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August 12, 2022 | Local, Aerospace

Royal Canadian Air Force welcomes new Commander - Skies Mag

LGen Eric Kenny has assumed command of the Royal Canadian Air Force from LGen Al Meinzinger.

https://www.skiesmag.com/royal-canadian-air-force-welcomes-new-commander

On the same subject

  • Matt Gurney: Supporting local industry shouldn't be the first consideration in military procurement

    December 17, 2020 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Matt Gurney: Supporting local industry shouldn't be the first consideration in military procurement

    Rather than worrying about where things are built, a better question is: will Canadian soldiers be properly equipped? That's all that matters Matt Gurney Dec 16, 2020 • Last Updated 22 hours ago • 5 minute read It is almost a truism in Canadian public policy: We are terrible at military procurement. You hear that often. I've said it often. But it really isn't true. We only think we're terrible at military procurement because we are confused about what we're trying to do. Our military procurements are not about actually procuring equipment for the military. They're about creating jobs and catapulting huge sums of money into key ridings across the country. Once you shift your perspective and look at it that way, you realize very quickly that our military procurement system is amazing. It bats a thousand. The problem isn't with the system. We've just labelled it badly. If it were called the Domestic Defence Industry Subsidy Program instead of our military procurement system, we'd all be hailing it as a shining example of a Canadian public policy triumph. This is terrible. It has cost us the lives of our soldiers, and probably will again. But it's undeniable. Canadian politicians, Liberals and Conservatives alike, have long had the luxury of seeing defence as a cash pool, not a solemn obligation. And they sure have enjoyed that pleasure. Two recent stories by my colleague David Pugliese for the Ottawa Citizen have explored this theme: Our efforts to replace our fleet of frigates with 15 newer, more powerful ships is turning predictably complicated. The 15 new combat ships are part of a major overhaul of the Canadian fleet, which was neglected for many years and now must be modernized all at once. In February of 2019, the government chose American defence giant Lockheed Martin to produce the ships in Canada, using a British design. (How Anglosphere of us.) Companies that weren't selected to be part of the construction or fitting out of the ships are unhappy, Pugliese noted, and aren't bothering to hide it, even though they've abandoned their legal challenges. The sniping has continued, though, with spurned industry figures talking to the media about problems with the program. Jody Thomas, deputy minister of the Department of National Defence, reportedly told industry leaders to knock it off. “There's too much noise,” she reportedly said, adding that it was making the job of getting the new fleet built “very difficult.” Some of Thomas's irritation is undoubtedly the automatic hostility to scrutiny, transparency and accountability that's far too common for Canadian officials — our bureaucrats are notoriously prone to trying to keep stuff tucked neatly out of public view. But some of what Thomas said is absolutely bang-on accurate: Defence industry companies know full well that the government mainly views military procurement as a jobs-creation program, so are understandably put out to not get what they think is their fair share. Some Canadian companies have designed and developed critical communication and sensor gear for modern warships, Pugliese noted. This gear was developed with taxpayer assistance and has proven successful in service with allied fleets, but was not chosen for the new Canadian ships. And this is, the companies believe, a problem. Why aren't Canadian ships using Canadian-made gear? It's a good question, until you think about it for a moment. Then you realize that the better question is this: will the Canadian ships be properly equipped? That's it. That's all that matters. Will the new ships be capable of doing the things we need them to do? If yes, then who cares where we got the gear? And if no, well, again — then who cares where we got the gear? The important thing isn't where the comm equipment and sensors were designed and built. It's that the systems work when our ships are heading into harm's way. Assuming we have many viable options to choose from, then there are plenty of good ways of making the choice — cost, proven reliability, familiarity to Canadian crews, and, sure, even whether it was made in Canada. But supporting the local industry needs to be the last thing on the list. This stuff is essential. The lives of our sailors may depend on it working when needed. Cost matters, too, of course, because if the gear is too pricey, we won't have enough of it, but effectiveness and reliability are first. Treating military procurement as just another federal jobs-creation program is engrained in our national thinking But we talk about them last. Because we value it least. There probably is some value in preserving our ability to produce some essential military equipment here in Canada. The scramble earlier this year to equip our frontline medical workers with personal protective equipment is instructive. In a war, whether against a virus or a human enemy, you can't count on just buying your N-95 masks, or your torpedoes and missiles, from your normal suppliers. Unless Canada somehow gets itself into a shooting war without any of our allies in our corner, any time we are suddenly scrambling to arm up, our much larger allies are probably also scrambling to arm up, and they'll simply outbid us. (See again our current efforts to procure vaccines for an example of this unfolding in real time.) But we aren't at war now, and we can buy the damn ships from anyone. To the government's credit, it seems to be doing this; the pushback against the program seems mostly rooted in the government's decision to let the U.S.-British consortium chosen to build the new ships equip them as they see fit. The program may well derail at some point — this is always a safe bet with Canadian shipbuilding — but insofar as at least this part of the process goes, we're doing it partially right. Yes, we're insisting on building the ships here, but we aren't getting picky about the equipment that goes into them. That's probably wise. But that's about as far as the wisdom goes. Treating military procurement as just another federal jobs-creation program is engrained in our national thinking. It would have been good if COVID had knocked a bit of sense into us and forced us to, at long last, grow up a bit. But no dice. Oh well. Maybe next time. https://nationalpost.com/opinion/matt-gurney-supporting-local-industry-shouldnt-be-the-first-consideration-in-military-procurement

  • U.S. approves Canada's purchase of used Australia fighter jets - deal to be completed by end of year

