Unlike Finland, Canada nixes cold-weather tests, fly-off among competing fighter jets

On the same subject

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  November 26, 2019 | Local, Other Defence

  U.S. sent ‘blunt’ letter to Canada criticizing defence spending: sources

  BY MERCEDES STEPHENSON AND KERRI BREEN Canada has been officially called out by the United States over how much it spends on the military, Global News has learned. A “blunt” letter from the U.S. government was delivered to the Department of National Defence that criticized Canadian defence spending levels and repeated American demands that Canada meet NATO targets. Global News has not seen the letter — said to have a frustrated, critical tone — but multiple sources have confirmed it was sent and received. U.S. President Donald Trump has long called for members of the 29-nation military alliance to beef up their budgets for defence. His national security adviser Robert O'Brien, who spoke Saturday at the Halifax International Security Forum, said getting NATO members to meet the established target — two per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — is an urgent priority. “There are very serious threats to our freedom and our security and if NATO is going to be effective, and if we want to put our money where our talk is, we got to spend that money to defend ourselves,” he said. Nations including Canada agreed at the 2014 NATO summit in Wales​ to move towards the military spending target within a decade, he noted. “We expect our friends and our colleagues to live up to their commitments and their promises,” he said. He also praised Canada's plan to build and deploy Arctic patrol vessels. The North, he said, is going to be the new “frontline” of defence, as Russia and China have made it clear they are going to militarize the Arctic. One Canadian source told Global News that the U.S. is concerned that Canada does not take the threat from those countries in the Arctic seriously and wants the country to boost its contributions in that area. Just seven countries — including the U.S. and the U.K. — have met NATO's two per cent of GDP spending goal, according to figures released in June. NATO's estimates show Canada is expected to spend 1.27 per cent of its GDP on the military this year, up from about one per cent in 2014. Canada does fare better when you look at its defence budget in dollars and cents, said Dave Perry, vice president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. The country spends the sixth highest amount overall among NATO members on its military. As for meeting the percentage of GDP target, Perry's not optimistic despite planned increases in the defence budget. “Canada is not on a path to live up to the commitments that we were signing up for in 2014 in Wales,” he said. Last year, Canada spent about $22.9 billion on the Department of National Defence. But Ottawa intends to dramatically boost military spending in the coming years. In 2017, the government released a plan to increase the budget to almost $33 billion annually within a decade. Asked about the letter from the U.S., Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan touted this plan to strengthen spending. Discussions around “burden sharing” within the bloc have been happening for some time, he said. He noted that under the government's plan, the defence budget would see an increase of 70 per cent, a “significant amount.” “The relationship with Canada and the U.S., the defence relationship, I think, is even stronger now, because they see a tangible plan that we have created,” he said on an episode of The West Block that aired Sunday. “It's working, actually, extremely well.” The U.S. sending such a letter is an unusual, formal means of relaying a message, and it represents an escalation from previous attempts to get Canada to spend more on its military. That pressure has been increasing in recent weeks ahead of the NATO summit in London starting on Dec. 3. In fact, the same message has been conveyed in multiple ways to the federal government, a diplomatic source said, and NATO itself also wants to see more military spending from Canada. In July, however, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg suggested publicly he was happy with improvements in Canadian defence spending. “Under your leadership,” he said to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, ​​”Canada has stepped up its contributions to our NATO alliance including with forces for NATO missions and operations and increased spending.” But one former defence minister said the letter from the U.S. — NATO's leader in defence spending in relation to its GDP — was not a good sign. Peter MacKay said such a letter amounts to “a very serious diplomatic slap — not on the wrist, but in the face.” During his time in government, the former Nova Scotia Conservative MP said he had talks with defence secretaries regarding Canadian military spending and the country's goal of reaching two per cent. “Those discussions can be forceful and frank but they took place face to face,” said MacKay, who was defence minister for six years under former prime minister Stephen Harper. “Sending a démarche (diplomatic letter) is really ratcheting it up a notch.” https://globalnews.ca/news/6210623/canada-defence-spending-nato/

