Bluedrop receives Boeing contract to provide courseware support for CH-147F Chinook

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  5 novembre 2018 | Local, Aérospatial

  Aviation de combat : le Canada devrait lancer un appel d'offres au printemps 2019

  Par Michel Cabirol Le Canada doit lancer au printemps 2019 un appel d'offres pour l'acquisition de 88 avions de combat. Il sera adressé aux cinq constructeurs de quatre pays sélectionnés en février dernier : Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Dassault Aviation, Airbus Defense and Space et Saab AB. Le dossier de renouvellement de la flotte d'avions de combat canadiens arrive bientôt dans sa phase cruciale. Le Canada doit lancer au printemps 2019 un appel d'offres (RFP) pour l'acquisition de 88 avions de combat. Il sera adressé aux cinq constructeurs de quatre pays sélectionnés par Ottawa en février dernier : Boeing ainsi que Lockheed Martin associé à Pratt and Whitney (Etats-Unis), Dassault Aviation (avec Thales DMS France, Thales Canada, et Safran Aircraft Engines), Airbus Defense and Space (Grande-Bretagne) et Saab AB (Suède). Le vainqueur de la compétition, qui devra livrer le premier appareil en 2025 et les derniers en 2031, sera désigné fin 2021, début 2022. "Il y a trois ans, nous nous trouvions dans une impasse avec ce processus, a rappelé jeudi dernier la ministre des Services publics et de l'Approvisionnement et de l'Accessibilité Carla Qualtrough. Aujourd'hui, je suis heureuse de vous apprendre que cette entreprise ambitieuse a repris son élan". En novembre 2016, le Canada avait lancé un appel d'offres afin de moderniser sa flotte de combat tout en restant partenaire du programme F-35 de Lockheed Martin. Une décision qui allait à l'encontre de la promesse du gouvernement canadien faite en 2010 d'acquérir 65 F-35. Une intention d'achat qui n'a pas résisté à l'inflation des prix du F-35. Des F-18 d'occasion pour faire la jonction Où en est-on aujourd'hui? Après avoir lancé le processus en décembre 2017, puis désigné les constructeurs admissibles en février, Ottawa a remis la semaine dernière un projet d'appel d'offres aux six avionneurs. Ces derniers disposent d'un délai d'environ huit semaines pour envoyer leurs commentaires, qui seront utilisés par le Canada en vue de peaufiner et finaliser l'appel d'offres (RFP, Request for proposal). Une fois le document envoyé aux six constructeurs, ces derniers enverront leur proposition initiale au Canada à l'hiver 2019-2020. Ensuite, elles seront évaluées entre 2020 et 2021 et pourront faire l'objet d'une négociation si nécessaire. "Nous travaillerons avec les fournisseurs, au cours des mois à venir, sur cette ébauche, a expliqué Carla Qualtrough. La demande de propositions officielle sera distribuée aux fournisseurs admissibles le printemps prochain". En attendant la livraison du premier avion de combat en 2025, Ottawa travaille avec le gouvernement australien pour acheter 18 F-18 d'occasion et les pièces de rechange associées de la Royal Australian Air Force pour renforcer la flotte existante. "Nous prévoyons recevoir les deux premiers avions en 2019", a affirmé Carla Qualtrough. Initialement, le Canada avait prévu d'acheter des F-18 neufs à Boeing. Mais en décembre 2017, la ministre des Services publics a annoncé que le Canada n'a "pas l'intention de donner suite à l'offre du gouvernement américain pour des Super Hornet". Un contrat évalué à plus de 5 milliards de dollars qui passe sous le nez de Boeing en raison de la multiplication des conflits commerciaux avec les États-Unis. Play Video Des retombées technologiques et industrielles pour le Canada La nouvelle politique du Canada en matière de retombées industrielles et technologiques exige des groupes se voyant attribuer une commande dans la défense qu'ils investissent localement un montant égal à la valeur du contrat. Elle s'appliquera à l'appel d'offres des avions de combat. Les soumissionnaires seront donc invités à présenter leur meilleure proposition de valeur pour le Canada. Car ce critère a une influence directe sur le choix du vainqueur. À l'heure où le Canada amorce une période d'investissements importants dans la défense, le gouvernement a fixé une cible très ambitieuse de retombées économiques pour le pays. Il vise une augmentation de 40 % sur une période de dix ans des revenus de l'industrie de la défense canadienne. Les propositions seront également évaluées en fonction des coûts et des exigences techniques. Elles seront par ailleurs assorties d'une évaluation de l'incidence globale des soumissionnaires sur les intérêts économiques du Canada. Quel constructeur se rapprochera le plus d'un avion de combat "Made in Canada"? https://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/industrie/aeronautique-defense/aviation-de-combat-le-canada-devrait-lancer-un-appel-d-offres-au-printemps-2019-795860.html

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  16 janvier 2018 | Local, Aérospatial

  Report could renew Canadian debate over U.S. missile defence system: defence analyst

