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By: Aaron Mehta How will US Marines adjust for the future fight? | Reagan Defense Forum 2019 WASHINGTON — The top officer in the U.S. Marine Corps is sticking to the planned procurement of the F-35 joint strike fighter — but indicated a willingness to cut planes in the future if analysis says it makes sense. Marine Commandant Gen. David Berger told reporters Wednesday that he is a firm believer in the capabilities the F-35 is bringing, in particular the jump-jet B model favored by the service. However, Berger made it clear he's not wedded to long-term procurement plans, at a time the corps is shedding legacy missions as it pivots to focus to a primarily naval-focused service. “Right now, the program of record plows ahead as it is,” he said. “But I'm signaling to the industry, we have to be prepared to adjust as the operating environment adjusts. Right now, the program of record stays the same, but we will — we must — adapt to the adversary and we must adapt to the operating environment that we're challenged with being in.” Berger noted that an upcoming independent review of his force posture plans, expected to be completed in the next few months, could be a forcing function for more changes. Already, his planning guidance to the corps changed how many planes are featured in each F-35 squad, from 16 to 10. Longstanding plans call for the Marines to procure 353 of the F-35B and 67 of the F-35C carrier variants. “There's nothing like it,” Berger said of the jet. “The F-35B, the ability to operate from austere airfields and ships both, [is] incredible. In wargames, it's one of the handful of capabilities that really caused an adversary problems, because it is so flexible, it's deployable ashore or from ship. Gamechanger is sort of an overused phrase, but I'm a huge advocate of the F-35 and its capabilities.” Broadly speaking, Berger said, what will drive how many F-35s are in a squadron going forward, or how many the Corps eventually buys, comes down to maintenance — a longstanding issue for the stealthy jet. “If the maintenance readiness of the F-35 proves to be very, very strong, then of course, like any other system you need less of them because more of them are up all the time. On the other hand, if it turns out not to be so, then you're going to need more of them, to account for the ones that are in repair, that are down right now,” he said. Complicating that issue is what he called the “unique” supply chain for the jet, which in theory lets parts flow in from all over the world, as opposed to the traditional U.S. based supply. “In all aspects, we absolutely know we will learn along the way, and if its appropriate we will make adjustments” to either the squad level or the overall buy, Berger said. “But it's not a lack of confidence in the airframe at all.” https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/04/01/top-marine-signaling-to-industry-that-f-35-cuts-are-on-the-table/

By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The U.S. Missile Defense Agency plans to hold a competition that could split up the work among contractors to modernize and sustain America's missile defense system, which is designed to destroy intercontinental ballistic missile threats. Boeing has held the development and sustainment contract for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense systems in place at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Boeing's contract is set to expire in 2023. The GMD system is made up of more than 44 Ground-Based Interceptors buried in silos in the ground along with ground control stations, detection and fire control systems, and other support infrastructure. Boeing received a sole-source $6.6 billion award in 2018 to build a new silo and 20 more GBIs, as well as to sustain the system. But Vice Adm. Jon Hill, the MDA's director, told an audience in March at an Association of the U.S. Army event that “we know that contract is not giving us everything that we need for the future, so we are going to compete that contract downstream.” The agency is working to develop a Next-Generation Interceptor that would replace the current GBIs with more capable interceptors. Its plan to upgrade the GBI's exoatmospheric kill vehicle with a redesigned version was canceled in 2019 due to technical problems. Rather than rework that program, the agency decided to design an entirely new interceptor and stop building new GBIs. A request for proposals for the NGI is due imminently. But along with a new NGI, “we are going to make sure that ground systems, sensors and fire control, all the rest of the system, we have the opportunity to inject that competition because I think that is very important,” Hill said. The MDA previously considered splitting up the contract several times, believing that would reduce cost and create efficiency in the program, but nothing materialized toward that goal. This time, the MDA has released two requests for information with the possibility of splitting up the contract. The most recent RFI was posted on Beta.Sam.Gov in March. “I will tell you that our lead system integrator does a great job today and the partnerships with industry within that construct do a great job, but we think that it's so large and complex we should be doing everybody a favor by being able to split that up without losing the integration among all those pieces,” Hill said, “so our intent is to move in that direction.” The agency “is exploring