November 16, 2017 | International, Aerospace, Land
Gen. Jonathan Vance said that despite speculation, there was never a plan in the works to deploy troops on a single UN operation.
OTTAWA—Training foreign troops will be the “flagship” of Canada's newly announced peace operations strategy, says the country's top soldier, who concedes that elements of the plan still require months more work.
Prime Minster Justin Trudeau on Wednesday took the wraps off his government's long-awaited effort to reengage with United Nations peace missions.
Elements of the strategy include $15 million in funding to boost participation by women soldiers in UN operations; an initiative to end the recruitment of child soldiers; and the promise of Canadian personnel to assist with training.
It also pledges up to six helicopters, two transport aircraft and a quick reaction force of up to 200 personnel to support UN missions.
But apart from Trudeau's promise of a single transport aircraft for UN operations based in Uganda, the plan offered no details on possible deployments.
Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of defence staff, said it would be “inappropriate” to say when those might start.
“I'm not even going to hazard a guess on that one right now. Step number one is now to get into detailed planning with the UN and find out . . . the what, the where and the when,” he said in an interview.
This week's announcement was months in the making. The Liberals pledged in the 2015 election to “recommit” to UN peace operations, in part by providing specialized capabilities such as medical teams and engineering support. That promise was followed in August, 2016 by a commitment to deploy up to 600 troops and 150 police officers on UN operations.
Canada's contributions to UN peace missions are at their lowest levels in years with just 23 military personnel currently assigned to such operations.
That's not likely to change soon. In the wake of Wednesday's commitments, Vance made clear that it will take many months yet of planning and discussions with the United Nations to determine how Canada's offers of personnel and equipment can best fit with ongoing missions.
“Some of the ‘when' on smart pledges is years away. Some of the ‘when' on other potential operations is sooner than that,” he said.
Some observers criticized the Liberal government for not committing personnel to a single mission, choosing instead to disperse personnel among many possible locations.
But Vance said that despite speculation, there was never a plan in the works to deploy troops on a single UN operation, saying, “I've never received guidance that said do a mission with 600 (troops).”
Suggestions that troops were headed to Mali, for example, or that the announcement had been delayed “didn't match the reality of the work we were doing,” Vance said.
“There were a lot of assumptions made about, ‘hey, we're going to Africa',” Vance said
Instead, he said that Canada was working with the United Nations “to figure out a new way of doing business.” And he said repeated fact-finding trips by bureaucrats and politicians, including visits to African countries, were not about scouting any one particular mission.
“That's us doing research . . . that allowed us to arrive at an approach that government could consider,' he said.
“We've been working for over a year to determine what are the various options available to government in terms of how to improve UN performance overall with Canadian troops,” Vance said.
Yet given that Africa is the location of many UN missions so “it's very likely a place where we would offer contributions,” Vance said.
The peace support strategy calls for a new training and advisory team to work with a nation before and during a deployment to improve their own ability to conduct peace operations. It also says that Canada will contribute to training centres and schools.
Vance said such activities will be the “flagship” of the plan.
“We're going to try and leverage the Canadian expertise, one of the best trained militaries in the world and best equipped, . . . so that UN mission performance can improve,” Vance said.
Defence analyst Dave Perry said elements of the peacekeeping strategy make sense. The problem, he said, is that the government itself had raised expectations with its drawn-out decision-making and rhetoric about its intentions.
“It wasn't just what the government was saying publicly. I think there were also a number of commitments that were strongly intimated to some of Canada's key allies,” Perry said in an interview.
“My sense is that the different options that were put forward by the department of national defence for whatever reasons weren't palatable to the government,” said Perry, a senior analyst with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
While he said the contributions to UN operations were “modest,” Perry said Canada is better off providing military support to other missions, such as coalition efforts to combat Daesh, or NATO roles.
“Bluntly, there are better ways of achieving Canadian national objectives in the world that through UN missions,” Perry said.
April 14, 2024 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR
A military source tells Defense News that Brazil has started looking for options to replace its P-3AM Orion maritime patrol aircraft starting in 2031.
