21 janvier 2020 | Local, Aérospatial, C4ISR
CAE has announced the appointment of Todd Probert as group president, Defence and Security, effective Jan. 27, 2020. He will be based in Washington, D.C., and is succeeding Gene Colabatistto, who retired from CAE in December 2019.
“I am very pleased to welcome Todd Probert to CAE's executive management team, as our new group president, Defence and Security. He is a proven strategic business leader with the right balance of technical, business and international experience in defence and technology,” said Marc Parent, CAE's president and chief executive officer. “Todd's competencies and background are very well aligned with CAE's emphasis on digital innovation and our long-term vision to be the training partner of choice. His ability to drive business growth and create strategic partnerships will bring significant value to our company and our defence customers.”
Probert worked for Raytheon, the world's fourth largest defence company, over the past 10 years. Most recently, he was leading the Command, Control, Space and Intelligence business unit as part of Raytheon's Intelligence, Information and Services segment. In this role, he spearheaded Raytheon's use of commercial software development practices and artificial intelligence for military and intelligence community customers in addition to establishing strategic relationships with Silicon Valley companies. He previously served as the vice-president of Raytheon's Mission Support and Modernization product line where he steadily grew the business during his tenure. He has formed innovative partnerships with leading tech companies to transform the development timelines and delivery of capabilities to the U.S. Department of Defense in areas such as fully open architectures, artificial intelligence and cyber security. He also held the position of vice-president, Engineering and Technology, where he managed the engineering workforce for Raytheon's Intelligence, Information and Services portfolio.
Before joining Raytheon, Probert worked for Honeywell Technology Solutions, Inc. (HTSI) in various functions such as strategy and business development, planning and operations, merger and acquisition activities, and he also served as HTSI's chief technology officer. Prior to that, he worked for ANSER, where he led the Space Technology division.
In 2019, Probert was named by WashingtonExec as one of the Top 10 Department of Defense (DOD) Executives to Watch based on business accomplishments, impact on the defence community and vision for the future. He also received the 2019 Aviation Week Program Excellence Award in the OEM Sustainment category.
Probert holds a master's degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Purdue University, where he was named Outstanding Aerospace Engineer of the Year in 2017. He has a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan.
27 septembre 2022 | Local, Aérospatial
Le remplacement d’ici quelques années des vieux CF-18 par un nouvel avion de chasse, le F-35, annoncé par le gouvernement du Canada le printemps dernier, est une occasion en or que l’Aéroport de Gatineau n’a pas l’intention de louper. Il est temps pour l’aéroport de passer à la seconde étape de son plan de développement, affirme la direction de l’organisation aéroportuaire.
19 novembre 2019 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
By Lee Harding The Liberal government announced its new cabinet on Nov. 20—the very same day the Canadian Global Affairs Institute hosted its annual event on the topic of military procurement. Given that an overhaul in that area is sorely needed, Canada can learn a lot from Australia, Ian Mack wrote in a recent report for the institute. Mack is uniquely qualified to make that assessment, having worked with both governments in their process of awarding contracts for military sea vessels. While he believes both countries had an acceptable result, his report, titled “Another Way to Buy Frigates,” suggests the Canadian approach adds work, balloons costs, and delays success. The re-elected Trudeau government should take note. The Liberals proposed significant changes to Canada's defence procurement system during the election campaign, but it will be a tall order to change this process. The land down under is isolated in a less secure part of the globe, without a nearby superpower like the United States to watch its back. So if Australia is far more diligent about defence than Canada, it might be due to necessity. The last time Canada had a proper and comprehensive white paper on defence was 1994. Australia has had three in the 21st century. Australia's effectiveness goes from the top down, something Canada knows nothing of. As Mack explains, “Canada, uniquely among its allies, has multiple government departments and central agencies significantly involved in the minutiae of its major military procurement projects.” These include Defence; Treasury Board; Finance; Public Services and Procurement; Justice; Innovation, Science and Economic Development—and even more. Meanwhile in Australia, the minister of defence is responsible for all aspects of navy shipbuilding. This includes setting operational and technical requirements, securing funds, developing a plan to benefit domestic industries, and satisfying the legal aspects of procurement. Each country had a project management office of roughly the same size, but Canada's was, frankly, less competent. Australia's office had many knowledgeable contractors working alongside the Department of Defence, whereas Canada's team had many from the public service and armed forces with “little or no applicable experience or knowledge,” according to Mack. “In Canada, significant effort was expended on regular reporting to layers of senior governance,” he says in the report. But it was paperwork and process for its own sake, and impractical in its effect. “Despite the onerous reporting demands, only a few key decisions were rendered and rarely in a