1 avril 2021 | Local, Aérospatial
OTTAWA — Canada's top military procurement official says he is optimistic the federal government will finally end its decade-long search for a new fighter jet for the Royal Canadian Air Force next year despite challenges and delays from the pandemic.
Three fighter-jet makers submitted their bids last summer to provide the military with 88 new aircraft to replace the Air Force's aging CF-18s, and government evaluators are now busily assessing those proposals to determine which best fits Canada's needs.
The government had hoped to finish that evaluation process later this year and sign a contract with one of the bidders in 2022, with the first jet slated for delivery starting in 2025 and the last arriving in 2032.
Despite some recent hiccups in the process thanks to COVID-19, Troy Crosby, the assistant deputy minister of materiel at the Department of National Defence, says officials remain on track to meet that schedule and finally select a winner next year.
“That is a project where COVID has created some challenges,” Crosby said in an exclusive interview with The Canadian Press.
21 mars 2024 | Local, Terrestre
Today, the Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Bill Blair, introduced legislation in Parliament to amend the National Defence Act (NDA) that would modernize the military justice system and advance culture change within the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF) by addressing key recommendations made by former Supreme Court Justices Louise Arbour and Morris Fish.
12 mai 2020 | Local, Aérospatial
David Pugliese • Ottawa Citizen The Canadian military has pulled back its commitment of a transport aircraft for the United Nations. The C-130 service to the UN stopped on March 6 and personnel redeployed back to Canada, UN and military sources told this newspaper. The Canadian military confirmed the information. “In light of the COVID-19 pandemic situation worldwide, and given the strict isolation measures imposed by Uganda for crews arriving in the country, it is anticipated that the crew's and the aircraft's availability for operations in Canada would be severely limited,” the Canadian Forces stated in an email Thursday. “The CAF has therefore deferred the April-May combined iteration, and the feasibility of the iteration scheduled for 25 June-6 July 2020 will be reassessed at the beginning of June.” Starting last year the Canadian Forces committed a tactical airlift detachment on a monthly basis to Entebbe, Uganda to assist the UN's Regional Support Centre in the sustainment of ongoing UN operations. That involved a C-130J Hercules aircraft and about 20 personnel. The aircraft deployed for up to five days each month to assist with transporting troops, equipment and supplies to the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) and the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). “Operation PRESENCE – Uganda is the provision of that tactical airlift support via the Regional Support Centre in Entebbe, Uganda, to UN peacekeeping operations in Africa and is an important part of Canada's commitment to making valuable contributions to UN peace support operations on the continent,” the military has noted on its website. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/rcaf-transport-aircraft-withdrawn-from-united-nations-service-because-of-covid-19/
13 juillet 2023 | Local, Aérospatial
The premiers of Canada's two largest provinces have called for an open competition that would allow local vendors, namely Bombardier, to bid.