March 23, 2024 | Local, Aerospace
Congress offers procurement boost for F-35 jets in FY24 spending bill
The U.S. Air Force would receive enough money to buy 51 F-35As in fiscal 2024 under the compromise defense spending bill lawmakers released.
February 11, 2019 | Local, Aerospace
'Strategic messaging': Russian fighters in Arctic spark debate on Canada's place
Bob Weber / The Canadian Press
Recent Russian moves in the Arctic have renewed debate over that country's intentions and Canada's own status at the top of the world.
The newspaper Izvestia reported late last month that Russia's military will resume fighter patrols to the North Pole for the first time in 30 years. The patrols will be in addition to regular bomber flights up to the edge of U.S. and Canadian airspace.
"It's clearly sending strategic messaging," said Whitney Lackenbauer, an Arctic expert and history professor at the University of Waterloo. "This is the next step."
Russia has been beefing up both its civilian and military capabilities in its north for a decade.
Old Cold-War-era air bases have been rejuvenated. Foreign policy observers have counted four new Arctic brigade combat teams, 14 new operational airfields, 16 deepwater ports and 40 icebreakers with an additional 11 in development.
Bomber patrols have been steady. NORAD has reported up to 20 sightings and 19 intercepts a year.
Commercial infrastructure has kept pace as well. A vast new gas field has been opened in the Yamal Peninsula on the central Russian coast. Control and development of the Northern Sea Route — Russia's equivalent of the Northwest Passage — has been given to a central government agency. Russian news sources say cargo volume is expected to grow to 40 million tonnes in 2020 from 7.5 million tonnes in 2016.
Canada has little to compare.
A road has been completed to the Arctic coast at Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories and work for a port at Iqaluit in Nunavut is underway. The first Arctic patrol vessel has been launched, satellite surveillance has been enhanced and a naval refuelling station built on Baffin Island.
But most northern infrastructure desires remain unfilled.
No all-weather roads exist down the Mackenzie Valley or into the mineral-rich central N.W.T. Modern needs such as high-speed internet are still dreams in most of the North. A new icebreaker has been delayed.
Nearing the end of its term, the Liberal government has yet to table an official Arctic policy.
Global Affairs Canada spokesman Richard Walker said in an email that the government is "firmly asserting" its presence in the North to protect Canada's sovereign Arctic territory.
Walker said Canada cooperates with all Arctic Council members, including Russia, to advance shared interests that include sustainable development, the roles of Indigenous peoples, environmental protection and scientific research.
"Given the harsh environment and the high cost of Arctic operations, Canada believes that cooperation amongst Arctic nations is essential," Walker wrote.
"While we perceive no immediate military threat in the Arctic region, we remain vigilant in our surveillance of our Northern approaches."
Canada needs to keep pace if only because it can't count on the current international order to hold, said John Higginbotham of the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo.
"If the globalized system fragments, we're going to get a world of blocs. The blocs will have power to close international shipping channels.
"It's a dreadful strategic mistake for Canada to give up our own sea route."
Arctic dominance would also give Russia a potent card to play, said Rob Huebert of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary.
"It gives you presence," he said. "Whenever there's issues that happen to occur elsewhere, we've already seen the behaviour of the Russians — they start doing overflights of other countries to bring pressure."
Norway, the Baltics and the United Kingdom have all reported increased airspace violations, Huebert said.
Few expect Russian troops to come pouring over the North Pole. The country is sticking with a United Nations process for drawing borders in Arctic waters and is a productive member of the eight-nation Arctic Council.
"There's vigorous debate over whether their posture is offensive-oriented," Lackenbauer said. "The Russians insist this is purely defensive. It also offers possibilities for safe and secure shipping in the Northern Sea Route.
"They're not doing anything wrong."
Canada would be mistaken to ignore the awakening bear, said Ron Wallace of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute in Calgary.
"It's important for Canadians to be aware of their Arctic and the circumpolar Arctic and what's going on in the North," he said.
Canada is unlikely to take much from Russia's command-and-control style of development, Wallace said, but there are lessons to learn. Combining civilian and military infrastructure is one of them.
