9 novembre 2020 | Local, Naval
David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen, Postmedia News (dpugliese@ottawacitizen.com)
Published: Nov 06 at 10:29 a.m.
Updated: Nov 06 at 7:20 p.m.
The Canadian government is spending around $650 million to buy new missiles and launchers from the U.S. for the Royal Canadian Navy.
Canada is buying 100 Standard Missile 2 Block IIIC missiles and 100 MK 13 Vertical Launch Systems.
The total estimated cost of the purchase is $500 million U.S., according to the U.S. government, which posted details of the deal on Thursday.
The U.S. State Department announced it had approved the pending sale and Congress has also been notified. It is expected to proceed but there were no details about when the weapons would be delivered.
The missiles will be installed on the 15 Canadian Surface Combatant ships, according to the U.S.
Raytheon Missiles and Defense of Tucson, Ariz., will build the weapons.
Last year the Liberal government signed a deal that would lead to the eventual construction of 15 Canadian Surface Combatant warships in the largest single government purchase in Canadian history. A final contract, however, has not yet been signed.
Lockheed Martin offered Canada the Type 26 warship designed by BAE in the United Kingdom. Irving is the prime contractor and the vessels will be built at its east coast shipyard.
Construction of the first ship isn't expected to begin until the early 2020s.
But the Canadian Surface Combatant program has already faced rising costs. In 2008 the then-Conservative government estimated the project would cost roughly $26 billion.
The overall project is currently estimated to cost around $60 billion.
The $60 billion price tag is now being examined by the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
That report was supposed to be delivered to the House of Commons government operations committee on Oct. 22 but has been delayed. No new date has been provided on when the report will be delivered.
“Approximately one-half of the CSC build cost is comprised of labour in the (Irving's) Halifax yard and materials,” according to federal government documents obtained by this newspaper through the Access the Information law.
But some members of parliament as well as industry representatives have questioned whether the CSC cost is too high. There have been suggestions that Canada could dump the Type 26 design and go for a cheaper alternative since the project is still in early stages and costs to withdraw could be covered by savings from a less inexpensive ship.
In 2017 then Parliamentary Budget Officer Jean-Denis Fréchette, estimated the CSC program would cost $61.82 billion.
The entry of the BAE Type 26 warship in the Canadian competition was controversial from the start and sparked complaints the procurement process was skewed to favour that vessel. Previously the Liberal government had said only mature existing designs or designs of ships already in service with other navies would be accepted, on the grounds they could be built faster and would be less risky. Unproven designs can face challenges as problems are found once the vessel is in the water and operating.
But the criteria was changed and the government and Irving accepted the BAE design, though at the time it existed only on the drawing board. Construction began on the first Type 26 frigate in the summer of 2017 for Britain's Royal Navy.
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2020
4 septembre 2024 | Local, Naval
The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in partnership with other Government of Canada organizations and the Canadian Marine Careers Foundation is hosting the second annual Marine Careers Expo (MCE) this fall to connect with Canadians and showcase marine career opportunities at sea and ashore.
19 juin 2020 | Local, Aérospatial
You can pick your own term. Generation 4.2? Gen 4.3? However you choose to define the upgraded Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CF-188 Hornet, the fighter jet will have “operational parity” in a complex operating environment until the early 2030s. “It's not Gen 4, but it's not a true Gen 4.5 like the (F/A-18E/F) Super Hornet. It will be somewhere between there,” said BGen Todd Balfe, a CF-188 pilot and special advisor to the Fighter Capability Office. “The term we use is, it brings us to operational parity against current threats. That is an implicit statement recognizing we don't have operational parity right now. And that supports our [objective] of bridging towards the future fighter.” Under a program known as the Hornet Extension Project (HEP), the Air Force will upgrade its entire fleet of 94 aircraft to meet international aviation regulations and ensure interoperability with the United States and other allies, including NATO. It will also enhance the combat capability of 36 jets to operate globally against current threats. The program addresses what the RCAF is calling quantitative and qualitative capability gaps. The delivery and upgrade of 18 operational Australian F/A-18A Hornets, which will expand the current fleet of 76 to 94, gives the Air Force the necessary quantity to meet concurrent NORAD and NATO obligations. Upgrading the sensors, weapons, countermeasures and mission support of approximately two squadrons worth of fighters will resolve the qualitative concern. Previously two distinct projects to comply with changing civil aviation regulations and allied capabilities and to modernize combat capability, HEP will be completed in two phases. The first phase, set to begin shortly on all 94 Hornets, will include automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) to replace the current transponder, Honeywell GPS/INS systems, Collins