different approaches for fulfilling the GMD Program Element requirements. Acquisition approaches under consideration range from an award of multiple contracts to execute segments/missions of the program scope to a single contract to execute the entirety of the program scope,” the RFI states. “Essential to all of the acquisition approaches under consideration is the establishment of an enduring arrangement strategy for the execution of the [Weapon Systems Integration (WSI)] functions across the program lifecycle, either under a single prime contract, or as one of the multiple contracts.” The RFI lays out a possible plan to split up the contract into five pieces. One contractor would provide the NGI, which is being addressed through a separate request for proposals. Another would be responsible for legacy and future ground systems, and another for sustaining the existing GBIs. And a company would operate the weapon system along with military operators and would run fleet maintenance scheduling and deconfliction, site operations, test support, and depot and parts management, the RFI lays out. Lastly, a contractor would serve as the weapon systems integrator, making it responsible for overall GMD integration “including physical and logical integration of the GMD components, GMD system and MDA enterprise level integration, planning and execution of all necessary testing to verify and validate overall requirements compliance,” the RFI states. Responses to the RFI are due April 10. https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2020/04/02/missile-defense-agency-to-inject-competition-into-homeland-missile-defense-contract/

By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — The amount of funding for defense research awarded through other transaction authorities have increased nearly tenfold in five years, according to a new analysis seen exclusively by Defense News. The report, by data and analytics firm Govini, shows the use of OTAs and small business innovation research contracts has expanded to the point that, in 2019, the two methods accounted for $9.6 billion, or 10 percent of the Defense Department's research, development, test and evaluation spending. OTAs are small contracts awarded to companies of any size, in theory targeted at nontraditional defense contractors, with the purpose of conducting research or prototype efforts on a specific project; they are not subject to Federal Acquisition Regulation rules. SBIR contracts are targeted at small businesses in order to act as seed money for them to conduct research and development efforts; they are subject to the FAR rules. Overall, $34.5 billion have been handed out in the last five years through the two contracting methods, to 6,503 unique vendors. However, more than half the OTA dollars are going to only three consortia. The two contracting methods may be about to jump in importance for the department, in light of the new coronavirus outbreak. Navy acquisition head Hondo Geurts, in a March 24 memo, ordered his workforce to do what they can to keep small companies assigned to naval research programs on track, including specifically calling out the need to protect SBIR efforts. Govini tracked the use of OTA and SBIR contracts over a five-year period, from fiscal 2015 through fiscal 2019. “The Defense Department's surging use of OTAs reflects its strong desire to break free from the stringent acquisition process, better access innovative technologies, and lure new companies to the defense ecosystem who otherwise may not see the federal government as a viable or lucrative potential market,” said Tara Murphy Dougherty, Govini CEO. “Fundamentally, the Department is driven by the imperative to outpace China's military modernization in order to retain a military advantage, and they understand that leveraging emerging technologies and the very best technology available in American industry — not just the Defense Industrial Base — are critical to achieving that goal,” she added. OTA dominance The numbers tell a particularly stark story of how the department is increasing its use of OTA contracts. From 2015-2017, the government awarded $12.5 billion in SBIR contracts, versus $4.9 billion in OTA contracts. But from 2018-2019, the government awarded $5.7 billion in SBIR contracts, while it handed out $11.4 billion in OTA deals — an increase large enough to nearly draw even over the five-year period. That increase in OTA funding also ties into the mission laid out by the National Defense Strategy, which encourages a focus on great power competition with China and Russia. According to Govini, the two biggest OTA investments of RDT&E dollars during this time period were $5 billion for munitions and long-range fires, and $3 billion for space systems. While the dollar totals are becoming closer, overall SBIR recipients continue to dwarf OTAs — 6,213 to 290 during the five-year period. In the number of OTA awards per service, the Army leads the way. (Govini) The Army leads the way with use of the two contract methods ($14.1 billion) during this period, followed by the Air Force ($10.4 billion), defensewide agencies ($6 billion) and the Navy ($4 billion). The two contract types also split their dollars in divergent ways. The top SBIR vendor, Colsa Corporation, received 4 percent of total SBIR awards, and the top ten (which includes Colsa) received less than 20 percent of the overall total. In comparison, the top three OTA vendors are consortia managers that make up