Back to news

September 19, 2018 | Local, Aerospace

Skies Magazine October/November 2018 Issue

On the same subject

  • The Sky’s No Limit – Girls Fly Too! event landing in Abbotsford in October

    August 29, 2019 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    The Sky’s No Limit – Girls Fly Too! event landing in Abbotsford in October

    You're invited to attend the world's largest event to inspire female future leaders in aviation, aerospace, marine and defence, and other high-tech STEM fields. Everyone is welcome and events are always free for all participants to prevent barriers to participation. This is made possible by the generous support of agency, industry, community and education partners. You may be aware that the event has previously been held in March during the week of International Women's Day. For reasons outside of Achieve Anything Foundation's (AAF) control, it had to postpone the 2019 event to Oct. 5-6, coinciding with the week of the Canadian-driven International Day of the Girl. It plans to evaluate the success and feedback from the fall dates, and then evaluate whether this should become a permanent change. The Sky's No Limit – Girls Fly Too! (GF2) is not an air show and the event is not just for “girls”. In fact, it's the world's largest gender diversity outreach event of its kind in aviation, aerospace, marine and defence and everyone is welcome. This is an international, multi-agency event to which the Canadian Coast Guard, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, municipal police forces, local and international search and rescue organizations, first responders, civilian companies, educational institutions, the United States and Canadian Armed Forces are invited to participate and highlight the various aspects of aviation, aerospace, marine and defence. The combined represented assets of these agencies totalled over a billion dollars in 2018. This Canadian signature annual event showcases an unprecedented international partnership towards the improvement of gender and cultural diversity in high-tech STEM fields. Over the weekend, tens of thousands of Canadian and U.S. citizens come to the completely free GF2 event to interact with military/civilian aircraft and tactical assets, hands on activities and interactive displays. Participants and major media representatives are present at the opening ceremony to listen to the leadership from Canada, United States, B.C. and other major government agencies, speaking to the importance of nurturing this international partnership toward improving gender and cultural diversity in high-tech fields. Entering its eighth year, its had over 67,300 in attendance at the GF2 events, with 9,172 girls and women given free first-time helicopter flights. With the successful conclusion of GF2 2019, AAF anticipates surpassing 100,000 participants and achieving 12,000 free flights. https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/the-skys-no-limit-girls-fly-too-event-landing-in-abbotsford-in-october/

  • Ottawa earmarks $20M to rejoin NATO airborne surveillance program

    December 7, 2018 | Local, Aerospace, C4ISR

    Ottawa earmarks $20M to rejoin NATO airborne surveillance program

    Murray Brewster · CBC News The Liberal government has budgeted up to $20 million in this fiscal year to rejoin NATO's Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AWACS) program, reversing a Conservative-era budget cut in the name of alliance utility and solidarity. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and other senior officials recently appeared before a House of Commons committee to talk about the country's return to the long-standing alliance programme, which sees more than a dozen nations cost-share the operation of E3-A surveillance planes. New documents, released to CBC News under access to information law, show Canada has agreed to a partial return to the program through operations and support. It's a compromise decision that leaves the country's aerospace companies partly out in the cold — and one expert is questioning whether the reasons which led the former government to drop out of the program still exist. One of the major complaints voiced about the program behind closed doors in Stephen Harper's government had to do with NATO's reluctance to deploy the sophisticated surveillance aircraft on missions to Afghanistan and Iraq. The aircraft eventually were used for those missions, but not without considerable debate and what some Canadian officials saw as foot-dragging on NATO's part. 'A tough sell' Defence expert Dave Perry said that, going forward, the Liberals will have to justify this particular reinvestment more carefully. "If they don't actually use them in an operational context when it matters, then it's going to be a tough sell," he told CBC News. National Defence defends the decision to jump back into the program, saying in an email that "several things have changed, causing Canada to re-evaluate the relevancy" of its participation. A major factor is the introduction of the Liberal government's new defence policy, which emphasizes the need for better surveillance and reconnaissance. Canada had been part of the AWACS program for decades. When the Conservatives pulled the plug they cast the decision in economic terms, saying it had "little direct benefit." The planes were deployed in Europe and occasionally on other operations. The debate within the Harper government was over the logic of paying for a defence system that doesn't contribute directly to the defence of North America. "Accordingly, it is debatable whether it is appropriate for Canada to carry nearly 10 per cent of the programme, given that it is one of the two NATO members on the North American side of the Atlantic Ocean, and, as such, would benefit considerably less from AWACS than the 26 members on the European side," reads a March 22, 2016 internal government briefing note. NATO AWACS aircraft currently fly surveillance missions in support of reassurance measures in eastern Europe ordered after Russia's annexation of Crimea. The program is also providing "tailored assurance measures" for Turkey because of the crisis in Syria and is watching out for terrorist movement in the Mediterranean Sea. "I think time will tell, and it will depend on whether these aircraft are actually used," said Perry, an analyst at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. "If they're not used, then it will be a struggle to justify Canadian participation, however good it is for wider burden-sharing within the alliance and support to allies." Business opportunities The internal briefing note shows the decision to quit in 2011 cost Canadian defence contractors the right to bid on hundreds of millions of dollars in work related to the modernization of observation planes, known for their distinctive radar domes. Rejoining the plan will allow Canadian companies a finite set of bidding opportunities, a National Defence spokeswoman said. "Canada did not regain access to AWACS-related industrial benefits for modernization and upgrade when it re-engaged with the program," said Jessica Lamirande in an email. "However, Canadian industry has regained eligibility to compete for contracts related to the operations and maintenance of the AWACS." The briefing shows Canada is, in some respects, being treated like a new member of the plan, which means Ottawa pays for operations and support of the aircraft "while the fleet modernization will continue to be the responsibility of the programme's current 16 members, who will retain all of the industrial benefits associated with the programme." Prior to the Liberal government's decision to return to the program, officials held out the hope that rejoining might "restore Canada's ability to bid on such contracts." Conservative defence critic James Bezan described the government's approach as a "half-measure" and said rejoining AWACS became necessary after the Ukrainian crisis. "They're not spending as much as we were and we're not getting the full benefits of industrial contracts," he said, noting the Commons defence committee pointed out that Canada was not getting everything it could out of NATO contract opportunities. "The Liberals are always late to the table and that's what we're seeing here." https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/awac-nato-surveillance-ukraine-1.4931098