  A European report forecasting a surge in billions of dollars worth of missile and missile defence sales worldwide over the next 10 years could renew Canadian debate over signing on to the U.S. missile defence system, a defence analyst says. The forecasting agency based in Amsterdam is offering a market report on missile systems to global defence production companies that forecasts a rise in the value of sales to $93 billion for 2027 — compared to $55 billion in 2018 — for a total of $725 billion in sales over the decade. In the summary of its industry report, ASDMedia BV says the main driver for missile production, including all types of missiles from ballistic to short range and air-to-air missiles, is an increase in “territorial conflicts.” “The market for missile defence systems is anticipated to be the largest category primarily due to the ongoing procurement of missile systems by countries of the Asia Pacific, North American and European regions,” the report says. The report was published recently, during the escalation of tension over North Korean nuclear missile launches, but prior to the missile attack scare from a false alarm in Hawaii on Saturday. The missile spending forecast could also be of interest to participants in an international conference the Canadian government is hosting in Vancouver this week on the North Korean standoff. Senior analyst with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, David Perry, says the market forecast of missile sales reflects a concern the Department of National Defence included about missile proliferation in the Liberal government's first national defence policy earlier this year, which at the same time included no specific plans for a response to the problem. Although the Liberal strategy included references to ballistic missile defence and modernizing northern defence warnings systems along with the U.S., it did not take a position on the long-sensitive question of whether Canada should sign on to the U.S. ballistic missile defence system. “It was one of those strange bits of the policy where there was an identification of an increased concern and a threat, but then not really any specific itemization of what was going to be done about it,” said Perry. Perry, who took part in closed-door consultations with experts in the lead-up to the review, said the market forecasts, along with the ongoing North Korea crisis, indicate ballistic missile defence should be renewed in Canadian defence discussions, following a short-lived flirtation with the idea by the last Liberal government in 2005. This past August, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared to almost rule out any chance of discussions with the U.S. over ballistic missile defence, but in September said Canada was not considering the idea “for the time being.” “Based on the comments by the Prime Minister, I'm not expecting any urgent movement on ballistic missiles,” said Perry, who argued for Canadian involvement in missile defence during the policy consultations. “I'm curious in a strategic sense, international market observers are saying there's a growing market for this technology because the potential threat of missiles is proliferating, and you've got that (ambiguous) language reflected in the defence policy,” he told iPolitics. The head of Ottawa's Rideau Institute, founded as an advocate for the rule of international law and disarmament, said Perry's desire to renew ballistic missile defence discussions is a reflection of the defence industry's views. “In my view, there isn't actually a debate,” said Rideau Institute president Peggy Mason. “The defence industry lobby keeps raising it, but I think it's absolutely clear that this government, the Liberal government, the Justin Trudeau government, has no interest in reviewing this issue, so long as President Trump is President,” said Mason. “There are so many good reasons not to review it,”Mason told iPolitics, “but just the difficulty of trying to sell this, getting closer to the U.S. on a very controversial and very costly area while President Trump is in office...” https://ipolitics.ca/2018/01/16/report-renew-canadian-debate-u-s-missile-defence-system-defence-analyst/

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  25 juin 2019 | Local, Naval

  Cost of 15 new Canadian warships rises to $70 billion: PBO report

  By Christian Paas-Lang Canada's 15 new warships will cost almost $70 billion over the next quarter-century, according to Parliament's budget watchdog, and the cost could change further depending on the final design of the ships and when they actually get built. The estimate, released in a report by the parliamentary budget office Friday, is up substantially from a Canadian government estimate in 2017 that pegged the price of the project at between $56 billion and $60 billion. The 2017 estimate was itself a revision of the project's original $26-billion price tag. Also in 2017, the PBO estimated the total cost of the ships to be $61.8 billion, but its report released Friday updates that to reflect the design of the ships — frigates known as “Type 26” — which wasn't known at the time. It also accounts for delays in the project. The Canadian government will now pay out $69.8 billion over 26 years, the PBO estimates. In a statement released shortly after the PBO report, the Department of National Defence said it remained “confident” in its 2017 estimate, and that the “vast majority” of the difference between the estimates came from the PBO's choice to include taxes in its projections. Taking away taxes brings the two estimates to within 10 per cent of each other, the DND said. But the department conceded that any small difference means hundreds of millions of dollars in costs for taxpayers. The PBO report says the difference in the estimates is due to a later start date for construction and a heavier ship design. The report assumes ships will start being built by the 2023-2024 fiscal year, three years later than its 2017 projection. As the timeline extends into the future, costs increase due to inflation. The PBO originally projected a displacement, or weight, of 5,400 tonnes for each ship but the Type 26 design is a heftier 6,790 tonnes per ship, an increase of more than 25 per cent. The report also includes an analysis of what effect further significant delays would have on the project. For a one-year delay, the PBO estimates, an extra $2.2 billion will be added to the project cost, and a two-year delay would cost the government $4.5 billion. In an interview Friday, the top bureaucrat in charge of procurement at the DND expressed skepticism that the heavier ships will result in as much increased cost as the PBO suggests, but he did say the potential for delays was something he is “watching more carefully.” “The labour piece is always where uncertainty can remain,” said Pat Finn, the department's associate deputy minister for material, noting labour can make up around 40 per cent of the cost of a ship. Finn said the DND is in the “same place” as the PBO on the cost of “slippage” — delays in the project — but that he is confident the structure of the National Shipbuilding Strategy will mean the project could benefit from a skilled workforce and ongoing expertise. The purchase of additional Arctic patrol ships, announced last month, means there will not be a lapse in efficiency at Irving's Halifax shipyard, which is building the warships, Finn said. He set a goal for start of construction earlier than the PBO assumes in its report. “We would say between mid-2022 and mid-2023, we're in-contract and cutting steel,” Finn said. Potential delays would certainly increase costs, and it would be “absolutely no shock if there was additional delays,” said Dave Perry, a procurement expert with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. “To this point in time, the government has not been able to meet any of the timelines that have been put forward publicly,” he added. Still, the closer you get to construction, Perry said, the less uncertainty there should be about costs and the potential for further delay. The last thing that might change the final cost of the ships is the specifics of what components are chosen to fill out the design — which radar equipment, for example, Perry said. The DND is deciding on those components as it reconciles the requirements of the ships with costs. “You could potentially get a few-percentage-point swing” in price in either direction based on those choices, said Perry. “But if you're talking about several tens of billions of dollars, a few-percentage-points swing is real money.” https://globalnews.ca/news/5418997/canada-warships-cost/