more than half of total OTA contracts. Those three are Analytic Services Inc. ($5.429 billion), Advanced Technology International ($1.616 billion) and Consortium Management Group Inc. ($1.238 billion). Traditional defense corporations are taking advantage of OTAs as well. The fourth highest recipient of OTA money is United Launch Alliance, co-owned by Lockheed Martin and Boeing; the sixth highest recipient is Lockheed; the eight highest is Northrop Grumman; and the 10th highest is Boeing. Given that OTAs were designed to reach out to nontraditional defense firms, “it's surprising how many traditional defense contractors benefit from OTA arrangements,” Murphy Dougherty said. “Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing were all top OTA vendors over the past five years. This is a good example of how accessing the data can help the Department measure its success in terms of achieving intended outcomes through actions like increased OTA use.” Earlier this month, Ellen Lord, the Defense Department's top acquisition official, was asked at a McAleese & Associates conference about data that shows prime contractors taking advantage of OTA contracts. Lord indicated her office needed to gather more data on the issue before taking a look. “The whole premise of OTAs was to get the nontraditional [vendors] and the smalls there,” Lord responded. “I find it hard to imagine a situation where large primes would predominately use OTAs, but I don't know what I don't know. That wasn't the objective. “Oversight is one of our responsibilities in A&S [the office of acquisition and sustainment] that I take very seriously, so we need to make sure that we don't have unintended results from some of the polices that we implement. We're always trying to improve that.” https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/04/01/pentagon-turns-to-new-buying-tools-10-times-more-often/

ByChristen McCurdy April 1 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin has been awarded an $818.2 million contract for production of Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles for the U.S. Air Force and allied militaries, according to the Pentagon. Under the contract Lockheed will produce 360 Lot 17 JASSM-Extended Range missiles, 40 Lot 17 Foreign Military Sales JASSM-ER missiles and 390 Lot 18 JASSM-ER missiles. The deal is funded in part by fiscal year 2018 procurement funds -- to the tune of $767.4 million -- as well as $50.7 million in money from the Department of Defense's Foreign Military Sales program. It's unclear who will purchase the missiles produced through FMS under the current contract, but in August 2019 Lockheed received a contract to produce JASSM for Poland, Finland and Australia. The JASSM is a 2,000-pound long-range, air-to-ground standoff missile designed to destroy high-value, well-defended, fixed and relocatable targets. The missiles will be produced in Orlando, Fla., and production is expected to be complete on Oct. 31, 2024. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2020/04/01/Lockheed-nabs-8182M-to-produce-JASSMs-for-Air-Force-allies/2211585788006/

Compte tenu de la crise du Covid-19, Dassault Aviation a décidé de suspendre ses objectifs 2020. Par ailleurs, le constructeur aéronautique a décidé de tenir l'Assemblée générale du 12 mai prochain à huis-clos, de supprimer la proposition de dividende 2019 et d'affecter ainsi la totalité du bénéfice net au report à nouveau. https://www.boursedirect.fr/fr/actualites/categorie/actualites-financieres/dassault-aviation-suspend-ses-objectifs-2020-et-supprime-le-dividende-2019-aof-c9879e8b7400dd57cd0aff19514d552ee23eb9b7

Byron Callan The coronavirus pandemic is going to be as consequential for defense and security as were the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S. For the defense sector, there are multiple implications to ponder and possibly to begin to position for as these play out in 2021 and beyond. Large contractors should fare relatively well in 2020, compared to other sectors. They will not see the demand destruction that is ripping through commercial aerospace and therefore are unlikely to experience financial duress. That alone may enable them to act strategically and aggressively in 2020 and beyond, although there are risks to weigh as well. Here are six changes to ponder: First, a crisis the size of the COVID-19 pandemic is bound to spawn new government investment and organization to address future outbreaks. The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks led to the formation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and creation of the position of director of national intelligence. It's fair to assume there will be changes in the wake of the current pandemic. Some contractors already have federal services segments that address U.S. health care. Core skills they can bring are dealing with bureaucracies, technology and regulations. There should be new opportunities in 2021 and beyond from whatever changes are made to improve the national resilience and response to future pandemics. Second, small and medium-size businesses are being stressed. The CARES Act in the U.S. may help somewhat, and changes in Defense Department progress payment rates could be another short-term relief. Large contractors might choose to vertically integrate to improve their fortitude against future shocks. Or there could be further consolidation, particularly of distressed suppliers. A reintegration of defense and commercial