Top Aces augments, extends fighter jet training contract with RCAF  - Skies Mag

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  February 16, 2021 | Local, C4ISR, Security

  New Classified Stream of IDEaS

  Hello, The Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) recognize that some of the largest and most challenging defence and security issues are classified in nature, and that defence technologies will increasingly be needed from sectors dealing with information and communication, cyber, and other emerging sensory and data processing technologies and software. DND/CAF are seeking innovative science and technology (S&T) solutions to Canada's classified defence and security Challenges through a classified Call for Proposals process. Classified challenges will have a Secret security designation. DND/CAF will support Challenges under the Classified Stream to increase the base of suppliers with classified capabilities to DND, and to address topics specifically linked to the mission of DND/CAF. The Classified Stream will enable the possibility to share secure information about classified Challenges so that tailored solutions may be proposed. The seven domains currently under consideration are as follows: Underwater Warfare Cloud-based Data Fusion and Automation Space Sensor Payloads Counter Explosive Threat (CET) Defeating Radio Controlled Improvised Explosive Devices (RC-IED) Counter-Uninhabited Aerial Systems (C-UAS) Soldier Systems Integration Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) on behalf of the DND/CAF IDEaS program, to seek industry feedback on the potential development of a classified stream Call for Proposals (CFP). To view the RFI, please visit: https://buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/tender-notice/PW-21-00945859 We welcome your input and look forward to launching the new Classified Stream of IDEaS soon! Thank you, Eric Fournier Director General Innovation Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS)

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  June 16, 2020 | Local, Naval

  Canada to pay $4.1B for Navy support ships in latest cost increase

  The Canadian Press OTTAWA — Canada's national shipbuilding plan was rocked by yet another cost increase on Monday as the federal government revealed it will pay $4.1 billion for two long-overdue support ships for the navy — an increase of $1.5 billion from initial estimates. The revelation came as Ottawa officially awarded a contract for the full construction of the two new Protecteur-class joint support ships to Vancouver's Seaspan shipyards, which has already started work on the first of the vessels. Seaspan was first tapped to build the two ships and several coast guard vessels in 2011, at which point the supply ships were expected to cost $2.6 billion. The figure was later revised to $3.4 billion before another $700 million was added Monday. The first of the support ships was to have been delivered by 2019. The government says it now doesn't expect the first ship before 2023, with the second due in 2025. Seaspan has been under contract to work on some parts of the first ship since June 2018. The Royal Canadian Navy has been without a full-time support ship since 2014 and is currently relying on a converted civilian vessel that is being leased from Quebec's Chantier Davie shipyard to fill the gap. That ship, the MV Asterix, was at the heart of the failed prosecution of retired vice-admiral Mark Norman. The Liberal government was playing down the cost increase to the support ships on Monday, with senior ministers touting the importance of the vessels to the Royal Canadian Navy and the jobs that the project is creating in Vancouver and elsewhere. "These new ships will provide a necessary capability for our Royal Canadian Navy, while providing significant economic benefits and jobs to Canadians, including thousands of jobs created or sustained," Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said in a statement. Yet the cost increase is the latest to hit the shipbuilding plan, which has been plagued by delays and budget increases for years. The plan is intended to recapitalize the majority of Canada's naval and coast guard fleets. The entire plan to buy new warships to replace the navy's frigates and destroyers, several Arctic patrol vessels, a polar icebreaker and four science vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard in addition to the two support ships was pegged in 2011 at $35 billion. The warships alone are now expected to cost at least $65 billion while the rest of the projects have either seen similar budget increases or their budgets are under review. The delivery schedules for the projects have also been pushed back numerous times. Defence analyst David Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute noted the new cost for the support ships is almost exactly how much Parliament's budget watchdog estimated following an analysis in 2013. The Conservative government at the time refuted the parliamentary budget officer's estimate, with then-public works minister Rona Ambrose saying appropriate safeguards had been put into place to protect taxpayers. "There's not a lot of detail in this today so it's hard to do a line by line," Perry said. "But superficially at least, the PBO's report from 2013 — which I recall being pooh-poohed pretty extensively — has held up pretty well." Ottawa has in recent years produced update cost estimates for most of the vessels being built through the federal shipbuilding plan. However, budgets for the polar icebreaker and an offshore science vessel for the coast guard are still under review. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15, 2020. https://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/news/canada-to-pay-4-1b-for-navy-support-ships-in-latest-cost-increase-1.24153254

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  January 31, 2019 | Local, Aerospace

  Canada forced to pay bigger share of F-35 fighter jet development costs — even though it may never buy any

  OTTAWA — Canada is being forced to shoulder a bigger share of the costs of developing F-35 fighter jets even though it has not decided whether it will actually buy any. Canada is one of nine partner countries in the F-35 project, each of which is required to cover a portion of the stealth fighter's multibillion-dollar development costs to stay at the table. Each country pays based on the number of F-35s it's expecting to buy. Canada has pitched in more than half-a-billion dollars over the last 20 years, including $54 million last year. But that amount was based on the Stephen Harper government's plan to buy 65 new fighter jets to replace Canada's aging CF-18s, which the Trudeau government has since officially increased to 88. Even though Canada has not committed that those 88 jets will be F-35s, the Department of National Defence says that change means it will have to pay more to remain a partner — including about $72 million this year. “Canada's costs under the F-35 (partnership agreement) are based on an intended fleet size,” Defence Department spokeswoman Ashley Lemire said in an email. “Canada changed its fleet size within the F-35 (agreement) from 65 to 88 aircraft to align with government decisions on the size of the intended permanent fighter fleet to be acquired through competition and the payment increased accordingly.” The F-35's development costs have been a constant source of criticism over the life of the stealth-fighter program, which Canada first joined under the Chretien government in 1997. The entire program is believed to have already cost more than US$1 trillion. The Trudeau government says it plans to keep Canada in the F-35 development effort until a replacement for the CF-18s is chosen — partners in the development work can buy the planes at a lower price and compete for work associated with their production and long-term maintenance. Canadian companies have so far won more than $1.2 billion in contracts related to the F-35, according to the government. The F-35 is one of four planes slated to participate in the $19-billion competition that the government plans to launch this spring, the others being Boeing's Super Hornet, Eurofighter's Typhoon and Saab's Gripen. The competition isn't scheduled to select a winner until 2021 or 2022, meaning Canada will be on the hook for several more payments. The first new aircraft is expected in 2025 and the last in 2031, when the CF-18s will be phased out. F-35 maker Lockheed Martin says more than 350 of the stealth fighters have been delivered to different countries, while Israel became the first country to use the plane in combat last year when two of the jets struck targets in neighbouring Syria. Acting U.S. defence secretary Patrick Shanahan, a former Boeing executive, nonetheless criticized the program on Monday, saying it “has room for a lot more performance.” “I am biased toward performance,” he was quoted as saying when asked if he is biased toward Boeing. “I am biased toward giving the taxpayer their money's worth. And the F-35, unequivocally, I can say, has a lot of opportunity for more performance.” https://ottawacitizen.com/news/world/plan-to-buy-more-fighter-jets-puts-canada-on-hook-for-bigger-share-of-f-35-costs/wcm/efec8576-c36f-40cf-922a-2bb324352388