9 juillet 2020 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

Canadian Armed Forces equipment delivered late half the time, auditor general finds

By . Published on Jul 8, 2020 10:32am

Half of all late requests for military materials and equipment arrived in Canadian soldiers' hands more than two weeks behind schedule because of a problem-ridden supply chain that often forced the military to incur extra shipment costs, a new report from the Auditor General has found.

“We concluded that National Defence often did not deliver on time the materiel the Canadian Armed Forces requested, and that it did not have the right controls in place to determine whether it avoided needless transportation costs,” said the report authored by Auditor General of Canada Karen Hogan, which was released on Wednesday.

During the period of the audit, there were approximately 1 million requests for materiel — military materials and equipment — submitted and fulfilled by National Defence. The audit oversaw all materiel covered by the National Defence Act, with the exclusion of ammunition, bombs, missiles and large equipment like aircraft, vessels and vehicles.

The Auditor General found that 50 per cent of all late materiel requests were delayed by at least 15 days and 25 per cent were at least 40 days late.

Of the highest priority requests — of which there were about 86,000 observed — 60 per cent were late. Fifty per cent of all were at least six days late, and 25 per cent were at least 20 days late.

The Auditor General found that 162,000 requests, about 16 per cent of all it tracked during its audit, were more than one year late, having been stalled at some point in the supply chain.

The goal of National Defence's supply chain is to “fulfill materiel requirements in the most economical and timely manner possible,” the Auditor General's report says. It attempts to achieve this by keeping equipment nearby where it thinks it will eventually be used.

However, most equipment bought by the military is initial delivered to Canadian Armed Forces supply depots in Edmonton and Montreal. They then supply regional warehouses, which supply smaller localized military units. Materiel is transferred at units' requests, which are made in a number of ways, but are defined as being of one of three levels of priority — high priority, essential and routine.

“We found that National Defence's systems and processes often did not ensure the timely and efficient delivery of military supplies to the Canadians Armed Forces,” Hogan's report says.

Stock shortages caused delays, National Defence poorly managed priorities and costs for transportation were bungled.

Per it's report, the Auditor General made three recommendations.

It suggested that National Defence review its materiel forecasting to ensure it sufficiently stocks items at the correct locations, that it improve its oversight of high-priority requests so that the categorization is only used when necessary, and that it provide clear guidance on how to select the proper mode of transportation for items to ensure that decisions about shipments are based on fully understanding how much it'll cost.

In a statement released shortly after the Auditor General's report, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said he “welcome(s)” its findings and accepts all recommendations.

Similar concerns were raised a few years ago by the Auditor General's office about National Defence's equipment supply. In the fall of 2016, it raised issues with the military's ability to properly account for its inventory. The same fiscal year, National Defence announced a 10-year inventory management plan to address the Auditor General's concerns. The Trudeau government also released its multi-decade defence policy in the spring of 2017.

One of the focal points of Strong, Secure, Engaged was to ensure the military was properly equipped.

“Providing (the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces) the training, equipment and care they deserve is the most important objective of this policy,” reads a line from the opening paragraph of Sajjan's opening message in more than 100-page policy.

Upon being re-elected, Sajjan was again reminded of his responsibility to “ensure the Canadian Armed Forces have the capabilities and equipment required to uphold their responsibilities,” in the mandate letter assigned to him by Trudeau.

In an emailed statement to iPolitics, Conservative Defence Critic James Bezan said “effective and efficient supply chains are crucial to the operating capability of the Canadian Armed Forces.”

“Our military heroes rely on these supply chains to defend Canadians at home and abroad. It is clear that more work needs to be done in order to make these supply chains better for our men and women and uniform,” Bezan said.

“The delivery of supplies must be timely so that materiel reaches military members when they need it,” Hogan's recently released report said.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said in a statement Wednesday that the Canadian Armed Forces will enhance its data analytics capabilities and “rely on real data to ensure” the military has the right supply chain approach for its ever-evolving requirements and to help better anticipate future needs.