timely manner. The opposite was the case in Australia.” In seemingly every aspect of development, Canada made things rigid, complicated, and fragmented, while Australia made them flexible, cohesive, and collaborative. Canada made stand-alone contracts for each sequence of the process. Australia worked with contractors to establish “end-to-end accountability.” Canada's initial request for proposal included hundreds of technical requirements that bidders had to prove. Australia had few mandatory requirements, but worked alongside bidders to explore their respective proposed solutions. In Canada, the intellectual property, liabilities, and insurance requirements were debated at length and only decided hours before the request for proposal was made. Hundreds of criteria got a numerical score, and the sum of all scores won the bid. Canada was “preoccupied” about a public appearance of fairness and avoiding lawsuits. (Nevertheless, the controversy over former Vice-Admiral Mark Norman and complaints from Irving Shipbuilding over the bid for a navy supply vessel shows it failed at this.) Shipbuilders bidding in Australia were confident of a fair system without any of those things. The department did not announce its evaluation criteria, nor was the evaluation report the only factor. Instead, the department stated its objectives and worked collaboratively with three potential bidders in their respective approaches. In Mack's words, this left “the competition to be more about assessing apples, oranges, and bananas” than about tallying up numerical scores. Mack says he could not make the Canadian system work like Australia's because the procurement, request for proposals, and resulting contracts were done outside of the Department of National Defence. At the time, he was “simply unaware of the intricacies of the Australian approach” because he hadn't yet been exposed to it. Regardless, he had already surmised that Canadian bureaucrats “did not want changes to their tried and true ways of doing business” and clung to “adherence to prescriptive and traditional methodologies.” https://www.theepochtimes.com/military-procurement-what-the-new-cabinet-can-learn-from-australia_3150065.html
31 mai 2019 | Local, Aérospatial
OTTAWA, Ontario — As members of Team SkyGuardian Canada and supporters of the MQ-9B SkyGuardian Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) for Canada's RPAS Project, L3 WESCAM and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) are integrating WESCAM's MX™-20 electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) imaging system onto the SkyGuardian RPAS, as well as the MQ-9 Reaper that is currently being operated by several NATO countries. Team SkyGuardian Canada is a coalition of Canadian companies committed to delivering the best RPAS for Canada. Field-proven, with extensive deployment, WESCAM's MX-20 is equipped with high-sensitivity multi-spectral sensors for day, low-light and nighttime missions, and offers low-risk “plug-and-play” installation. The MX-20 operates with detection and recognition capabilities at high altitudes in support of persistent surveillance missions. “Integrating capabilities from L3 WESCAM and our other Team SkyGuardian partners – CAE and MDA – provides the most capable RPAS solution and the best economic value for Canada,” said Linden Blue, CEO, GA-ASI. “The MX-20 integration on MQ-9 builds on our successful integration of the WESCAM MX-15 onto our Predator XP aircraft. Taking advantage of our close North American relationship, our companies can cooperate to provide unprecedented levels of innovation and business opportunity with our RPAS.” GA-ASI has been proactive in integrating L3 WESCAM products onto their RPAS. “Team SkyGuardian is a significant benefit to L3 WESCAM and provides more opportunities for the modular growth path of the WESCAM MX-20 as mission portfolios evolve and the battlespace continues to change on a global scale,” said Jacques Comtois, Vice President and General Manager of L3 WESCAM. “MX systems are the eyes of customers across more than 80 countries worldwide.” L3's WESCAM MX-Series has been engineered to focus on the three factors that drive maximum range: resolution, magnification and stabilization. As a result, each turret has outperformed its major competitor in every performance area, giving WESCAM the longest EO/IR target identification and designating ranges in the industry. GA-ASI is the world's leading manufacturer of RPAS and related mission systems. Team SkyGuardian Canada combines the best of Canadian industry with the world's most advanced Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) RPAS, the MQ-9B SkyGuardian, being developed to fulfill Canada's RPAS project requirements. For more information on Team SkyGuardian, go to teamskyguardiancanada.com. High-resolution photos of MQ-9B SkyGuardian areavailable to qualified media outlets from the GA-ASI media contact list.About GA-ASI General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is the leading designer and manufacturer of proven, reliable Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) systems, radars, and electro-optic and related mission systems, including the Predator® RPA series and the Lynx® Multi-mode Radar. With more than five million flight hours, GA-ASI provides long-endurance, mission-capable aircraft with integrated sensor and data link systems required to deliver persistent flight that enables situational awareness and rapid strike. The company also produces a variety of ground control stations and sensor control/image analysis software, offers pilot training and support services, and develops meta-material antennas. For more information, visit www.ga-asi.com. Predator and Lynx are registered trademarks of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. https://business.financialpost.com/pmn/press-releases-pmn/business-wire-news-releases-pmn/ga-asi-integrating-l3-wescams-mx-20-onto-multiple-platforms-as-part-of-team-skyguardian-canada