"That's the kind of thinking I haven't seen here, but that's the thinking the Russians are using," he said. "They see the northern trade route as an excuse to put up military bases at the same time they're working with the Chinese to open up trade routes for the export of their resources."
That would also help fulfil federal promises to territorial governments, said Wallace.
"Somewhere in the middle there is a better policy for northern Canada."
— Follow Bob Weber on Twitter at @row1960
On the same subject
-
-
August 8, 2024 | Local, Other Defence
Joint Statement on Strengthening the Canada-Australia Defence Relationship
Statement August 8, 2024 – Vancouver, B.C. – National Defence/Canadian Armed Forces Today, the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence of Canada, and the Honourable Richard Marles, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence of Australia, released a joint statement following their bilateral meeting. Statement 1. Canada and Australia enjoy a partnership based on shared history, values and friendship. Facing an increasingly complicated strategic environment, we commit to strengthen our defence relationship and reinforce our collective ability to respond to global challenges. 2. We commit to enhancing the interoperability of our armed forces. We will explore ways to reduce barriers to collaboration, including through arrangements to facilitate value-added defence and industrial activities and to support operational cooperation. We will reinforce collaboration in space, cyber, research and development, advanced capabilities, and science and technology. We remain committed to the Five Eyes partnership. Increased Military Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific 3. As Indo-Pacific nations, we support a region that is peaceful, stable, prosperous, which includes respect for sovereignty and adherence to international law. We underscored the need for all countries to manage strategic competition responsibly and work to reduce the risks of conflict. We commit to deepen our operational cooperation, including by exploring opportunities to conduct joint sails, cooperative deployments, and multilateral exercises and training. 4. Australia welcomes Canada’s increased defence presence throughout the Indo-Pacific region, as outlined in Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy. Since the release of this strategy, Canada has increased its annual naval deployments and defence engagement throughout the region, creating additional opportunities for joint training in all domains. Canada welcomes the focus on the Indo-Pacific in Australia’s National Defence Strategy. 5. We continue to enhance our interoperability through participation in multilateral exercises, including in the South China Sea. Australia welcomes the involvement of His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Vancouver in Exercise KAKADU next month, and plans for a follow-on ship re-armament activity, which will demonstrate the ability to provide logistics support to regional operations. Australia welcomes Canada’s participation in Exercise TALISMAN SABRE in 2025 and similar future exercises. Global Security 6. As the strategic environments of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific deteriorate we recognize developments in one region directly impact security in the other. We value Australia’s contribution to NATO as an Enhanced Opportunities Partner, which supports an integrated response to global challenges. We welcome the flagship projects NATO launched with its Indo-Pacific partners during the NATO Summit in July 2024, which address shared challenges such as cyber defence, hybrid threats, and resilience. 7. We reiterate our support for a sovereign and independent Ukraine, and our unequivocal condemnation of Russia’s illegal, unjustified, and full-scale invasion. We remain committed to supporting Ukraine to end the war on its own terms. We remain gravely concerned over the increased military cooperation between Russia and North Korea and call on all those with influence on Russia, particularly China, to exert it now to end the war. 8. Canada and Australia are concerned by China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea that are inconsistent with international law. We also emphasize the importance of all states’ ability to exercise rights and freedoms, including freedom of navigation and overflight, in a manner that is consistent with international law as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). We reiterate our strong opposition to destabilizing or coercive actions in the South China Sea, including dangerous maneuvers and the militarization of disputed features. We express grave concern over China’s dangerous actions against Philippine vessels near Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. These actions jeopardize regional peace, stability, and prosperity. We reaffirmed the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award as final and binding on the parties and noted all states have a responsibility to adhere to international law. We are encouraged by the Philippine’s and China’s diplomatic engagement and commitment to de-escalate tensions. 9. We reaffirm the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and our opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo. We call for the peaceful resolution of differences through dialogue without the threat or use of force or coercion. 