November 22, 2017 | International, Aerospace
DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN
More from David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen
The Canadian government highlighted at the recent Vancouver UN meeting its plan to have RCAF helicopters sent on United Nations missions.
Canadian government statements talked about an Aviation Task Force of armed helicopters while government staff provided details that the rotary contribution could include four armed helicopters and two “utility helicopters.”
Armed helicopters?
That specific phrase was selected because the UN had asked for attack helicopters. Since Canada doesn't have attack helicopters, government officials figured they would use the phrase “armed” to make it appear like they were meeting UN needs.
So Defence Watch asked what exactly the RCAF is committing to the UN.
The armed helicopters will be Griffons, equipped with door guns, according to the Canadian Forces.
The “utility” helicopters will be RCAF Chinooks. (the phrase utility helicopter in the Canadian context tends to refer to Griffons but in this case the government is using “utility” to refer to Chinooks).
And when or where will these helicopters be deployed? No one knows. It could be a couple of years.
July 20, 2023 | International, Aerospace
Reliable Robotics, a Silicon Valley startup aiming to automate conventional fixed-wing planes, has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to proceed with its plan to test and certify fully automated aircraft systems, the company said on Thursday.
September 6, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR
By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — When Congress delivered a $716 billion defense budget to the Pentagon, defense leaders made it clear it was a welcome boost — but some questioned if the number would be enough to do everything the department foresees as necessary. Now the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee — who is poised to take over the HASC should November elections go blue — is warning that tightened belts are on the horizon. Asked specifically if $716 billion is the right number for defense and whether future budgets will stay at that level, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash, said flatly: “No and no.” “I think the number's too high, and its certainly not going to be there in the future,” Smith said at the second annual Defense News Conference. The congressman argued that the debt and deficit situation facing the country requires balancing out how the government is spending, particularly after the Trump administration's tax cuts made it “even more difficult to get our budget under control.” But drawing down the defense budget has to be part of a broader look at U.S. strategy, something that Smith said requires a realistic look at America's military strategy. He pointed to the idea that 355 ships are vital for the Navy as an example of flawed logic, because “capability matters.” “We can do this,” Smith said of the U.S. remaining the key world power. “I'm not even remotely worried about it. It is a more complicated and different world in some ways, but the Cold War was no walk in the park either. World War II certainly wasn't. We will always face challenges. The question is about being smart. “We just have to be smart instead of trying to force our way back into a world that is never going to be again." “We are going to be a major, major player, probably the major player, on the global stage” for a long time to come, Smith added. “But we are not going to be utterly and completely dominant.” https://www.defensenews.com/smr/defense-news-conference/2018/09/05/adam-smith-expects-future-defense-budgets-to-dip-below-716-billion
November 25, 2024 | International, Land
The new weapon has three calibers that can be accessed via quick change barrels.