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  October 1, 2019 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Amid global unrest, Canada's political parties say little about security, defence

  By Murray Brewster · In order to know what most of the major parties think about the uncertain state of the world, and Canada's place in it, you have to dig — really dig — to find it. The ideas, solutions and proposals around security and defence from the Liberals, New Democrats and the Green Party are buried, in some cases, at the very back of their platform documents. The Conservatives issued a policy statement last spring but have yet to state their campaign platform. And that — along with the dearth of debate about the turbulence beyond the country's borders — has alarmed defence policy experts who say now is not the time for politics as usual. "This is the time we need the clearest, most strategic thinking since the end of the Second World War, in terms of how we do Canadian security," said Rob Huebert, a defence expert at the University of Calgary. "It is not an exaggeration to say we are on the cusp of the most dangerous geopolitical environment we've seen in our lifetime." The rise of authoritarianism throughout the globe, notably in China and Russia, and the undermining of Western democracies through a variety of circumstances has increased the likelihood of conflict in the eyes of many experts. The retreat of the United States from its traditional role in the globe has enormous consequences for Canadian domestic policy. Yet, Huebert said, there is "a total lack of meaningful discussion about the type of direction we need to be taking" by the Liberals and the other parties in the campaign. The conventional Canadian political calculus is that issues of security and defence policy are not vote-getters and previous elections, with one or two exceptions, have borne out that notion with ballot box issues being defined by either social or pocketbook considerations. Huebert, however, describes it as a "very disturbing calculation" at this moment in time. He is not alone in his concern. "There's a lot going on, but near radio silence," said Dave Perry, a senior analyst at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. "I'm surprised every political party in this country has been muted on these topics." The Liberal platform, released Sunday, recycles the title of their marquee defence policy, delivered in 2017 — Strong, Secure and Engaged. The new campaign document's foreign policy and defence section is titled: "Keeping Canada Strong, Secure and Engaged," and offers up as a pledge to "renew Canada's commitment to peacekeeping efforts," which harkens back to the Liberal election platform in 2015. "To ensure that Canada continues to make a positive contribution to international peace and security, we will move forward with new investments to support United Nations peacekeeping efforts — with more help to advance the women, peace, and security agenda; support conflict prevention and peacebuilding; and respond to grave human rights abuses," said the Liberal 2019 platform. The document does not explain what the new investment might look like, but the Liberals say they're committed to spending additional $50 million per year on UN peacekeeping commitments. Liberal commitment in 2019 echoes 2015 However, Walter Dorn, a professor of defence studies at the Canadian Forces College and one of the country's preeminent experts on peacekeeping, said he finds the overall language of the Liberal promise curious. "Those were the same words used by Liberals in 2015," he said. "So, are they renewing it because they haven't done it in the last four years?" Dorn said the Liberal government, for a variety of reasons, did not get substantially engaged in peacekeeping during its mandate. It made a number of splashy commitments at an international meeting in Vancouver in 2017, but only delivered a year-long deployment of helicopters to Mali and the more recent secondment of a C-130J Hercules transport for United Nations operations in Africa. "I hope they can learn from their first term," said Dorn. "Their performance is going to have to be much better if they're going to renew Canada's commitment to peacekeeping and secure a seat on the [UN] Security Council." He also noted the "average number" of uniform personnel