    September 24, 2018 | Local, Aerospace

    U.S. approves Canada's purchase of used Australia fighter jets - deal to be completed by end of year

    DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN The sign-off from the Americans for the 25-jet purchase was needed because the aircraft were built in the U.S. with U.S. technology. The U.S. government has approved Canada's purchase of used F-18 fighter jets from Australia, paving the way for the deal to be completed by the end of the year. The sign-off from the Americans was needed because the aircraft were built in the U.S. with U.S. technology. Dan Le Bouthillier of the Department of National Defence said Friday negotiations with Australia over the sale of the 25 used fighter jets is on-going. “Should all negotiations and approvals move forward as planned, aircraft would start arriving in Canada in 2019, and the project remains on track to achieve this milestone,” he said. “The delivery plan, including mode of delivery, will be finalized once negotiations are complete and the aircraft being purchased are selected.” In June, Postmedia reported that Canada had boosted the number of used Australian fighter jets it is purchasing to 25 from 18 but that the deal still hinged on approval from the U.S. government. Although U.S.-Canada relations have hit a slump, with President Donald Trump vowing to punish Canadians because of ongoing trade disputes, DND officials hope the situation won't affect approvals for the fighter jet sale to proceed. The Liberal government originally announced it would buy 18 used Australian F-18 jets to augment the Royal Canadian Air Force's CF-18s until new aircraft can be purchased in the coming years. But it has added seven more used Australian F-18 aircraft to the deal. Those extra aircraft will be stripped down for parts or used for testing. The exact cost of purchasing the 25 aircraft, along with weapons and other equipment, is not yet known, Procurement Minister Carla Qualtrough pointed out earlier this year. The Liberal government has set aside up to $500 million for the project. Earlier this year, Pat Finn, the Department of National Defence's assistant deputy minister of materiel, said the government has received what's called a letter of cost proposal on the impending sale. “The Australians have now gone to the U.S. State Department for the transfer under ITAR,” Finn explained to MPs on the Commons defence committee at the time. Finn indicated the DND wants to have the deal in place by the end of this year. “The idea of firming this up in the fall of 2018 was for the start of delivery of the two first aircraft to be next summer, and then quickly beyond it,” he added. The federal government has confirmed the Australian aircraft will be operating alongside the RCAF's other CF-18s at Bagotville, Que., and Cold Lake, Alta. “The aircraft will be employed at 3 Wing Bagotville and 4 Wing Cold Lake,” a government official noted. “DND is currently reviewing infrastructure requirements to accommodate the additional aircraft. Any modifications are expected to be minimal as the supplemental jets are of similar age and design to the CF-18.” The Liberal government had planned to buy 18 new Super Hornet fighter jets from U.S. aerospace giant Boeing. But last year Boeing complained to the U.S. Commerce Department that Canadian subsidies for Quebec-based Bombardier allowed it to sell its C-series civilian passenger aircraft in the U.S. at cut-rate prices. As a result, the Trump administration brought in a tariff of almost 300 per cent against the Bombardier aircraft sold in the U.S. In retaliation, Canada cancelled the deal to buy the Super Hornets. That project would have cost more than US$5 billion. https://theprovince.com/news/politics/u-s-approves-canadas-purchase-of-used-australia-fighter-jets-deal-to-be-completed-by-end-of-year/wcm/f39380f7-98e9-45a2-8a7b-525c3eda6901

  • BlackBerry Achieves Department of Defense Information Network (DoDIN) Approval for BlackBerry UEM

    September 1, 2020 | Local, C4ISR

    BlackBerry Achieves Department of Defense Information Network (DoDIN) Approval for BlackBerry UEM

    WATERLOO, ON, Sept. 1, 2020 /CNW/ -- BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB;TSX: BB) today announced that its BlackBerry® Unified Endpoint Manager (UEM) software has achieved Department of Defense Information Network (DoDIN) approval as a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution. BlackBerry UEM is the only MDM solution on the DoDIN Approved Product List (APL). The DoDIN APL is the single consolidated list of communication and collaboration products that have completed Cybersecurity and Interoperability certification across the DoDIN. The approval was released by the Defense Information Systems Agency's (DISA) Chief Information Assurance Executive (CIAE). DISA's mission is to provide, operate and defend global command and control and information-sharing capabilities for the entire Department of Defense (DoD), national-level leaders and coalition partners. "BlackBerry is extremely proud to be a partner of the United States Federal Government for over twenty years," said John Chen, Executive Chairman & CEO, BlackBerry. "DISA is responsible for delivering world-class secure communications and collaboration tools across the DoD and BlackBerry is honored to receive approval to be on the DoDIN APL." For more information on BlackBerry certifications, including FedRAMP, NIAP and FIPS 140-2, visit BlackBerry.com/Certifications. About BlackBerry BlackBerry (NYSE: BB;TSX: BB) provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including 175M cars on the road today. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint security management, encryption, and embedded systems. BlackBerry's vision is clear - to secure a connected future you can trust. BlackBerry. Intelligent Security. Everywhere. For more information, visit BlackBerry.com and follow @BlackBerry. Trademarks, including but not limited to BLACKBERRY and EMBLEM Design are the trademarks or registered trademarks of BlackBerry Limited, and the exclusive rights to such trademarks are expressly reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. BlackBerry is not responsible for any third-party products or services. Media Contact: BlackBerry Media Relations +1 (519) 597-7273 mediarelations@BlackBerry.com SOURCE BlackBerry Limited Related Links https://www.blackberry.com https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/blackberry-achieves-department-of-defense-information-network-dodin-approval-for-blackberry-uem-829414516.html

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