Submission of bids delayed again on Canadian Surface Combatant program

On the same subject

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  May 13, 2019 | Local, Aerospace, C4ISR, Security

  Government of Canada awards contract for new space-based search and rescue technology

  SAINTE-ANNE-DE-BELLEVUE, QC, May 10, 2019 /CNW/ - Through Canada's defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged, the Government of Canada is ensuring that our women and men in uniform have the equipment they need to do their jobs and to protect Canadians. Today, the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport and Francis Scarpaleggia, Member of Parliament for Lac-Saint-Louis, on behalf of the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility, announced that the Government of Canada has awarded a $39-million contract to Macdonald, Dettwiler and Associates Corporation (MDA) of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, to design, build and deliver 10 search and rescue repeaters for National Defence's Medium Earth Orbit Search and Rescue (MEOSAR) system. This contract will help create or maintain 44 jobs over the length of the contract, which will stimulate economic growth in Quebec. Deployed on a satellite, a repeater detects signals from distress beacons across the country and along Canada's coastlines and relays them to a ground station. As part of an agreement between National Defence and the United States Air Force (USAF), the Canadian repeaters will be hosted on USAF's next-generation GPS satellites. The MEOSAR system is expected to deliver improved response times for search and rescue activities and increase accuracy to locate people, ships or planes in distress. It will replace Canada's current search and rescue system, which has been in place for several decades. Quotes "Our Government is committed to providing the Canadian Armed Forces with cutting-edge technology for search and rescue operations to save those in distress in Canada. These repeaters will be designed and built with homegrown Canadian aerospace expertise, supporting our aerospace sector and stimulating economic growth in Quebec." The Honourable Marc Garneau Minister of Transport "Through this investment, our government is supporting the Canadian Armed Forces in their important work to help save people's lives both on land and sea. The contract with MDA will also help sustain economic growth in our community with 44 good middle-class jobs. ." Francis Scarpaleggia, Member of Parliament for Lac-Saint-Louis "This project builds on the successful partnership between National Defence and MDA to develop innovative solutions that are vital to Canada's sovereignty and security. Once qualified as operational, this system will dramatically improve both the speed and location accuracy for detecting beacons, and as a result, greatly enhance the coordination and dispatch of search and rescue teams to help people in distress." Mike Greenley Group President of Macdonald, Dettwiler and Associates Corporation Quick facts The Government of Canada's defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged, reaffirms Canada's commitment to invest in our military, and sustain our search and rescue capabilities. Alongside the Canadian Coast Guard, the Canadian Armed Forces responds to more than 9,000 search and rescue calls annually, approximately 1,000 of which result in the launching of search and rescue air assets. The contract will run until February 1, 2029. The government may extend the contract to August 1, 2034, if it elects to acquire an additional 12 repeaters. The contract was awarded following an open, fair and transparent competitive procurement process, which included a fairness monitor who observed the procurement process. https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/government-of-canada-awards-contract-for-new-space-based-search-and-rescue-technology-832448437.html

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  December 7, 2018 | Local, Aerospace

  Canadian military to contract out some maintenance work on aging CF-18s to free up front line technicians

  LEE BERTHIAUME OTTAWA THE CANADIAN PRESS PUBLISHED DECEMBER 3, 2018UPDATED DECEMBER 3, 2018 The Canadian military is looking to contract out some maintenance work on the country's aging CF-18 fighter jets as well as training to help address a shortage of experienced technicians. Defence officials revealed the plan during a Commons committee meeting on Monday, in which they also defended the time needed to pick a new jet for the air force and faced calls to reveal how much it will cost to upgrade the CF-18s' combat systems. The technician shortage was first revealed in an explosive auditor general's report last month in which the watchdog took aim at the Liberals' plan to buy second-hand Australian jets by warning the air force needed more technicians and pilots – not planes. A number of measures are being introduced to address both shortfalls, air force commander Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger told the committee, including the contracting out of more involved maintenance that usually takes place away from the front lines as well as some tech training. The initiatives will free up about 200 experienced aircraft technicians so they can work directly on planes in the field and keep them flying, Meinzinger said, adding in an interview after the meeting that the move would not affect combat readiness. Initiatives are also being introduced to better support military families, which Meinzinger identified as a key contributing factor in why many pilots and technicians are leaving, while the air force is looking at a new training model to produce more pilots. Even with these measures, Meinzinger said he expected it to take between five and seven years to have a full complement of pilots and technicians in time to start transitioning from the CF-18s to new state-of-the-art replacements. “We're putting our shoulder to the wheel,” Meinzinger told The Canadian Press. “This is a top priority. But it's going to take some time, obviously.” Defence officials faced pointed questions from members of Parliament on both sides of the table during Monday's committee meeting about the length of time it is expected to take for those new replacements to be selected and delivered. A request for proposals will be released in the spring, with bids due in early 2020. Another full year has been set aside to evaluate those bids and another for negotiations with the winner. Delivery of the first aircraft is expected in 2025 and the last in 2031. The Defence Department's head of procurement, Patrick Finn, underscored the complexity of the $19-billion project, which has been plagued by delays and political mismanagement for more than a decade as Canada has sought to choose a new fighter. Those complexities include the usual challenges evaluating and negotiating the capabilities of each of the four aircraft that are expected to compete, Finn said, as well as the industrial benefits to Canada and intellectual-property rights. At the same time, he added, the process for actually purchasing each of the planes is different given, for example, that Canada is a member of the F-35 stealth fighter project while the U.S. government would need to officially sign off on buying Super Hornets. In fact, Finn said the government has only limited flexibility in its schedule given that most manufacturers can only start delivering aircraft three years after an order is made – though he remained confident that the timeline would be met. The length of time was nonetheless a clear concern to some committee members. Officials were also grilled over the cost of upgrading the CF-18s' sensors, weapons and defensive measures after the auditor general found $3-billion in planned investments over the next decade was only to keep them flying and did not include their combat systems. The Defence Department's top bureaucrat, deputy minister Jody Thomas, told the committee that an analysis is underway, which includes consulting with the U.S. and other allies, and that a plan is expected in the spring. But opposition members challenged Thomas when she suggested that the department would not be able to provide cost estimates to the committee before being presented to the government, saying even if it is a matter of security, they are entitled to the information. “A unilateral declaration by a deputy or anybody that a parliamentary committee cannot have information is unacceptable,” NDP MP David Christopherson said. “There needs to be one more step to pursue that so that question, which is entirely legitimate in my opinion, can be answered in a way that respects the security and defence issues but also upholds the right of Parliament to demand any information they so choose.” https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-plan-for-combat-upgrades-to-aging-cf-18s-expected-in-may-defence

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  May 14, 2024 | Local, Naval

  The navy is looking at deploying 'ghost fleets' — warships that don't need crews | CBC News

  The Canadian military is weighing how many and what kind of "optionally-crewed" warships it will need in the future as drone technology and artificial intelligence change the face of naval combat, says the commander of the navy.