Statement from Minister Champagne on suspension of export permits to Turkey

On the same subject

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  August 3, 2020 | Local, Aerospace

  F-35 Proposal To Canada Submitted

  FORT WORTH, Texas, July 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On July 30, the U.S government submitted the Request for Proposal (RFP) response for the Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) built F-35 to Canada in support of their Future Fighter Capability Project. Canada has been a valued partner since the inception of the Joint Strike Fighter competition. Canadian industry plays an integral role in the global F-35 supply chain and has gained significant technical expertise over the past 15-plus year involvement in the F-35 production. "We are extremely proud of our longstanding partnership with Canada, which has played a key role in the F-35's development," said Greg Ulmer, F-35 Program executive vice president. "The 5th Generation F-35 would transform the Royal Canadian Air Force fleet and deliver the capabilities necessary to safeguard Canadian skies. The F-35's unique mix of stealth and sensor technology will enable the Royal Canadian Air Force to modernize their contribution to NORAD operations, ensure Arctic sovereignty and meet increasingly sophisticated global threats." The program will continue to bring manufacturing and production opportunities to Canada, with an estimated 150,000 jobs supported over the life of the program. The F-35 program connects Canadian industry to a global supply chain supporting a growing fleet that will deliver more than 3,200 aircraft and delivers sustainment well past 2060. To date, the F-35 operates from 24 bases worldwide. More than 1,040 pilots and over 9,340 maintainers are trained. Nine nations operate the F-35 from their home soil and six services have employed F-35s in combat operations. For additional information, visit www.f35.com. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 110,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. SOURCE Lockheed Martin Aeronautics https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2020-07-31-F-35-Proposal-to-Canada-Submitted

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  October 25, 2018 | Local, Aerospace

  Lockheed Martin Canada lays off 20 employees in Ottawa, 11 in Dartmouth, Montreal

  DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN Lockheed Martin Canada has laid off 20 employees in Ottawa and another 11 at its facilities in Montreal and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The employees were informed of the layoffs on Oct. 3, according to a Lockheed Martin statement to Defence Watch. Irving Shipbuilding and Public Services and Procurement Canada have announced Oct. 19 that a BAE-Lockheed Martin consortium has been selected as the “preferred bidder” for the Canadian Surface Combatant program. That selection will now set off negotiations which in turn will – if all is successful – produce a contract. The entire project is worth $60 billion, with an estimated 60 per cent for the actual ship. Lockheed Martin Canada is acting as the prime for the team which offered BAE's Type 26 ship. Lockheed Martin did not provide details on what areas the employees who were laid off had worked in. “This decision was not taken lightly and was the result of the company's need to rebalance the workforce reflecting current volume and skill sets,” the Lockheed Martin statement noted. “As a project-driven company, we routinely experience peaks and valleys related to work volume and review our business operations to stay competitive and agile.” Lockheed Martin Canada “remains in a growth mode and as the CSC program progresses, our hiring campaign will ramp up to ensure we attract and retain top talent to best support our customer's needs,” the statement added. Industry sources say some of the layoffs can be attributed to the recent loss of the Halifax-class underwater warfare suite upgrade contract, which went to General Dynamics Mission Systems – Canada. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/lockheed-martin-canada-lays-off-20-employees-in-ottawa-11-in-dartmouth-montreal

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  September 10, 2018 | Local, Land

  Canada's arms deal with Saudi Arabia is shrinking

  The LAV sale is being scaled back. Critics want it killed completely. Murray Brewster · CBC News A Canadian defence contractor will be selling fewer armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia than originally planned, according to new documents obtained by CBC News. That could be a mixed blessing in light of the ongoing diplomatic dispute between the two countries, say human rights groups and a defence analyst. The scaled-back order — implemented before the Riyadh government erupted in fury over Canada's public criticism of Saudi Arabia's arrest of activists and froze new trade with Canada this summer — could make it politically less defensible for the Liberal government, which has argued it's in the country's business and economic interests to uphold the deal. The documents show General Dynamic Land Systems Canada, the London, Ont.-based manufacturer, was — as of spring last year — going to deliver only 742 of the modern LAV-6s, a reduction from the original 2014 deal. The initial order from the desert kingdom was for 928 vehicles, including 119 of the heavy assault variety equipped with 105 millimetre cannons. Details of the agreement have long been kept under a cloak of secrecy. General Dynamic Land Systems, the Canadian Commercial Corporation (the Crown corporation which brokered the deal) and the Saudi government have all refused to acknowledge the specifics, other than the roughly $15 billion price tag. Last spring, CBC News obtained copies of internal documents and a slide deck presentation from 2014 outlining the original agreement. The latest internal company documents obtained by CBC News are dated March 29, 2017, and indicate the agreement had been amended a few months prior, perhaps in the latter half of 2016. The documents also indicate delivery of the vehicles is already underway and has been for months. CBC News asked for a response from both Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland's office and General Dynamics Land Systems Canada. Both declined comment over the weekend.. A cash-strapped kingdom A defence analyst said the amended order likely has more to do with the current state of Saudi Arabia's finances than its frustration over Canada's human rights criticism. "Saudi Arabia — in part because of low oil prices and in part because of corruption and mismanagement of its own economy — has a large budget deficit," said Thomas Juneau, a University of Ottawa assistant professor and former National Defence analyst. "Spending $15 billion over a number of years for armoured vehicles that it doesn't need that much, at least in a pressing sense, is an easier target for budget cuts, for sure." The kingdom has projected a budget deficit of $52 billion US this year and the country's finance minister said last spring it is on track to cut spending by seven per cent. When it was signed, the armoured vehicle deal was a way for Canada to cement relations with an important strategic partner in the region, said Juneau. Should Ottawa cancel the sale? He said he wonders if it's still worthwhile, in light of the furious diplomatic row that began over the Canadian government's tweeted expressions of concern for jailed activists — and quickly escalated with the expulsion of Canada's ambassador, the freezing of trade, the cancellation of grain shipments and the withdrawal of Saudi medical students from Canadian programs. "Now, with the dust not really having settled after the dispute from August, is that partnership, in abstract terms, still necessary? I think it is. But is it still possible?" said Juneau. Human rights groups say they believe there is even more reason for Ottawa to walk away from the deal now, given the events of this summer and the declining economic benefit. "We're compromising our position on human rights for even less than we thought," said Cesar Jaramillo, the executive director of Project Ploughshares, which has opposed the agreement from the outset. "Even if it's not a huge decrease, it is still a decrease. It should, at least in political and economic terms, make it easier for the Trudeau government to reconsider this deal, especially in terms of the latest diplomatic spat." Full article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-s-arms-deal-with-saudi-arabia-is-shrinking-1.4815571