aerospace is a third change that might emerge. The Raytheon-United Technologies merger may be a harbinger of this shift. The ramifications of the coronavirus crisis on the air transport and commercial aerospace sectors could lead to structural changes and a need for capital, particularly in commercial aerospace. If valuations remain depressed in 2020-21 in commercial aerospace, there could be more opportunity for defense contractors to reintegrate. A fourth change could be to expectations for contractors. The model for U.S. defense since 1945 has largely been that the Pentagon pays for the bulk of research and development, and contractors can reclaim most of their own research and development as an allowable cost for which they are reimbursed. Operating margins have generally risen, compared to levels evidenced in the 1980s and before, and large contractors have in the last 15-20 years allocated most free cash flow to shareholders. It is conceivable that this model will change in the 2020s. Operating margins may appear to be ho-hum compared to other sectors, but returns on invested capital are attractive. If there is a greater squeeze on the Pentagon budget and demand for security remains steady or increases, this could compel the Pentagon to change expectations for contractor behavior. Could they be expected to take on more contract risk? Will they need to step up their own independent research and development funding or find more creative ways to access and apply technology to national security needs? On the flip side, could there be more emphasis on dual-use technology investment, as occurred in the 1990s, where research and development for defense should have commercial/civil benefits as well? A fifth potential change is in security threats and national defense strategies. Some governments and regimes might come through this crisis with their positions enhanced, having overseen relatively mild disruptions and having been able to achieve quick economic bounce-backs. Others, however, will have failed this test, and they could see new political challengers (in democracies) or be overthrown or consumed by internal unrest from competing forces or mass movements that are emboldened by recent failures. The Middle East remains a likely place for these sorts of changes; Venezuela is another. The civil war in Syria and the fighting in Libya are current examples of how state collapse and regime challenge can drag in outside interests. The U.S. National Defense Strategy that reoriented the Pentagon and contractors toward “great power” competition could be pulled in different directions depending on where fragilities emerge. Some allies may be significantly weakened, and that could bear on U.S. defense planning and export sales. It is not just the coronavirus that matters in this regard; the crash in oil prices is also a factor to weigh. Finally, the coronavirus has turbocharged federal deficits and is sending federal debt to record levels. It may take weeks or months to assess just how much is going to be added, but there will be a fourth and possibly a fifth stimulus package in the U.S. Ultralow interest rates and the urgency of limiting social and economic damage and keeping the health care system functioning make this tolerable. But higher debt raises the risk in the 2020s that if rates increase, interest outlays could weigh on defense. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/opinion-six-ways-covid-19-could-change-defense-sector

By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — Boeing and the Air Force have finalized an agreement to fix the KC-46 aerial refueling tanker's most serious technical problem, Defense News has learned from multiple sources familiar with the matter. The agreement puts an end to years of negotiations between the Air Force and aerospace giant over the nature and extent of redesign work needed to correct the Remote Vision System, the collection of cameras and sensors that provide boom operators the imagery needed to steer the boom into another aircraft and safely transfer fuel. Perhaps more importantly, the deal paves a path that will allow the service to deploy the KC-46 in combat in the mid 2020s — something Air Force leaders have bristled against with the tanker in its current form. The Air Force and Boeing have agreed on a two-phased roadmap to address RVS technical issues, said one source familiar with the agreement. The first phase allows Boeing to continue providing incremental improvements to software and hardware that will fine-tune the imagery seen by the boom operator, the source said. The second phase — which will take years to complete — involves a comprehensive redesign of the RVS where its hardware and software will be almost completely replaced with new color cameras, advanced displays and improved computing technology. Boeing and the Air Force both declined to comment on the matter. Unlike legacy tankers, where boom operators can look out a window in the back of the aircraft and rely on visual cues to steer the boom, operators in the KC-46 are completely dependent on the imagery provided by the RVS. Although Air Force operators say the system works in most conditions — and provides a safer way to offload fuel during nighttime conditions or bad weather — certain lighting conditions can cause the RVS imagery to appear warped and misleading, contributing to cases where the boom accidentally scrapes the surface of another aircraft. That could be a safety hazard for the