Aerospace AN/ARC-210 RT-2036 (Gen 6) radios, airborne Joint Tactical Radios, upgrades to the Lockheed Martin sniper targeting pod, enhanced mission computers and data transfer units, and software updates for the Advanced Distributed Combat Training System (ADCTS) for networked flight simulation exercises. “It will allow the aircraft to operate in civil airspace out to 2032, but more importantly ... to interoperate with allies,” said Balfe. “Our NATO allies and our U.S. allies are upgrading the interoperability standards on all their fleets of aircraft.” The second phase, to be completed on the 36 Hornets with the most remaining operational life, will follow shortly after. Though select weapons and sensor systems were upgraded prior to Operation Impact over Iraq and Syria in 2014 and 2015, the CF-188 has not had a major overhaul of its combat capability for almost 15 years, Balfe acknowledged. The most significant enhancement will be to the sensing capability, in particular the radar. The Air Force will replace the AN/APG-73 mechanically scanned radar, a multimode airborne radar system developed in the 1980s by Hughes Aircraft, now Raytheon, with a vastly improved APG-79(V)4 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, now standard on so-called fifth generation fighters and many allied upgraded fourth generation aircraft. “An AESA radar gives you much greater detection, less probability of being detected, and more capability to track and identify airborne and even surface targets,” said Balfe. “It is a scaled down version of the radar that is in the Super Hornet.” The Fighter Capability Office looked across allied F-18 operators for examples and “quickly landed upon the U.S. Marine Corps,” which operates a C variant of the Hornet, he said. “They have embarked upon a very similar upgrade path ... so much of the engineering effort has already been done. We will partner with the Marine Corps and put that in our aircraft.” The Hornets will also receive a new F/A-18A Wide Band RADOME to “be able to accommodate the full capability of the AESA radar,” he added. The new weapons package will include the Sidewinder AIM-9X Block II air-to-air short-range missile, the AIM-120D advanced medium range air-to-air missile, and the AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), an air-to-surface glide bomb with an unclassified published range of at least 100 kilometres “All the weapons are currently integrated on Marine Corps F-18s” and are used by select NATO allies, noted Balfe. “They are a significant increase in capability and survivability for our pilots.” Given the age of the Hornets, which were designed in the 1970s and produced in the 1980s, there would be limited value in modifying the airframe or enhancing the electronic warfare system to further increase survivability — the RCAF is anticipating about seven years of service life once the upgrades are completed in 2025. But the Air Force will add new expendable chaff and flare, the ADM-141C Improved Tactical Air-Launched Decoys, and an Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto GCAS). “The system was not technically feasible before,” said Balfe. “It is now. The Marine Corps has found a solution.” Lastly, the RCAF will expand mission support and security with a new Joint Mission Planning System (JMPS) and security upgrades to portable, temporary secure facilities to conduct simulated weapons training and mission planning for pilots. “These new weapons come with a higher level of security,” he said, noting that the CF-188 operates at secret or below while newer fighters require top secret level classification. Though the enhanced combat capability might not match that of a true Gen 4.5 or greater aircraft, it will serve as a “transition activity” to the future fighter, which remains “on track,” said MGen Michel Lalumiere, chief of Fighter Capability. The government still expects to award a contract in 2022 for 88 advanced fighter jets to replace the current Hornet fleet, despite twice adjusting the request for proposals deadline, now set for July 31, and the challenges of coordinating paperwork and other activity among the Fighter Capability Office, the Air Force, other government departments and the three contending companies while working remotely during the coronavirus pandemic. Balfe suggested the combat systems introduced during HEP Phase 2, many of the which will be the same or similar on the future fighter, “will enable us to begin the transition of our people, our mindset, our procedures and our way of thinking for the capabilities that are going to come with the future fighter. We think HEP is a great bridge toward that path.” While data from the various sensors will still be “fused” by the pilot rather than an onboard computer, systems in CF-188, the enhanced sensing and data transfer will mean a clearer operating picture among RCAF pilots that can be shared to a degree with allies. “It will bring our pilots into a different level,” he said. One key approval milestone was reached on June 16 when the U.S. State Department approved the possible military sale to Canada of the AESA radar along with technical and logistics support, the RADOME, radios, data transfer units, the various missiles and tactical guidance units, the ADCTS, Auto GCAS, JMPS and other systems for an estimated US$862.3 million, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The combined HEP program is estimated to cost about $1.3 billion. The Air Force is anticipating an initial operating capability of six Hornets through both Phase 1 and 2 in 2023. Full operational capability of the entire 94 aircraft is expected in 2025. “We are doing this very rapidly,” noted Balfe. That timeline includes the