10. We recognize the importance of the United Nations Command in securing lasting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. We condemn North Korea’s destabilizing launches using ballistic missile technology and its pursuit of nuclear weapons in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions. We are concerned by North Korea’s malicious cyber activity. We support international efforts to monitor North Korea’s sanctions evasion activities. 11. We reaffirm our call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the protection of civilians, the release of all hostages, and a sustained increase in the flow of assistance to address the catastrophic humanitarian situation. We reiterate our call on all parties to the conflict to agree to a comprehensive ceasefire deal. We are gravely concerned about the recent escalation of rhetoric and attacks across the Israel-Lebanon border as well as the prospect of further escalation which could destabilize the entire region. We support all diplomatic efforts to calm tensions and continue to urge de-escalation and restraint. Common Platforms and Capability Development 12. Australia and Canada are making significant investments to bolster our defence capabilities in our national defence strategies. We will explore opportunities for mutual learning and training to increase the interoperability and skillset of military members on shared platforms, such as the F-35 fighter aircraft, the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, and our new warship classes based on the Type 26 frigate design of BAE Systems. 13. We recognize operational effectiveness is underpinned by the strength of our cooperation in science, technology, and capability development. We are prioritizing overcoming challenges to the research, development, procurement, and fielding of advanced military capabilities to maintain our technological edge and support regional stability and security. We look forward to further collaboration in that regard, and recognize Canada’s interest in collaborating on advanced capability projects under AUKUS Pillar II. 14. We will continue addressing challenges collaboratively through the combination of our innovation ecosystems. This will help to maintain our collective technological lead in cyber, autonomous systems, quantum technologies, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, space, defence against hypersonic and advanced cruise missiles, and undersea warfare. Cyber and Space 15. We recognize malicious cyber threats and activities have increased in sophistication and scale. We reaffirm efforts to bolster our operational collaboration to address emerging cyber threats through the Five Eyes partnership, and we commit to deepening our cyber cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners. 16. As members of the Combined Space Operations Initiative and Operation Olympic Defender, we remain committed to a secure and stable space domain. We will continue to improve the coordination of space operations and interoperability of space capabilities, assure access to space, and promote the responsible, lawful, and sustainable use of the space domain. https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2024/08/joint-statement-on-strengthening-the-canada-australia-defence-relationship.html
-
May 20, 2020 | Local, Aerospace
CAE awarded contract to deliver additional PC-21 simulator for French Air Force
CAE announced on May 20 it signed a contract amendment last February with Cognac Formation Aero, a joint venture of Babcock France and Dassault Aviation, to provide an additional Pilatus PC-21 full-mission, ground-based simulator to support pilot training for the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air). The pilot training for the French Air Force is delivered under the programme de formation modernisée des équipages de chasse (Jet Pilots Modernized Training Program, formerly known as FOMEDEC). The program is designed to train future French Air Force fighter pilots. CAE was previously subcontracted to develop a comprehensive PC-21 ground-based training system that was delivered in 2019 and included two PC-21 full-mission simulators and a suite of PC-21 part-task trainers. “The addition of a third PC-21 full-mission simulator will significantly increase the synthetic training capabilities of the French Air Force at the Cognac-Ch'teaubernard Air Base,” said Marc-Olivier Sabourin, vice president and general manager, Defence & Security International, CAE. “The PC-21 ground-based training system plays a critical role in the overall training program and an additional PC-21 full-mission simulator will provide more flexibility while contributing to more effective live-flying training on the PC-21 aircraft fleet.” Similar to the first two PC-21 full-mission ground-based simulators, the new PC-21 simulator will feature a Pilatus-provided PC-21 cockpit integrated with a range of CAE simulation and synthetic environment technologies, including the CAE Medallion-6000 image generator, Open Geospatial Consortium Common Database (OGC CDB) architecture, and computer-generated forces software. The new PC-21 full-mission simulator will be delivered in 2022 to the Cognac-Ch'teaubernard Air Base in southwest France. CAE currently provides on-site maintenance and support services on the PC-21 ground-based training system and will continue to provide these services on the new simulator. The program, managed by Babcock France in partnership with Dassault Aviation, delivers a comprehensive pilot training solution for the French Air Force featuring the provision and support of 17 PC-21 training aircraft, PC-21 ground-based training system, and modernized training facilities. https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/cae-awarded-contract-to-deliver-additional-pc-21-simulator-for-french-air-force