deployed in UN peacekeeping missions under the Liberals was lower than during the former Conservative government era. There's a promise in the Liberal platform to focus international military training activities to include instruction for other countries on how to respond to "disasters due to climate change." NDP, Greens light on detail The NDP's platform, released weeks ago, also leans heavily on peacekeeping, but also promises to work toward nuclear disarmament. The Green Party makes a similar pledge, but also nods tentatively toward the instability beyond our borders. "Canada now needs a general purpose, combat-capable force that can provide realistic options to the government in domestic security emergencies, continental defence and international operations," said the Green's recently released platform. Last spring, the Conservatives released a detailed foreign and defence policy statement that promised to buy new submarines, join the U.S. ballistic missile defence program and expand the current military mission in Ukraine. But how much of that will make it into the party's campaign platform is unclear. It is expected to be unveiled soon. The Liberal platform pays specific attention to the Arctic, but within a foreign policy context promising to "strengthen continental defence" and in the North, moving "forward with better developed surveillance and rapid response capabilities." Huebert was left scratching his head. "That blurs together so many talking points, it creates a sense of nothingness," he said. There is no mention of NORAD modernization, including the planned replacement of the North Warning System chain of radar stations, a cost-shared endeavour with the United States that some experts have estimated could cost up to $11 billion (with Canadian taxpayers on the hook for 40 per cent or roughly $5 billion of that bill.) Huebert said, when the Liberals talk about "rapid response capabilities," they're referring to better search and rescue coverage in the North, something he said will become a necessity as more and more regions become ice-free in the summer. "Problem is: We just don't know what they're talking about," he said. A Liberal campaign spokeswoman said the party understands how crucial it is to support the Canadian military and pointed to the government's defence policy as well as all of the social improvements that have been made for serving members. "Our platform lays out our vision for moving our country forward and how we plan to build on the progress we have made over the past four years," said Eleanore Catenaro. Canada supported the UN with "real capabilities," she said, adding that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the uncertainty in the world in a foreign policy speech at the end of August. New framework for intelligence Interestingly, the platform specifically promises to create "a new framework governing how Canada gathers, manages and uses defence intelligence." That caught the attention of Perry who said the promise was likely red-circled by officials at the Department of National Defence. Few Canadians realize that the military is home to the largest intelligence organization in the federal government, in terms of sheer numbers. Precise figures are hard to establish, but the defence intelligence establishment is believed to be the country's second-best-funded intelligence organization The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, earlier this year, signalled it wanted to see the military's intelligence branch put on a tighter legislative leash, similar to legal constraints on civilian spy agencies. The committee recommended the Liberal government think seriously about drafting specific laws to govern how and under what circumstances military intelligence missions can take place. The Liberal platform promises to create a specific defence procurement agency, which is curious in the sense that a series of government ministers and senior officials have lauded how well military procurement has been going since the Liberals came to power. "There is a bit of a disconnect here," said Perry. "The message [with the platform promise] is that you're not happy with the way procurement has gone and you want it to go differently, better or make some substantive change." https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fed-elxn-world-1.5303672