“These steps will make sure that we have the right equipment, in the right quantities, at the right places to meet the challenges we ask our members to face now and in the future,” he said.

https://ipolitics.ca/2020/07/08/canadian-armed-forces-equipment-delivered-late-half-the-time-auditor-general-finds/

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  • FEATURE INTERVIEW - MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENCE

    5 mars 2020 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

    FEATURE INTERVIEW - MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENCE

    CDR recently sent Ottawa Bureau Chief, James Careless, to interview Canada's newly re-appointed Minister of National Defence, and with a number of high profile capital projects, such as CSC and FFCP currently in play, there was a lot to talk about. Sajjan is now a veteran in this portfolio and he spoke candidly about international missions, defence policy, procurement, and Canada's role in NATO. There were some surprises too. Here is our in-depth conversation with the Minister. CDR: Minister, it's good to speak with you again for, what's become, our annual chat. Can we start by looking what progress is being made on major capital projects like Future Fighter, and as a corollary to that, what new procurements do you think we'll be seeing in 2020? Minister Sajjan: When it comes to procurement projects and our defence policy, one of the things that Canadian defence industry asked us to do is to provide predictability. We've done that. Even though the defence policy is a 20 year program, we have put out a 10 year defence investment plan to industry. This gives them an idea of where we're at – and we're updating that. Obviously, we've got major procurement projects that are ongoing, but within that there are multiple projects. I'm happy to say that the vast majority are in implementation. Some are already closed and, and there's only a few that still have to be started. The Canadian Surface Combatant ship has been selected, while the Future Fighter is obviously an extremely important one that is under way. But there's a lot of other projects happening that are just as important. STARTING LAV PROJECT SOONER CDR: What role has your ‘Strong, Secure, Engaged' defence policy played in speeding up defence procurement? Minister Sajjan: One of the things about our defence policy is that it gives us authorization to move money around. This allows us to do projects faster when opportunities make this possible. The LAV support projects that we just announced in the summertime was a great example of that. We're going to be getting those five years sooner, because we can start these projects five years sooner. So we were able to move money quicker and get that going. Because we're learning and creating a lot more efficiency in our procurement system, we're able to save money. When we save some of that money, we're able to use it in other projects. As you know, procurement is extremely complex; especially on larger projects. There's going to be times where you're going to have to make some changes. Because we have that flexibility, we're able to provide a lot more efficiency to the system. When we created the defence policy, it involved a thorough consultation where every part of the policy had to be approved by cabinet. Now when projects go through, they know that we've already had really good discussions on the capabilities that we want to bring in. So when we bring those projects to Treasury Board, the policy discussions have already been done. So then we just focus on, “do we have the right process in place?” The nice thing about it – just like the current LAV projects – is we're able to streamline things when a competitive process is extremely important and we can get the best equipment at the best price. But there are some times when going for a sole source is more efficient and better for the Canadian Armed Forces. CDR: Many ofCDR's readers are small and medium-sized defence contractors (SMEs), and they're always concerned about getting their fair share of procurement contracts. So what steps has the government taken to make sure that their share doesn't just go to the big players? Minister Sajjan: Depending on the size of the project, we've actually taken a lot of time to consult our defence industries; not just the big companies, but the small and medium size businesses as well. One thing we've done as we build the requirements, is to ask, “how does it benefit Canadian companies?” So now the bids that come in have much greater Canadian content to them. Just for example, when you look at the AOPS (Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships) that are being built by Irving: The systems integration on the bridge is actually (being done by) a company that is working out of the Lower Mainland (B.C.). That's just one company; a lot of companies are able to benefit from this. So when we look at a project, I tell people, “don't just look at the hull or the plane, look at all the systems that need to go inside it. The LAV project has a massive impact on indirect jobs across the country as well. The final thing I say to this is the IDEaS (Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security) program. The IDEaS program is something very unique that is having a really good impact on small and medium-sized businesses; as well as