Canada’s Esquimalt navy base to receive four steel barges

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  4 juin 2020 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  DND launches a call to innovative thinkers for solutions to COVID-19 challenges

  As part of the Government of Canada's commitment to refocus existing innovation programs to support the fight against the spread of COVID-19, the Department of National Defence has announced the first of a series of calls for innovations aimed at addressing some key challenges Canada is facing. With an initial commitment of $15 million, the first three challenges focus on: Viable and effective processes and methods for safely and rapidly decontaminating enclosed work environments, such as buildings and modes of transportation, containing sensitive equipment; Innovative material and designs to aid in decontamination of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), operational clothing, and equipment for personnel responding to events involving biological hazards; and Data gathering solutions to support the early detection and community-based monitoring of outbreaks of contagious diseases. These challenges were determined by multi-departmental panels led by the National Research Council of Canada as part of the COVID-19 Challenges Procurement Program. In addition to the call for innovation, these panels are engaging Canadian small- and medium-sized enterprises to refine their near-to-market products to meet a COVID-19 related need. Promising solutions in the areas of PPE, sanitization, diagnostics and testing, therapeutics, and disease-tracking technology may receive funding to further their solutions of interest. This effort is a collaboration with the National Research Council of Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada, and Health Canada and sees an additional investment of up to $10 million. Innovators are encouraged to consult the IDEaS program website (https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/programs/defence-ideas.html) for more information on the challenges and how to apply to the program. “These are unprecedented times. We need to leverage all great minds and innovators in our efforts to combat COVID-19,” said Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan. “We will invest in Canadians as we look for innovative solutions to keep not only the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces, but all Canadians safe.” – Quick facts Call for innovation – Challenges to Canadian innovators This initiative is being led by DND's Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program, with collaboration from the Centre for Security Science Program. The call will be open until June 23, with contracts expected to be awarded this summer. COVID-19 Challenges Procurement Program DND has provided subject matter experts in the areas of public safety and security, medical response, and biology/chemistry for these panels. http://www.lookoutnewspaper.com/dnd-launches-call-innovative-thinkers-solutions-covid-19-challenges/

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  6 novembre 2019 | Local, C4ISR

  Barrett secures Canadian DND contract

  Perth, Western Australia, November 6, 2019 – Barrett Communications have recently been awarded a multiyear contract to supply the Canadian National Defence Department (DND) with Very High Frequency (VHF) radio communications equipment. This new contract follows on from the earlier contract awarded to Barrett in 2016. The Barrett PRC-2080+ VHF radio systems are designed for multi-role military applications providing rugged reliable field proven communications. The PRC-2080+ system is offered in hand portable, manpack, vehicle, base and rebroadcast system configurations, giving flexibility for its deployment in the field. Andrew Burt, Barrett Communications CEO commented “We have many exciting developments and contracts coming from the America's right now. We are pleased to have secured this contract demonstrating the confidence the Canadian DND has in Barrett communications equipment.” View source version on Barrett Communications: https://www.barrettcommunications.com.au/news/barrett-secures-canadian-dnd-contract/

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  16 janvier 2019 | Local, Naval

  Business group wants National Shipbuilding Strategy reopened for Quebec shipyard

  Murray Brewster · CBC News Association puts pressure on Liberals to direct new projects to Davie yard A Quebec-based business association claiming to represent over 1,000 companies inside and outside the province is launching a high-profile campaign to convince the Liberal government to reopen the oft-maligned National Shipbuilding Strategy. The group is demanding the federal government include the Davie shipyard, in Levis, Que., in the policy and plans to make it a major issue in the October federal election. The Association of Davie Shipbuilding Suppliers, which has been around for about a year, represents companies that do business with the shipyard. It plans an online campaign, beginning Thursday, and will lobby chambers of commerce as well as federal and provincial politicians. It is hoping to use its extensive membership and thousands of associated jobs to put pressure on the government in an election year to direct the building of additional coast guard ships exclusively to the Quebec yard, one of the oldest in the country. The shipbuilding strategy, conceived under the previous Conservative government but embraced by the Liberals, has turned into a giant sinkhole for federal cash with little to show for it, Simon Maltais, the association's vice-president, told CBC News. "We can call it a boondoggle," he said. "It has been seven years in the making. At the moment, there is absolutely no operational ship afloat and working for Canada." The Conservatives under former prime minister Stephen Harper chose two shipyards — Irving Shipbuilding of Halifax and Seaspan in Vancouver — as the government's go-to companies for the construction of new warships and civilian vessels. The Davie shipyard was, at the time, emerging from bankruptcy, and under the strategy it only became eligible for repair and refit work on existing vessels and perhaps the construction of smaller vessels. Delays and cost overruns Irving and Seaspan have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in modernizing their yards and have just begun to produce new vessels. The first Arctic offshore patrol ship for the navy is being outfitted in Halifax and others are in various stages of construction. Three offshore fisheries science vessels, constructed in Vancouver for the coast guard, are undergoing repairs after defective welds were discovered last year. The entire program has been beset with delays and rising cost estimates. Last year, Public Services and Procurement Canada refused to release a revised timeline for the delivery of ships from Seaspan, including construction of a heavy icebreaker and the navy's two joint support ships. Politics and shipbuilding Maltais said it makes no sense to keep excluding Davie from full-fledged ship construction work when much of the coast fleet is over three decades old and in dire need of replacement. Refreshing the strategy would insure the federal government gets the ships it needs and Quebec companies "get their fair share" of the program. "We know it's an electoral year and, yes, we want the federal government and the people in the election to talk about it," he said. Maltais clams members of his association have been talking to federal politicians on both sides of the aisle in the province and they support the idea. "They seem to be on the same page as us," he said. Defence analyst Dave Perry, an expert in procurement and the shipbuilding program, said the political campaign has the potential to make the federal government uncomfortable, but he doubts it will achieve the objective of reopening the strategy to add a third shipyard. "That would certainly be a major change in the strategy," he said. "There had been a view of doing something less than that." The proposal being put forward by the association would not take any work from Halifax or Vancouver, but instead direct all new work, on additional icebreakers for example, to the Quebec yard. Just recently, Davie was awarded a contract to convert three civilian icebreakers for coast guard use, but the association argues the need is greater. The federal government did debate an overhaul of the strategy, according to documents obtained and published by CBC News last summer. The size and scope of the "policy refresh" was not made clear in a heavily redacted memo, dated Jan. 23, 2018. So far, nothing has taken place and government officials have insisted they were still committed to the two-yard strategy. During the last election campaign, the Liberals pledged to fix the "broken" procurement system and invest heavily in the navy. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/business-group-wants-national-shipbuilding-strategy-reopened-for-quebec-shipyard-1.4979592