Rolls-Royce invests in facility expansion for Canada’s CSC project

On the same subject

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  March 21, 2024 | Local, Land

  Introduction of the Military Justice System Modernization Act

  Today, the Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Bill Blair, introduced legislation in Parliament to amend the National Defence Act (NDA) that would modernize the military justice system and advance culture change within the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF) by addressing key recommendations made by former Supreme Court Justices Louise Arbour and Morris Fish.

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  October 11, 2019 | Local, Aerospace

  European-built fighter aircraft: did they ever stand a chance in Canada’s competition?

  DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN Canada's future fighter jet competition has already lost two European competitors. Will it lose a third, the Gripen built by Saab of Sweden? At the end of August, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence and Airbus Defence and Space informed the Canadian government of their decision to withdraw from Canada's future fighter competition. Airbus had been offering Canada the Eurofighter Typhoon. Last year the European firm Dassault informed the Canadian government it would not be competing in the competition. It had been planning to offer Canada the Rafale fighter jet. Airbus and the UK Defence Ministry noted that their decision to withdraw was the result of a detailed review of Canada's request for proposals which was released to industry on July 23. Airbus pointed to the changes Canada made to the industrial benefits package to appease Lockheed Martin as well as the excessive costs that U.S.-Canadian security requirements placed on a company based outside North America. “A detailed review has led the parties to conclude that NORAD security requirements continue to place too significant of a cost on platforms whose manufacture and repair chains sit outside the United States-Canada 2-EYES community,” the statement from Airbus and the UK Defence Ministry noted. “Second, both parties concluded that the significant recent revision of industrial technological benefits obligations does not sufficiently value the binding commitments the Typhoon Canada package was willing to make, and which were one of its major points of focus.” The $19 billion competition has been dogged by allegations it is designed to favour Lockheed Martin's F-35 stealth fighter. Take for instance, the response that Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan provided when the Liberal government in November 2016 announced the purchase of 18 interim Boeing Super Hornets. That deal was eventually scuttled after Boeing decided to go after Bombardier in a trade dispute over civilian aircraft. But at the time when the purchase was announced, Sajjan was asked why Canada was buying the Super Hornet and not one of the other fighter jets on the market. “When you look at the various aircraft, we have our NORAD commitment's (which are) extremely important,” the defence minister responded. “There's certainly interoperability issues as well.” Procurement Minister Judy Foote was more blunt. “From our perspective, we're working with the American government, so we have to look at an American plane.” So how is that different from the aircraft to be selected for the future fighter jet competition? Sajjan and Foote were stating in November 2016 that Canada needed to buy American because of its NORAD commitments and other interoperability concerns with the U.S. Nothing appears to have changed in the last three years, at least as far as the federal government and Canadian Forces are concerned. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/european-built-fighter-aircraft-did-they-ever-stand-a-chance-in-canadas-competition

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  September 24, 2018 | Local, Aerospace

  Canadian military ditches plan to paint new search-and-rescue planes grey, will stick with familiar yellow

  David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen Canada's military has reversed its plan to abandon the familiar yellow paint scheme for the country's new search-and-rescue planes after debate within the ranks over the aircraft's need to be visible on such missions. The new fleet of 16 Airbus C-295W planes will replace the main Royal Canadian Air Force search-and-rescue fleet of Buffalo aircraft as well as the Hercules transport planes which are also used at times in a search-and-rescue role. Postmedia reported last year that RCAF leadership had requested the new planes be painted tactical grey, asking for a change to the original contract which had stipulated the familiar yellow colour scheme, because they wanted the aircraft to be available for other missions, including combat. But the move to the grey paint scheme has now been reversed. “While there was, last year, a stated interest in painting the C-295W grey, a decision was made following further consultation to maintain the iconic yellow colour scheme of the RCAF's current SAR fleet, such as the Buffalo, Twin Otter, Cormorant and Griffon,” the Department of National Defence said in a statement Wednesday. “This colour, which provides a higher level of visibility and recognition in the ground and the air, is also widely known by Canadians — especially those who might find themselves in a situation requiring our aid.” Asked last year about the plan to ditch the yellow paint scheme, the Forces said in a statement to Postmedia that “the RCAF has made the decision to use a grey colour scheme for the C-295W fleet to enable surging flexibility for the very wide range of missions the RCAF is required to conduct, from humanitarian and disaster relief missions, to security missions with partners, and all the way to full spectrum operations.” Military sources said RCAF leadership wanted to redirect some of the planes for use on international missions instead of search-and-rescue. But that unilateral decision sparked heated debate inside the military and DND and, sources said, the air force was forced to abandon its plans. When the federal government awarded the contract to Airbus in December 2016, cabinet ministers highlighted the importance of having the right aircraft for the search-and-rescue job. “With this technology, we are giving our women and men in uniform the tools they need to continue to deliver effective and essential search and rescue operations,” defence minister Harjit Sajjan said at the time. Construction of the first aircraft began in 2017 and the first new planes are expected to be delivered in 2019. They are outfitted with sensors that allow RCAF personnel to share real-time information with searchers on the ground. Equipment also includes sensors for searching in low-light conditions. A centre, equipped with simulators, is being built at Comox, B.C. to support training for the air crews. The RCAF's Buffalo and Hercules aircraft assigned to search and rescue perform more than 350 missions annually, according to the Canadian Forces. The Canadian military is responsible for providing aeronautical search and rescue operations. But the project to purchase the new planes has faced a rough road over the years. The competition was announced in 2004 by the then-Liberal government and re-announced by the Conservative government in 2006. But it took another decade before it could be completed and Airbus declared the winning company. Even then, Leonardo, an Italian aerospace firm, launched a lawsuit against Canada over what it claimed was a rigged purchase that favoured Airbus. That lawsuit was dropped earlier this year, shortly before the federal government awarded Leonardo a new sole-source deal potentially worth billions of dollars to upgrade Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopters. Officials with the Canadian Forces and Leonardo say the ending of the legal action in May had nothing to do with the company being picked for the new project the same month. https://nationalpost.com/news/canadian-military-ditches-plan-to-paint-new-search-and-rescue-planes-grey-will-stick-with-familiar-yellow