universities and individuals who have great ideas. It allows us to throw challenges out to suppliers, where we get to compete the ideas. That's something that industry has been asking for, for a very long time. Imagine trying to guess where DND is going, and then having to spend all this money and time only to find out that's not the direction that we're going. So due to the defence investment plan that we lay out, or the challenges that we throw out, they know exactly what we're looking for. They get to compete early, and we get the benefits of their ingenuity. BATTLE GROUP IN LATVIA CDR: NATO recently celebrated its 70th anniversary, and President Trump used the occasion to once again pressure member countries to increase defence spending up to 2% of their GDP, as they have promised to in the past. Given that Canada's defence spending is only about 1.3% of GDP, where does the country stand in terms of meeting this 2% target? Because, I'm sure our readers in Canada's defence and aerospace industries would be more than happy to see Canada increase defence spending as much as it can. Minister Sajjan: I think we should go back to even before Trump. Many U.S. administrations have been asking NATO member nations to step up when it comes to their defence spending. When we formed the government in 2015, we looked at this. This is one of the reasons why the prime minister asked me to do a thorough defence policy review, because it's only then you're going to find out what is the appropriate defence investment that's actually needed -- not just for us, but for our allies. I think many people don't know that this is probably one of the first defence policies that's actually has come with all the money attached to it. That allows us to do a thorough analysis about which capabilities are important; not just a shopping list of things we need to buy. If you focus on the capabilities, you're able to evolve what's needed. What that has allowed us to do is look at how do we need to be Strong in Canada, Secure in North America, and Engaged in the world; investing in the right capabilities with a 70% increase in spending. That's the way it just turned out, based on our plan. But more importantly, it allows us to make appropriate contributions internationally. If you look at the number of operations our government has authorized, it's quite significant. Just for NATO alone, it includes a battle group in Latvia; plus a naval task force that, from one ship that was being consistently there, were actually taking rotation commanding the naval task force there. We have started air policing again in Europe. We're back in the AWACs program. We have increased our common funding to NATO for a second year. We're taking command of the NATO training mission in Iraq as well. So, when you look at that alone, that's just NATO Operation Artemis, which is this counter-terrorist interdiction in the Arabian Gulf. Plus, we're also doing Operation NEON, which is the sanctions monitoring against North Korea. Then there is the capacity building work that we're doing at different times of the year; including Africa. For the first time, we actually had our submarines deploy for training; one in the Pacific and the other in the Atlantic. So when you look at all the things that we're doing, defence spending has led to something. So that contribution piece is extremely important. Our increased spending is being driven by a national plan that's bringing unity into DND. This allows us to make those contributions in a very meaningful way; not just to NATO, but to coalition partners and the United Nations. CONTRIBUTIONS TO NATO CDR: Given this, do you think NATO should stop focussing on 2% of GDP and instead focus on tangible contribution to international security? Minister Sajjan: I would say that we shouldn't be having strictly a conversation about 2%. That's why the NATO Secretary General has always talked about the three Cs: Cash, capabilities and contributions; because if you need all three of them to be effective. The plan that we have proposed to NATO is something that they welcome. They know that we're going to be investing in types of capability, and what kind of impact that it actually can have. For example, when it comes to the ships that we provide, they know that our Cyclone helicopters are also very good at working with our aircraft when it comes to submarine detection. So it's not just about one ship, it's about what capability we're bringing in. And when you have capabilities from different nations, you're able to look at what type of NATO work that we can do; especially when it comes to our readiness. It is not just us offering up things that we have. These are capabilities that are plugging into a much wider system at NATO that can have an impact and ultimately send a very strong message of deterrence to any adversary – which is why NATO is there. CDR: In last year's interview with CDR, you spoke about the importance of retaining Canadian armed forces members and trying to do better for them and their families. What have you been able to do in the last year and what are you hoping to do going forward? Minister Sajjan: The Number One priority has always been to look after our people and their families. We have made a lot of policy changes in how we support our people. The biggest one that we did right when we launched the defence policy was to make every authorized