  • Canadian Centre for Cyber Security releases National Cyber Threat Assessment 2023-2024

    October 28, 2022 | Local, C4ISR

    Canadian Centre for Cyber Security releases National Cyber Threat Assessment 2023-2024

    The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre) has released its National Cyber Threat Assessment 2023-2024, alerting that state sponsored and financially motivated cyber threats are increasingly likely to affect Canadians, and that foreign threat actors are attempting to influence Canadians through use of misinformation, disinformation and malinformation in online spaces. This report outlines the most common cyber threats to Canadians and Canadian organizations, the likelihood that these cyber threats will occur and how they will evolve in the coming years. This unclassified assessment found that ransomware is almost certainly the most disruptive form of cybercrime facing Canadians and that it remains a persistent threat to Canadian organizations. It also says critical infrastructure is increasingly at risk from cyber threat activity but, in the absence of direct international hostilities involving Canada, it is unlikely that state-sponsored actors would intentionally disrupt Canadian critical infrastructure. The Cyber Centre has assessed that state-sponsored cyber threat activity is impacting Canadians, with state actors targeting diaspora populations and activists in Canada, Canadian organizations and their intellectual property for espionage and individuals for financial gain. We have also observed cyber threat actors' attempts to influence Canadians using misinformation, disinformation and malinformation (MDM), and we assess that Canadians' exposure to MDM will almost certainly increase over the next two years. In addition, the assessment details that disruptive technologies, such as cryptocurrencies, machine learning and quantum computing, are bringing new opportunities for cyber threat actors and, thus, new threats to Canadians. While threats continue to evolve, the Government of Canada has made cyber security a priority. Investments include the passage of the CSE Act, which gave the Communications Security Establishment the ability to better intercept and disrupt foreign threats. Budget 2022 has allowed $875.2 million to bolster CSE's ability to deter, defend, and prevent cyber-attacks. These investments will protect Canada, our critical infrastructure, our government systems, and our national security. New this year, the Cyber Centre has also compiled its best advice and guidance for Canadians, Canadian organizations and critical infrastructure to address the cyber security threats outlined in the assessment. Background This is the Cyber Centre's third National Cyber Threat Assessment. The first was published in December 2018. In addition to publishing the National Cyber Security Assessment 2023-2024 today, the Cyber Centre has also published an updated edition of its Introduction to the Cyber Threat Environment. This introductory reference document provides baseline information about the cyber threat environment, including information about cyber threat actors and their motivations, their techniques and tools in a Canadian context. About the Cyber Centre Part of the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), the Cyber Centre is the Government of Canada's technical authority on cyber security and the single, unified source of expert advice, guidance, services and support on cyber security operational matters. The Cyber Centre works with businesses and organizations that have been victim to a cyber incident in order to mitigate the impact of cyber security incidents. https://www.canada.ca/en/communications-security/news/2022/10/canadian-centre-for-cyber-security-releases-national-cyber-threat-assessment-2023-20242.html

All news