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  November 28, 2019 | Local, Aerospace

  Top Aces credits RCAF experience for USAF adversary air contract

  by Chris Thatcher It's an old mantra among defence and aerospace companies: You first need success in your home country before you can export a capability or service internationally. That certainly rings true for Top Aces. You can draw a straight line between the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Contracted Airborne Training Services (CATS) program and the announcement in October that Top Aces' Arizona-based unit was among seven companies awarded part of the United States Air Force's $6.4 million Combat Air Force Contracted Air Support (CAFCAS) contract, said Paul Bouchard, president and chief executive officer. A pioneer of aggressor or “red” air training for militaries, Top Aces received an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract that will allow it to compete with Air USA, Airborne Tactical Advantage Company, Blue Air Training, Coastal Defense, Draken International and Tactical Air Support for adversary air services at 12 USAF bases, including Nellis, Luke, Hollman, Langley, Eglin and Tyndall. “Contractors will provide complete contracted air support services for realistic and challenging advanced adversary air threats and close air support threats,” the Department of Defense (DoD) said in a statement. The contract is being run by the Air Combat Command's Acquisition Management and Integration Center at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia and runs until October 2024. “Their intention is to stand up a contracted adversary service, almost like a unit, at all of the major air combat command bases for training on a daily basis,” explained Bouchard. “Once you have an IDIQ, you are then allowed to bid as a prime contractor at any or all of these operating locations, depending on what category of service you are positioned to provide.” Whether companies become the sole provider at a base or deliver services as part of a teaming arrangement where the demand for full spectrum training is exceptionally high remains to be seen. The USAF estimates the contract could involve between 30,000 and 40,000 hours of flying annually once the program is fully ramped up. The award is a major breakthrough in the U.S. for the Montreal-based company, which is also pursuing a U.S. Navy fighter services contract likely to be released in late 2019. Top Aces launched the interim CATS program in the mid 2000s and has spent the past 15 years gaining experience and investing in aircraft and advanced technology. In October 2017, under the banner of Discovery Air Defence, it retained the CATS program with a 10-year deal worth about $480-million that includes options to extend the service to 2031 and the value to as much as $1.4 billion. Success to the south would not have been possible without the “industry leading” certification and airworthiness standards demanded by the RCAF and Transport Canada, said Bouchard. “It is as close to a commercial equivalent certification standard as you will find in the world. With small exceptions, we are certified to the same standards as a commercial airliner or business jet. At the same time, we are fully audited and certified under military airworthiness regime. The quality, airworthiness and safety requirements were very high from the beginning ... That is where the USAF and other first-tier air forces want to go to.” To meet the training requirements of next-generation fighters such as the F-35 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor, Top Aces will be the first commercial provider to acquire and configure the F-16 Falcon to replicate a wide range of threats. The company has a binding contract with an undisclosed allied country to acquire 12 Block 15 A /B models. “The F-16 really is our growth platform for the future, especially for advanced adversary training,” explained Bouchard. “It is the most prolific adversary aircraft in the western world. It is the adversary aircraft of choice just because of its performance characteristics. It is a fourth-generation aircraft, so from an aircraft architecture standpoint, it can be equipped and configured in so many different ways ... And it is also scalable given there were more than 4,000 F-16s built. It is still a production aircraft. It has a lot of existing support in terms of sustainment.” The F-16 was proposed as a possible addition to the Canadian program, and may still come into play once a replacement for the CF-188 Hornets is selected. The USAF contract, however, gave the company the green light to file an application with the U.S. State Department for acquisition and transfer of the frontline aircraft. Under the terms of the CAFCAS deal, Top Aces must have an initial 12 aircraft in service by October 2020, though Bouchard hopes to be ready sooner. The fleet will be based at the F-16 Center of Excellence, near the company's U.S. headquarters in Mesa, Ariz. Top Aces has developed an advanced adversary mission system over the past five years for its principle fleets of Dornier Alpha Jets, Douglas A-4 Skyhawks and Bombardier Learjet 35A aircraft. While portions of the system are specific to each aircraft type and training mission, much of the common architecture will be transferable to the F-16, he said. To deliver the F-16 as a cutting-edge training platform, however, the company will also have to invest in advanced sensors, encrypted datalinks, high-end jamming and weapons capabilities that can realistically represent the latest adversary threats at exercises like Red Flag. “We need to be able to seamlessly integrate into that (encrypted network) and have both the aircrew and the systems to fly the scenario that the blue force wants on a given a day,” said Bouchard. “That requires advanced aircraft with advanced systems.” Critical to that capability is the experience of Top Aces' pilots. All are former air force with over 3,000 flight hours and many were aggressor pilots, fighter weapons instructors or U.S. Navy Top Gun pilots. But the secret sauce may be the maintainers and engineers, he said. Most have decades of experience maintaining legacy aircraft in a commercial context and understand the challenge of managing obsolescence issues. At a time when many air forces are struggling to retain talent enticed by the commercial sector, highly specialized aggressor training services are a way to return a dividend to the military for its investment. The combination of embedded service experience, platforms and technological capabilities provides a pedigree that can be readily exported as air forces grapple with the high costs of training for fighter pilots, naval crews and ground forces, including joint terminal attack controllers. Bouchard noted that current customers such as the German Armed Forces and possible future customers like the U.S Navy and Australian Defence Force, with whom the company recently completed a two-year trial, are predicting significant increases in their red air training volumes. “These are signals of where the industry is going,” he said, “and I think we bring a piece of the solution.” “We are committed to delivering a flexible, cost-effective and unique readiness training solution,” said Russ Quinn, president of Top Aces Corp and a former USAF aggressor pilot with over 3,300 flight hours in an F-16. https://www.skiesmag.com/news/top-aces-credits-rcaf-experience-for-usaf-adversary-air-contract