international operation tax-free for our members. This sends a very strong message to the families. People think that this is about CAF members but it's actually about their families. Now the family can have more flexibility on choices. If their family is younger, they can have more daycare opportunities; making sure a spouse can continue with their career. Relocation has been a significant challenge. A year and a half ago, we dealt with the 10 Biggest Dissatisfiers to relocation and there's a little bit more work needs to be done with that. We've also now been working on what's called Seamless Canada, working with the provinces and the territory to look at where families get posted. For reserve members, their base pay is now equivalent to the regular force. So there's all these things that are happening. One focus that I'm putting more emphasis on this year is infrastructure across Canada. Do we have the right infrastructure for our people; especially when it comes to military family resource centres, health care clinics and accommodations for people? And we have to look at it differently now than we did in the past, because things have significantly changed. We know that in Comox, there is a challenge for people to actually find housing because the vacancy rate is so low. So we're looking at a project to build apartment-style complexes there, and I'll be working with the deputy minister on this. In other places, we are looking at how PLD (Post Living Differential) changes need to be made. The study is almost complete with a much wider analysis. My thought going into this was instead of just looking at the immediate fixes which we have been doing to ease the burden on our members -- like, for example, in places like Cold Lake -- we need to do a thorough analysis done so that, when we make a much wider decision, it can actually last longer. The PLD decision that was made a long time ago is not as relevant today, because it is based on how people live here in Ottawa. Those are the aspects that we're putting a lot more focus into. I think because we're putting a lot of emphasis on looking after people and their families, it's having an impact on retention. How we move people around is also something that the Chief of Defence Staff has been looking at very closely. MORE EMPHASIS ON CYBER SECURITY CDR: You've been Minister of National Defence since 2015. You're now very well versed with the requirements of the job and long past getting to know the ropes and dealing with immediate crises. What do you want to achieve going forward? What do you want your legacy to be at DND? Minister Sajjan: It's not about legacy. We spent a lot of time and very extensive consultations with experts, key people, and more importantly, civilians at the department and the Canadian Armed Forces to come up with the plan for the Defence Policy. And because it comes with money attached, this plan has enough focus and flexibility to adjust to any situation that we have to deal with around the world. My goal is for us to be thinking long-term about how we look after people, how we look at threats and where we need to be to make sure that we have a very strong deterrence. This is one of the reasons why we're putting a lot of emphasis on cyber-security. I'm working very closely with CSE as well. One aspect that I'll be driving home a little bit stronger this time around is going to be innovation. We have such great ingenuity inside the Canadian Armed Forces, but we also have absolutely brilliant people across the country. I want to take a greater look at innovation in the long-term; how we look after people, how we do logistics, and how we keep a technological edge against adversaries. There's a lot of interesting work that's happening. Making sure that we're set up for the future is something that I'm going to be putting a lot more emphasis on. WORKING OUT TO TRANCE CDR: Finally, on a more personal note, we've heard that you do a mean workout to the beat of electronic music, is that correct? Minister Sajjan: Yes! I listened to a lot of a particular type of electronic music known as Euro Trance and I've evolved it a little bit. DJ Markus Schulz is somebody I listen to, and there's a number of other deejays there as well. (Editor's Note: DJ-mixed club music known as Euro Trance is often very uplifting, it is usually around 140 - 145 bpm and has a lot of big rifts. It emerged from the 1990s German techno and hardcore scenes. Leading proponents of this genre have included DJs Armin Van Buuren and Tiesto.) It drives my wife crazy. But I love working out and getting into a high energy pace; it just keeps me motivated. I know it sounds nuts, a 49 year-old listening to Trance. People think I should grow up, but I can't knock everything out of me from high school. CDR: How did you get into this music? Minister Sajjan: I've always liked the mixes and I went to a lot of clubs in my younger days. Then when I was in the UK, they had a really good Euro mix and I used to listen to that a lot. When I was in Germany, I realized that they have a lot of different ways of doing it as well. So, I would try to find that music, which wasn't that popular back then. But now it's everywhere. And, it's easy to download that music. My wife always says, “it's the same beat.” I say, “exactly!” CDR: Thank you very much, Minister. http://www.canadiandefencereview.com/Featured_content?blog/161