May 1, 2020 | International, Land
Houston – April 27, 2020 – KBR (NYSE: KBR) has received a $63.9 million task order from the Department of Defense (DoD) Test Resource Management Center (TRMC) to develop interoperability solutions to expand the U.S. military's testing and training capabilities. KBR will utilize its vast test and evaluation (T&E) expertise to assess and address the unique requirements necessary to incorporate additional test range sites into the DoD's T&E infrastructure. This will streamline and enhance the integration of test and training capabilities for DoD weapons systems. KBR's work will result in developed hardware and software solutions that address the military's T&E needs. KBR will help DoD improve range interoperability and effective reuse of resources resulting in increased capability while reducing development, operation and maintenance costs for test ranges. The company's efforts will also further the important partnership between the Test and Training Enabling Architecture Software Development Activity (TENA-SDA) and Joint Mission Environment Test Capability (JMETC) to expand connectivity and develop enhanced capabilities for test and training facilities. “KBR is proud of our nearly two decades of TENA support, promoting range interoperability and flexibility for the U.S. military,” said Byron Bright, KBR President, Government Solutions U.S. “KBR will continue to use its expertise to develop innovative solutions to fortify and grow the DoD's T&E capabilities.” KBR was awarded this task order under the cost-plus-fixed/firm-fixed fee One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) contract which KBR won a seat on in 2014. This is a one-year task order with four option periods. KBR ensures mission success for customers on land, at sea, in the air, and in space and cyberspace. It has operational and developmental T&E processes designed for corporate, government and military organizations. KBR holds extensive experience evaluating complex systems and technologies ranging from combat vehicles and high-performance aircraft to weapons systems and orbital launch platforms. KBR is engineering solutions for the needs of today and tomorrow, safely and efficiently. About KBR, Inc. KBR is a global provider of differentiated professional services and technologies across the asset and program lifecycle within the Government Solutions and Energy sectors. KBR employs approximately 37,000 people worldwide (including our joint ventures), with customers in more than 80 countries, and operations in 40 countries, across three synergistic global businesses: Government Solutions, serving government customers globally, including capabilities that cover the full lifecycle of defense, space, aviation and other government programs and missions from research and development, through systems engineering, test and evaluation, program management, to operations, maintenance, and field logistics Technology Solutions, featuring proprietary technology, equipment, catalysts, digital solutions and related technical services for the monetization of hydrocarbons, including refining, petrochemicals, ammonia and specialty chemicals, as well as inorganics Energy Solutions, including onshore oil and gas; LNG (liquefaction and regasification)/GTL; oil refining; petrochemicals; chemicals; fertilizers; differentiated EPC; maintenance services (Brown & Root Industrial Services); offshore oil and gas (shallow-water, deep-water, subsea); floating solutions (FPU, FPSO, FLNG & FSRU); program management and consulting services KBR is proud to work with its customers across the globe to provide technology, value-added services, integrated EPC delivery and long-term operations and maintenance services to ensure consistent delivery with predictable results. At KBR, We Deliver. Visit www.kbr.com Forward Looking Statement The statements in this press release that are not historical statements, including statements regarding future financial performance, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the outcome of and the publicity surrounding audits and investigations by domestic and foreign government agencies and legislative bodies; potential adverse proceedings by such agencies and potential adverse results and consequences from such proceedings; the scope and enforceability of the company's indemnities from its former parent; changes in capital spending by the company's customers; the company's ability to obtain contracts from existing and new customers and perform under those contracts; structural changes in the industries in which the company operates; escalating costs associated with and the performance of fixed-fee projects and the company's ability to control its cost under its contracts; claims negotiations and contract disputes with the company's customers; changes in the demand for or price of oil and/or natural gas; protection of intellectual property rights; compliance with environmental laws; changes in government regulations and regulatory requirements; compliance with laws related to income taxes; unsettled political conditions, war and the effects of terrorism; foreign operations and foreign exchange rates and controls; the development and installation of financial systems; increased competition for employees; the ability to successfully complete and integrate acquisitions; and operations of joint ventures, including joint ventures that are not controlled by the company. KBR's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, any subsequent Form 10-Qs and 8-Ks, and other U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss some of the important risk factors that KBR has identified that may affect the business, results of operations and financial condition. Except as required by law, KBR undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason. For further information, please contact: Investors Alison Vasquez Vice President, Investor Relations 713-753-5082 Investors@kbr.com Media Philip Ivy Vice President, Global Communications and Marketing 713-753-3800 MediaRelations@kbr.com View source version on KBR, Inc.: https://www.kbr.com/en/insights-events/press-release/kbr-wins-64m-recompete-expand-dod-testing-and-training-capabilities
June 3, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Le ministère des Armées a annoncé que l'avion de transport A400M est désormais apte à larguer des parachutistes par une porte latérale. Afin de valider cette capacité, un entraînement opérationnel a eu lieu, «avec un A400M de l'armée de l'Air et des parachutistes de l'armée de Terre», rapporte le ministère. «L'Airbus A400M de nouvelle génération a obtenu la certification de la capacité de déploiement simultané de parachutistes et a achevé le développement industriel complet de la capacité de déploiement de parachutistes, avec un maximum de 116 parachutistes répartis sur les deux portes latérales», déclare Airbus Defence and Space dans un communiqué. «Cette réalisation renforce la valeur stratégique que l'A400M offre déjà aux opérateurs de l'armée de l'Air et à la société, comme cela a été démontré à l'occasion du Covid-19», a souligné Dirk Hoke, CEO d'Airbus Defence and Space. Air & Cosmos, Aerobuzz et Aeromorning du 3 juin