pilot of the plane receiving gas, and it could also potentially scrape the stealth coating off a low observable jet, eroding its ability to evade radar detection. Under the terms of Boeing's fixed-price firm contract and previous agreements with the service, the company will be financially responsible for paying for the entirety of the redesign effort. The company has already exceeded the $4.9 billion ceiling on the contract, and has paid more than $3.5 billion in cost overruns as technical problems have mounted. Boeing is the system integrator for the RVS and designs its software, while the system's cameras and sensors are primarily designed by Collins Aerospace. Air Force's acquisition executive Will Roper is expected to brief congressional staff on the deal this afternoon, sources said. Afterwards, the service is expected to release additional information about the deal. Boeing delivered the first KC-46 tanker to McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., in January 2019, but the Air Force has withheld $28 million per aircraft upon delivery due to the RVS issues. So far, the company has delivered 33 tankers to the service. https://www.defensenews.com/breaking-news/2020/04/02/done-deal-boeing-will-have-to-rip-and-replace-kc-46-sensor-and-camera-systems-on-its-own-dime

Mike Gruss The Space Force awarded L3 Technologies and Raytheon's Space and Airborne Systems contracts worth as much as $1 billion for the development and production of new modems that would help with protected satellite communications. The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts, each worth as much as $500 million, are part of the Air Force and Army Anti-Jam Modem program, which is also known as A3M. The modems would be capable of handling the new Protected Tactical Waveform, which provides anti-jamming communications for warfighters on the battlefield. The program is led by the Army's Program Executive Office Command Control Communications – Tactical and the Space Force's Space and Missile Systems Center. Space Force officials emphasized that they awarded the contract about four months ahead of schedule. In a request for information from 2018, military officials said the modem would be used in the Air Force Ground Multiband Terminal and Army Space Transportable Terminal. The contracts are also expected to include terminals or terminal components to work with the new Protected Tactical SATCOM system, commercial satellites and the Air Force's Wideband Global SATCOM satellites. “We are very excited to be partnering with Raytheon and L3 Technologies Inc. to bring Protected Tactical Waveform anti-jam capability to both Department of the Air Force and Army users,” said Shannon Pallone, senior materiel leader, Tactical SATCOM Division, said in a release. “This was a joint team from the start, a partnership between the Space Force and the Army, and included support from the [National Security Agency].” https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/04/01/space-force-awards-contracts-worth-as-much-as-1b-for-new-modems

COVID-19 is the most disruptive event to hit the world's economy and nations since World War II, and the end is nowhere in sight. So how will the mix of business shutdowns, self-isolation, and plummeting government tax revenues (further depleted by COVID-19 relief spending) affect the Canadian defence industry? At this early stage, it is impossible to provide a definitive answer. That said, the companies and experts contacted by CDR provided some insights into the problem; based on their best assessments of what is going on. EXPECT DELAYS IN PROCUREMENT DECISIONS COVID-19 is bad news for Canada's defence procurement process. It has already resulted in delays to current projects, such as Irving Shipyards closing down work on the Canadian Surface Combatant in mid-March. It could also delay ongoing procurements such as the Future Fighter Capability Project, which is due to receive proposals from Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, and Saab by June 30, 2020. “In a situation like this, the key decisions are put off in government,” said Alan Williams, (During his 33 years in the federal civil service, Williams was Assistant Deputy Minister, Supply Operations Service in Public Works and Government Services Canada for five years; followed by fives years as DND's Assistant Deputy Minister of Materiel.) “Now you can do a lot of the paperwork associated with the procurement; including reviews and evaluations. But until things get back to normal, the key decisions will be put off.” AIRBUS HELICOPTERS REMAINS OPEN Canadian Airbus Helicopter operators can count on getting service during the COVID-19 shutdown. The reason: “Airbus Helicopters Canada qualifies as an essential workplace in the Province of Ontario,” said Dwayne Charette, the company's President/COO. “This allows us to continue to support our customers operating their helicopters to save lives, protect people and maintain critical infrastructure both in Canada and around the world. Our customers, including law enforcement agencies, militaries, emergency air medical service operators, and utility companies, are all relying on us to ensure they can continue to perform their critical missions and we have a responsibility to support them.” (In maintaining operations, Airbus is following approved COVID-19 infection-prevention procedures.) When it comes to Airbus Defence and Space Canada's contracts with the Canadian Armed Forces for CC-295 