  • Le gouvernement lance un processus concurrentiel ouvert et transparent afin de remplacer les chasseurs du Canada

    12 décembre 2017 | Local, Aérospatial

    Le gouvernement lance un processus concurrentiel ouvert et transparent afin de remplacer les chasseurs du Canada

    Communiqué de presse De Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada Le 12 décembre 2017 - Ottawa (Ontario) - Gouvernement du Canada L'une des principales priorités du gouvernement du Canada est de faire l'acquisition d'aéronefs dont les Forces canadiennes ont besoin afin d'assurer la sécurité des Canadiens, tout en assurant des retombées économiques pour le Canada. Le gouvernement honore sa promesse de mener un processus concurrentiel ouvert et transparent en vue de remplacer en permanence la flotte de chasseurs du Canada. Comme l'indique la politique de défense Protection, Sécurité, Engagement, le Canada fera l'acquisition de 88 chasseurs sophistiqués. Il s'agit du plus important investissement dans l'Aviation royale canadienne en plus de 30 ans. Cet investissement est essentiel, car il permettra d'assurer la sécurité des Canadiens et de remplir les obligations internationales du Canada en matière de défense. Gr'ce à ce processus concurrentiel, le gouvernement du Canada pourra obtenir le bon chasseur à un juste prix et générer des retombées économiques optimales pour les Canadiens. Le gouvernement veillera à ce que les fabricants et les industries canadiennes de l'aérospatiale et de la défense soient consultés au cours du processus. Les propositions feront l'objet d'une évaluation rigoureuse qui portera sur le coût, les exigences techniques ainsi que les retombées économiques. Comme il importe de faire affaire avec des partenaires de confiance, l'évaluation des propositions comprendra aussi un volet sur l'incidence des soumissionnaires sur les intérêts économiques du Canada. S'il est établi à l'évaluation des propositions qu'un soumissionnaire nuit aux intérêts économiques du Canada, ce soumissionnaire sera nettement désavantagé. Ce nouveau volet de l'évaluation ainsi que les lignes directrices sur son application comme outil d'approvisionnement courant seront définis par la tenue des consultations appropriées. De plus, la Politique des retombées industrielles et technologiques s'appliquera à ce marché, c'est-à-dire que le fournisseur retenu sera tenu d'investir au Canada une somme égale à la valeur du contrat. D'ici à ce que les chasseurs qui remplaceront en permanence la flotte actuelle soient en place et opérationnels, le Canada doit s'assurer que les Forces armées canadiennes disposent de l'équipement dont elles ont besoin pour continuer de mener à bien leurs missions, ainsi que respecter ses obligations internationales. Par conséquent, le gouvernement du Canada entend procéder à l'achat de 18 chasseurs supplémentaires auprès du gouvernement de l'Australie. Citations « Comme nous l'avons promis, notre gouvernement lance un processus concurrentiel ouvert et transparent en vue de remplacer notre flotte de chasseurs par 88 appareils sophistiqués. Nous renforçons par ailleurs notre flotte de CF-18 en faisant l'acquisition de chasseurs auprès de l'Australie, pendant que nous menons à bien ce processus d'approvisionnement complexe et important. Nous annonçons donc aujourd'hui que nous nous assurons que nos militaires continuent de disposer de l'équipement dont ils ont besoin pour protéger les Canadiens. Nous comptons aussi tirer parti de ce processus d'approvisionnement pour renforcer les industries canadiennes de l'aérospatiale et de la défense, créer de bons emplois pour la classe moyenne et servir nos intérêts économiques. » L'honorable Carla Qualtrough Ministre des Services publics et de l'Approvisionnement « Nos militaires assument l'énorme responsabilité de veiller à la sécurité des Canadiens tous les jours. L'annonce d'aujourd'hui constitue un jalon important d'un processus qui permettra de doter nos militaires de l'équipement dont ils ont besoin pour s'acquitter de cette responsabilité, ainsi que de remplir les engagements que nous avons pris envers nos partenaires et nos alliés partout dans le monde. » L'honorable Harjit S. Sajjan Ministre de la Défense nationale « Ce projet offre l'occasion de soutenir la compétitivité à long terme des industries canadiennes de l'aérospatiale et de la défense, qui représentent, ensemble, plus de 240 000 emplois au Canada. Nous sommes déterminés à tirer parti de l'acquisition de la future flotte de chasseurs pour soutenir l'innovation, favoriser la croissance des fournisseurs canadiens, y compris les petites et moyennes entreprises, et créer des emplois pour les Canadiens de la classe moyenne. » L'honorable Navdeep Bains Ministre de l'Innovation, des Sciences et du Développement économique Faits en bref L'annonce d'aujourd'hui marque le début officiel du lancement du processus concurrentiel ouvert visant à remplacer la flotte de chasseurs du Canada. Dans un premier temps, le gouvernement dressera une liste de fournisseurs, qui comprendront des gouvernements étrangers et des fabricants de chasseurs ayant démontré qu'ils étaient capables de répondre aux besoins du Canada, comme il est défini dans l'invitation aux fournisseurs inscrits sur la liste. Toutes les entreprises sont invitées à participer au processus. Une planification approfondie et la mobilisation des intervenants se dérouleront tout au long de 2018 et de 2019. L'attribution du contrat est prévue en 2022, et la livraison du premier chasseur en 2025. Le gouvernement mobilisera les gouvernements étrangers, les fabricants de chasseurs et les industries canadiennes de l'aérospatiale et de la défense pour s'assurer que tous sont bien placés pour participer au processus. L'achat de 88 aéronefs représente une augmentation de la taille de la flotte de plus d'un tiers par rapport à ce qui était prévu avant la politique de défense Protection, Sécurité, Engagement (65 appareils). Ensemble, les industries canadiennes de l'aérospatiale et de la défense représentent plus de 240 000 emplois de qualité. L'aérospatiale est l'une des industries les plus innovatrices et les plus tournées vers l'exportation au Canada. Elle assure plus de 28 milliards de dollars par année au produit intérieur brut du Canada. L'industrie canadienne de la défense compte plus de 650 entreprises qui offrent des emplois de grande qualité à des travailleurs hautement qualifiés. Liens connexes Remplacer et compléter la flotte de CF-18 du Canada Remplacement des CF-18 L'état de l'industrie aérospatiale canadienne : rapport de 2017 https://www.canada.ca/fr/services-publics-approvisionnement/nouvelles/2017/12/le_gouvernement_lanceunprocessusconcurrentielouvertettransparent.html

  • Political concerns rise over Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft procurement process - Skies Mag

    22 novembre 2023 | Local, Aérospatial

    Political concerns rise over Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft procurement process - Skies Mag

    For a project that even politicians have stated they want to de-politicize, the Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft (CMMA) is rapidly becoming highly political.

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