'disrupt' the global display industry

  Brendan Mccarthy A St. John's-based tech start-up whose aim is to “fundamentally disrupt” a global industry worth $150 billion says it is well on its way to that goal with the release of its first-generation light-field display. Avalon Holographics says the 29-inch development system represents a significant milestone in realizing a fully immersive, natural 3D experience. “Despite the challenges COVID-19 has presented, it's an exciting time for our company,” said president and co-founder Wally Haas in a news release. “Our prototype serves as proof of concept and we're excited to show the world how natural 3D light-field displays will change the way we produce, view and understand visual content. “Our goal is to fundamentally disrupt the $150-B global display industry, and our prototype launch signals that we're well on the way.” The advanced holographic display system is designed to present 3D content without the need for accessories such as glasses or headsets. https://www.journalpioneer.com/business/regional-business/st-johns-tech-start-up-ready-to-disrupt-the-global-display-industry-489168/

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  February 20, 2020 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  New defence procurement agency would be disruptive, costly

  It almost seemed like a throwaway line at the end of the Liberal Party's 2019 election platform, in a section on proposed approaches to security: “To ensure that Canada's biggest and most complex defence procurement projects are delivered on time and with greater transparency to Parliament, we will move forward with the creation of Defence Procurement Canada.” Little was said about the proposal during the election campaign, but in the mandate letters to ministers that followed, National Defence (DND), Public Services and Procurement (PSPC), and Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard were tasked with bringing forward options to establish Defence Procurement Canada (DPC), a priority, the Prime Minister wrote, “to be developed concurrently with ongoing procurement projects and existing timelines.” Whether DPC would be a department, standalone agency or new entity within an existing department isn't clear. Nor is it apparent how the government would consolidate and streamline the myriad procurement functions of multiple departments. Jody Thomas, deputy minister of National Defence, acknowledged as much during an address to the Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI) Jan. 29 when asked about DPC progress. “I don't know what it is going to look like ... We're building a governance to look at what the options could be and we are studying what other countries have done,” she said, noting that a standalone agency outside the department of defence has not necessarily worked particularly well in other countries. “Everything is on the table. We're looking at it, but we haven't actually begun the work in earnest.” The idea of moving defence procurement under a single point of accountability is hardly new. Alan Williams, a former assistant deputy minister of Material (Adm Mat), made the case for a single agency in a 2006 book, Reinventing Canadian Defence Procurement. And the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) issued a report in 2009 calling for a “separate defence procurement agency reporting through a single Minister ... [to] consolidate procurement, industrial, contracting and trade mandates into one new department, like a Defence Production Department, reporting to a minister.” More recently, an interim report on defence procurement by the Senate Committee on National Defence in June 2019 argued that “a single agency could simplify the complex procurement governance framework. Serious consideration could also be given to empowering project officials and making the Department of National Defence the lead department.” Williams remains a strong proponent. In a presentation to a CGAI conference on defence procurement in the new Parliament in late November, he greeted the DPC decision with a “hallelujah,” pointing to the high cost created by overlap and duplication when multiple ministers are involved in a military acquisition decision, and the tendency to play the “blame game” when delays or problems arise and there is no single point of accountability. But he cautioned that the initiative would falter without better system-wide performance measures on cost, schedules and other metrics. “If you don't monitor and put public pressure on the system, things will [slide],” he said. Williams also called for a defence industrial plan, backed by Cabinet approval, to help identify where to invest defence capital, and “a culture that recognizes and demands innovative creativity, taking chances.” Other former senior civil servants, many with decades of experience in public sector organizational reform, were less optimistic about the prospects of a new agency or departmental corporation. “There is always a good reason why things are the way they are,” said Jim Mitchell, a research associate with the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa and part of massive reorganization of government departments undertaken by Prime Minister Kim Campbell during her brief tenure in 1993. “If you want to change things, you first have to understand, why do we have the current situation that we have in defence procurement and who are the people who have a major stake in the status quo and why? If you don't understand that, you are going to get into big trouble,” he warned the CGAI audience of government and industry leaders. At a time when the departments are moving a record number of equipment projects, including CF-188 Hornet replacement, through the acquisition process under the government's 2017 defence policy, any restructuring could significantly delay progress. “Organizational change is always disruptive, it's costly, it's difficult, it's hard on people, it hurts efficiency and effectiveness of organizations for a couple of years at minimum,” said Mitchell. “It is something you do very, very carefully.” It's a point not lost on CADSI. “The sheer scale of the change required to make DPC real should give companies pause. It could involve some 4,000-6,000 government employees from at least three departments and multiple pieces of legislation, all while the government is in the middle of the most aggressive defence spending spree in a generation,” the association wrote in an email to members in December. A vocal proponent of improving procurement, it called DPC “a leap of faith,” suggesting it might be “a gamble that years of disruption will be worth it and that the outcomes of a new system will produce measurably better results, including for industry.” Gavin Liddy, a former assistant deputy minister with PSPC, questioned the reasoning for change when measures from earlier procurement reform efforts such as increased DND contracting authority up to $5 million are still taking effect. “You really need an extraordinarily compelling reason to make any kind of organizational change. And every time we have attempted it ... it takes five to seven years before the organization is up and standing on its feet,” he told CGAI. “If you want to do one single thing to delay the defence procurement agenda...create a defence procurement agency. Nothing would divert attention more than doing that.” While few questioned the need for enhancements to the defence procurement process, many of the CGAI participants raised doubts about the logic of introducing a new entity less than three years into the government's 20-year strategy. Thomas described a number of improvements to project management and governance that are already making a difference. “The budgeting and project management in defence is really extraordinarily well done. If I am told by ADM Mat they are going to spend $5.2 billion, then that is what they spend. And we have the ability to bring more down, or less, depending on how projects are rolling,” she explained. “We are completely transparent about how we are getting money spent, what the milestones are on projects ... The program management board is functioning differently and pulling things forward instead of waiting until somebody is ready to push it forward.” “And we are working with PSPC. I think it is time to look at the government contracting [regulations], how much we compete, what we sole source, the reasons we sole source. I think there is a lot of work there that can be done that will improve the system even more.” https://www.skiesmag.com/news/new-defence-procurement-agency-would-be-disruptive-costly