fixed-wing search and rescue (FWSAR) aircraft, “We are closely monitoring the situation and are in close contact with our customers,” said company President Simon Jacques. “We will review the situation once operations resume.” (Airbus delivered the first of 16 CC-295s to the RCAF in January 2020.) Airbus is also looking into producing critical medical equipment, in line with the federal government's plea to industry. MV ASTERIX READY TO HELP, DAVIE STILL RUNNING The Canadian Armed Forces are primed and ready to help with COVID-19 relief across Canada. So is Federal Fleet Services, which owns and operates the MV Asterix supply ship on behalf of the Royal Canadian Navy. At the moment, it is sitting crewed and ready for action in Halifax. “When we first designed the MV Asterix, we did a lot to ensure that it was ready for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief,” said Alex Vicefield, chairman and CEO of Inocea Group; the parent company for Federal Fleet Services and Davie Shipbuilding. This is why the MV Asterix has an operating theatre, Intensive Care Unit, and other medical facilities onboard; ready to sail to whatever accessible port the federal government sends it to. “The Asterix is ready to serve as a scaled-down hospital ship; if it were needed for that,” said Vicefield. The ship's hospital even has its own separate HVAC system that would keep the air breathed by COVID-19 patients separate from the rest of the air circulating throughout the ship. Meanwhile, Davie Shipbuilding is continuing to convert three Swedish oil and gas icebreakers to serve with the Canadian Coast Guard. “We're not going to stop this project, obviously, because those are important national security assets for Canada,” said Vicefield. He explained the need to boost Canada's icebreaking capacity without delay in terms COVID-19's possible impact on US food exports to Canada. If this year's US crop yields are slashed due to pandemic deaths and social isolation, “the potential for that food supply to stop coming over the border would make Canada more reliant on foreign ships coming from Europe and so on,” Vicefield told CDR. “So the need for icebreakers is even more pressing.” TERRANOVA PITCHES IN Before COVID-19 hit, Terranova Defense Solutions was focussed on providing drones for air, land, and water applications; including its remotely-controlled Dolphin One water rescue drone. Now that COVID-19 is here, the company intends to answer Ottawa's call for help by adding much-needed medical supplies to its product roster. “Terranova Defense Solutions has already engaged with other companies to global source medical supplies for Canada,” said company President/Founder James Castle. “We are currently waiting for a response from the Canadian government to the next steps and we are prepared to help Canada in whatever way we can for no profit to best serve our Canadian family.” Thanks to its mainstream drone business, Terranova Defense Solutions already has procurement relationships with international partners. “These groups have been working with us as one united front -- helping Canadians through our Call to Arms against COVID-19 – to help us in sourcing new Europe CE and US FDA Certified medical supplies and ventilators for those in need,” said Castle. This said, “Finding transportation and funding to purchase and ship these items has been a challenge.” Looking ahead, “The main challenge facing us at this time is the uncertainty of what the landscape will look like following the pandemic,” Castle told CDR. “We believe that, while there will be negative impacts to the industry, there are and will be opportunities for companies that provide fresh and innovative solutions to the country going forward.” CAE TAKES TOUGH STEPS As detailed in a March 23, 2020 webcast to investors, CAE sees COVID-19 as “a crisis of unprecedented speed and magnitude,” said Marc Parent, CAE's President and Chief Executive Officer. To manage its way through the pandemic's economic impact, CAE farsightedly formed a crisis committee in January 2020. As of March 23rd, “we're taking immediate steps to preserve cash by cutting capital expenditures and reducing operating expenses, including temporary layoffs and salary cuts across the board,” Parent said. In response to a CDR question about the impact of COVID-19 on CAE's defence projects, Parent noted that the company's defence training programs are service level agreements with government clients. This means that payments associated with these defence agreements are not reliant upon actual usage by clients, which is the case with CAE's civil aviation training programs. “We're providing critical services here too, and the US government has recently articulated the absolute necessity of this activity,” said Parent. This said, some US bases have restricted access to their facilities; specifically by imposing 14-day quarantine pre-entry requirements on people from 100 miles outside of these installations. “Anything and everything that has to do with the movement and cooperation of people is more challenging in this environment,” Parent said. “So we've been impacted in terms of getting orders fulfilled, just because of that; getting access to the people, meeting face-to-face ... As well, the general preoccupation with the crisis clearly has an impact on the speed of the procurement processes.” The only good news for CAE in the COVID-19 crisis is that “we have approximately a $4 billion backlog in defence, which provides