26 décembre 2019 | Local, Naval
Murray Brewster ·
The Canadian navy will take possession of two Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships in the new year — and it looks like they'll be spending as much time in the sunny south as they do in the Far North.
Vice-Admiral Art McDonald, the commander of the navy, told CBC News recently that military planners see the ships playing a role in delivering disaster relief in the Caribbean, where hurricanes have been increasing in size and destructive power.
"We can see a great opportunity to use this hurricane response as we go forward," McDonald said in a year-end interview. "Ironically, the Arctic offshore patrol vessel will find itself equally spending its time between our Far North and down south in support of our securing the continent."
The first of the long-awaited patrol ships, HMCS Harry DeWolf, conducted sea trials a few weeks ago under the supervision of its builder, Irving Shipbuilding of Halifax. It's due to be handed over to the navy in the spring, McDonald said.
Some members of the ship's inaugural crew took part in the shakedown to familiarize themselves with the new vessels.
"We've completed our training and we're ready to take it," McDonald said.
A second ship, HMCS Margaret Brooke, will be delivered to the navy in the fall.
Irving's Halifax Shipyard originally was slated to deliver the Harry DeWolf in 2018, but the deadline was pushed ahead to the end of 2019 and then pushed again into 2020.
That new timeline puts the date of delivery nearly five years after construction started.
McDonald said there are always delays when the first ships in a new class of vessels are introduced and the navy is satisfied it will receive fully functional, capable ships.
"We know that the lessons learned from tackling those production challenges, they're being folded into the second ship and into the third ship," he said.
Major component blocks of the third ship are being assembled at the Halifax yard now, and company officials, speaking recently on background, said production has become exponentially more efficient since the completion of the second vessel.
Steel for the fourth ship is being cut and shaped.
The brainchild of the former Conservative government, the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships originally were pitched 15 years ago as three armed heavy icebreakers for the Far North. That morphed into a plan — originally pegged at $3.1 billion — to build eight light icebreakers. The number was cut to five (with the possible addition of a sixth) by the time the program got underway.
A little more than a year ago, the Liberal government confirmed it would build a sixth ship for the navy and construct two others for the Canadian Coast Guard.
Irving is the prime contractor for the navy's new frigate program; some expressed concerns that the company would be stuck with a gap in production between the frigates and the patrol ships. The addition of the three new ships promised by the Liberals all but closes that construction gap, company officials acknowledged. It also added $800 million to the program's revised $3.5 billion budget.
CBC News recently was given access to the Harry DeWolf as contractors completed last-minute work. Compared with previous Canadian warships, its cabins and work areas are spacious and high-tech.
McDonald said he believes the versatile design will make the ship useful, not only for sovereignty and security patrols, but also for research projects.
"We can bring on scientists," he said. "We can bring on teams focused around missions that are larger than the navy as we go forward."
21 janvier 2024 | Local, Aérospatial
Canada gave Kyiv a draft of its proposed security assurances plan for Ukraine this past week — a major event in Ukrainian news media circles that passed without comment in Ottawa.
17 juillet 2020 | Local, Aérospatial
Stolberg, Germany, July 16, 2020 - CAE today announced that CAE GmbH has been awarded a subcontract from Airbus Defence and Space to support the development of new and upgraded training capabilities for Germany's Eurofighter program. Airbus, acting as the prime contractor for the Eurofighter Pilot Synthetic Training System (PSTS) consortium in Germany, awarded the subcontract to CAE GmbH to support the development of two new Eurofighter full-mission simulators and an upgrade of two existing simulators at the main operating base in Laage. Specifically, CAE will have responsibility for providing the CAE Medallion-6000 visual system and synthetic environment solution for the Eurofighter simulators. “We are pleased to collaborate with Airbus to continue our longstanding support of the German Air Force Eurofighter training program,” said Niels Kröning, General Manager, CAE GmbH. “The new Eurofighter simulators in Laage will expand the distributed mission training capabilities for the German Air Force and enable more advanced training to be conducted in the simulators.” The Eurofighter Pilot Synthetic Training System consortium is the result of a collaboration between the German and Spanish Ministries of Defence. Airbus Defence and Space acts as the prime contractor with CAE and Indra included as industry partners. CAE GmbH also provides on-site maintenance and in-service support services at Laage, Neuburg, Wittmund, and Noervenich, which are the four Eurofighter main operating bases in Germany. About CAE CAE's Defence & Security business unit focuses on helping prepare our customers to develop and maintain the highest levels of mission readiness. We are a world-class training and mission systems integrator offering a comprehensive portfolio of training and operational support solutions across the air, land, sea and public safety market segments. We serve our global defence and security customers through regional operations in Canada; the United States/Latin America; Europe/Middle East; and Asia-Pacific, all of which leverage the full breadth of CAE's capabilities, technologies and solutions. CAE is a global leader in training for the civil aviation, defence and security, and healthcare markets. Backed by a record of more than 70 years of industry firsts, we continue to help define global training standards with our innovative virtual-to-live training solutions to make flying safer, maintain defence force readiness and enhance patient safety. We have the broadest global presence in the industry, with over 10,500 employees, 160 sites and training locations in over 35 countries. Each year, we train more than 220,000 civil and defence crewmembers, including more than 135,000 pilots, and thousands of healthcare professionals worldwide. www.cae.com Follow us on Twitter @CAE_Inc and @CAE_Defence View source version on CAE: https://www.cae.com/news-events/press-releases/cae-gmbh-awarded-subcontract-to-upgrade-training-capabilities-for-german-eurofighter
10 août 2018 | Local, Naval
DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN Atlantic Towing Limited of Saint John, New Brunswick, has been awarded a three-year contract worth $67 million for the lease of two emergency offshore towing vessels that will operate in the waters off the coast of British Columbia. The vessels are capable of towing large commercial ships in distress, such as tankers and container ships, before they get too close to shore, according to the federal government. As part of the contract, Atlantic Towing Limited will also provide training in offshore emergency towing to Canadian Coast Guard personnel and partners, including Indigenous communities, involved in marine safety. The contract fulfills an immediate operational need to have vessels available as soon as possible, while the federal government works on developing a long-term strategy for emergency towing, the government noted in a news release. Full article: https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/canadian-government-to-lease-two-emergency-towing-vessels