introduction of 18 Australian flyable aircraft as well as delivery of a spares package and up to seven more F/A-18A jets for parts by 2022. So far, five have been delivered and two have completed testing and evaluation after undergoing a conversion program that includes Canadian operational flight program software, cockpit configuration, a naval aircrew common ejection seat, night vision imaging systems, external lighting on the tail, changes to the landing gear and installation of the Lockheed Martin sniper targeting pod. “The allocation (of the Australian aircraft) will be based upon squadron needs and aircraft fatigue,' said Balfe. “One of the benefits besides helping close that quantitative capability gap, they give us a bigger pool of aircraft over which to distribute the stress and strain of [fighter operations]. They also allow us to have aircraft out of service while they are going through various phases of upgrades under HEP.” Enhanced combat systems may put the CF-188 on a par with current threats for the next decade, but they don't negate the need for a more modern fighter, Balfe observed. “We have a limited window where the upgraded CF-188 will have operational parity. Past that window, roughly 2032, it will most likely not have operational parity any longer.” https://www.skiesmag.com/news/major-upgrades-canada-fleet-cf-188-hornets
23 novembre 2018 | Local, Aérospatial
By Levon Sevunts, Radio Canada International As the federal government embarks on a much delayed and criticized quest to find a replacement for its ageing fleet of CF-18 Hornet fighter jets, Norway's saga with the acquisition of F-35 stealth fighters offers Canada a valuable lesson. The search for a replacement for CF-18 got a new urgency Tuesday after a blistering report by Canada's auditor general, who lambasted the Liberal government's handling of the file that could have serious implications for Ottawa's ability to fulfill its NATO and NORAD obligations. Just like Ottawa, Oslo was one of the first NATO countries to show interest in the new stealth multirole fighters developed by U.S. defence giant Lockheed Martin. In June 2009, the Norwegian Parliament decided that the F-35A Lightning II would replace its current fleet of F-16 fighter jets. Unlike Ottawa, despite strong internal opposition, Oslo saw things through. By 2025, Norway hopes to have a fleet of 52 F-35s. No-show at Trident Juncture demonstration Norwegian authorities were hoping to showcase their newest and most expensive defence acquisition in the country's history at a massive display of NATO's military might during the official launch of Trident Juncture 2018 exercise on Oct. 30. But much to the chagrin of dozens of journalists, NATO officials and dignitaries that had assembled on the shores of the Trondheim Fjord in central Norway to watch the display of land, sea and air power, the Norwegian F-35s never showed up. Lt.-Col. Stale Nymoen, commander of the 332 Squadron of the Royal Norwegian Air Force and one of the first Norwegian pilots to learn to fly the F-35s, said strong crosswinds at the Ørland Air Base forced officials to cancel the planned overflight. The cancellation of the overflight on an otherwise perfect autumn day had nothing to do with the jet's capabilities, Nymoen said. “Seen from my perspective, it's one of the best fighter aircraft out there,” Nymoen told a roomful of journalists during a briefing at the Ørland Air Base in central Norway earlier this month. But it has taken even experienced pilots like him years to learn to fly the new fighter jets and, just as importantly, unlearn old habits, Nymoen said. Learning to crawl before walking Norway received its first four F-35s in January of 2017. But all of them were stationed at the Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, Arizona, where Norwegian, U.S. and Italian pilots trained on the new aircraft. It wasn't until November of 2017 that the stealth fighter jets actually arrived for service in Norway, at the Ørland Air Base, which is going through a massive infrastructure upgrade to house the new planes. Operating and flying them in Norway with its harsh North Atlantic and Arctic climate is a whole new experience, Nymoen said. “What is different from Luke when we train to operate the aircraft here is temperatures, winter, icy and slippery runways, winds,” Nymoen said. “Those are conditions that we don't necessarily get to train for when we're training in the United States.” And the Norwegian air force is taking a very cautious approach to avoid any accidents, he said. “We have to learn to crawl before we can walk, and we have to learn to walk before we can run,” Nymoen said. The first squadron of F-35s is expected to reach initial operational capability in 2019 and full operational capability only in 2025, eight years after the aircraft were delivered to Norway. This timeline would also apply to Canada, if Lockheed Martin were to emerge as the winner of the competition to buy 98 advanced aircraft for the Royal Canadian Air Force announced by the Liberal government last December. The list of eligible suppliers identified by the federal government also includes France's Dassault Aviation, Sweden's SAAB, the U.K.'s Airbus Defense and Space, and the U.S. defence and aerospace giant Boeing. If the federal government manages to stick to its timetable, a contract award is anticipated in 2022 and the first replacement aircraft delivered in 2025. This means that the current fleet of Canadian CF-18s and the 18 additional second-hand Australian F-18s the federal government is buying as a stopgap measure will have to operate until at least 2030, experts say. http://www.rcinet.ca/en/2018/11/21/norway-f-35-fighter-jets-offers-lesson-for-canada