us with a good source of diversification and visibility,” said Parent. “Longer term, we don't see an obvious structural impact on defence. But I think we can anticipate some short-term friction as we move through this period.” AFTER CANCELLING CANSEC, CADSI TAKES UPBEAT APPROACH COVID-19 is proving to be difficult for the Canadian Association for Defence and Security Industries (CADSI); most notably because it has cancelled plans to stage the CANSEC 2020 global defence and security trade show in Ottawa May 27-28, 2020. The bad news was announced on March 31, 2020, during CADSI's Annual General Meeting (which, due to COVID-19, was held as a teleconference.) “As you can imagine, the decision was not made lightly,” said CADSI President and CEO Christyn Cianafarani. The reason CADSI took so long to cancel this year's CANSEC – compared to other COVID-19 related event cancellations – is because “it has a $10 million impact on the local Ottawa economy,” she explained. “We took the time necessary to explore every possible option with the City of Ottawa, our partners, contractors and suppliers to mitigate the losses to our community, in order to secure the long-term viability of CANSEC.” Despite the loss of CANSEC 2020, Cianafarani is taking an upbeat approach to the pandemic, by focussing on the good things her members are doing for Canada. “Throughout this crisis, the Canadian defence and security sectors have stepped up to support where help is most needed,” Cianafarani told CDR. “Companies from coast-to-coast have refocused their attention to produce in-demand equipment like N95 masks, gloves, testing kits, shelters and ventilators needed to protect health care workers, patients, and the public. With the rise in online activity, cyber defence and security companies have offered free cyber protection services to hospitals, medical supply chains and other essential service providers.” “These are just some examples,” she continued. “At the Association level, we are working hard to ensure companies facing hardships and challenges are connected to the government programs best placed to help them get through these exceptional economic times.” AIAC SEEKS ‘ESSENTIAL SERVICE' STATUS In an emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic, access to aviation is vital. This is why the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC) – in association with AIAC member companies and regional aerospace industry associations – “has been calling for action from the Prime Minister and Premiers to designate the aerospace, defence and space sectors an essential service in all of Canada's provinces and territories,” said AIAC President and CEO Jim Quick. “Canada's aerospace industry is doing vital work -- providing products, services and solutions for a variety of purposes including emergency medical services and the transportation of vital medical equipment, domestic and international transportation, firefighting, search and rescue, telecommunications, border and maritime patrol and security, law enforcement, and military operations and support -- and it needs a consistent approach across the country. Not surprisingly, the global shutdown is seriously affecting AIAC member companies. To help them weather the storm, “we've been actively reaching out to our members, letting them know we are here to assist in any way we can during this crisis,” said Quick. To achieve this the AIAC is sending out a daily ‘News You Can Use' COVID-19 update that outlines the latest aerospace industry related news and announcements. The association has also launched a specialized 'COVID-19 Updates and Resources' website page for the latest on government resources on stimulus, subsidies, webinars and more; plus holding briefings with federal cabinet members. As well, “Aerospace is responding to the government's call for retooling to convert operations to deliver on needed supplies such as ventilators, masks and other essential supplies and equipment,” Quick told CDR. CDAI POLLS SHOWS SOLID SUPPORT FOR CAF INTERVENTION 88% of Canadians believe that the Canadian Armed Forces have a role to play in supporting civilian authorities manage and mitigate the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a survey conducted by the Conference of Defence Associations Institute (CDAI) and Ipsos Canada. Based on a March 20-23, 2020 online survey of 2,000 Canadians aged 18+, the poll foreshadowed Ottawa's decision to publicly commit the CAF to COVID-19 relief on March 30, 2020. Among the CDAI/Ipsos Canada poll findings: 65% supported the CAF helping to deliver medical and other supplies to service providers and the Canadian public; 64% were okay with the CAF supporting Canadian law enforcement agencies; 58% supported the continued use of CFB Trenton to quarantine at-risk or infected travellers/evacuees; 54% wants the CAF to help with evacuating and medical transporting infected Canadians. "I am not surprised by these survey results,” said LGen (Ret'd) Guy Thibault, CDAI Chair and former Vice-Chief of Defence Staff. “Time and again Canadians have seen the outstanding professionalism and critical contributions of the men and women of the Canadian Forces in humanitarian missions and natural disaster relief operations abroad and at home. There is no more important mission for the Forces than protecting Canadians in times of great need, and they are a highly respected and trusted national institution.” http://www.canadiandefencereview.com/Featured_content?blog/168