David Pugliese • Ottawa Citizen
The Canadian military plans to take part in the world's largest maritime exercise this summer even as the U.S. Navy, which is hosting the event, struggles to deal with coronavirus outbreaks that have sent two of its ships back to port.
There have also been COVID-19 outbreaks on French, Belgium and Taiwanese navy ships. There are COVID-19 cases among the crews of 26 U.S. Navy ships.
But that won't stop the U.S. from holding its Rim of the Pacific or RIMPAC exercise in August.
The Canadian Forces is planning to attend although military officials haven't outlined yet which Canadian ships and aircraft will take part.
“The Canadian Armed Forces remains committed to participating in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise 2020 in a significant way in order to maximize the unique training opportunities this biennial exercise provides as well as strengthen relationships with allies and partners in the Pacific,” Department of National Defence spokesperson Jessica Lamirande said in an email.
She said Canadian military officials are in discussions with their U.S. counterparts and are “currently evaluating options to adapt our participation accordingly.”
“Participation in RIMPAC will balance the requirement to complete critical tasks and high readiness training in support of planned operations, with the requirement to protect the health and safety of our personnel,” added Lamirande.
RIMPAC is usually held in and around Hawaii. In 2018 the Canadian Forces sent more than 1,000 personnel, five ships and a patrol aircraft. They operated alongside approximately 25,000 military personnel from 24 other nations as well as more than 200 aircraft and 50 ships and submarines.
The U.S. military says changes will be made to RIMPAC and that on-shore interactions will be limited. Ships can go into the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii for supplies, but the number of staff ashore for support functions will be limited.
The U.S. Navy has the highest rate of COVID-19 in the U.S. military. There are 2,125 cases in the navy, with around 800 linked to the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt.
The Canadian military does not release statistics on how many of its members have been infected with the virus. It cites security reasons for keeping such details secret.
The Royal Canadian Navy has implemented a number of measures to deal with COVID-19, including trying to practise physical distancing on ships as much as possible and restricting shore leave.
The pandemic has also prompted changes in other Canadian Forces operations.
The military has scaled back the number of soldiers it is sending to Ukraine to conduct training there. It had planned to send a new group of soldiers, numbering 200, to relieve the Canadian troops now in Ukraine. That number will now be cut back to 60 personnel.
The pandemic caused the cancellation of Exercise Maple Resolve, the army's main training event for the year, as well as a naval exercise off the coast of Africa. HMCS Glace Bay and HMCS Shawinigan, which were to take part in that naval training, were ordered to return to Halifax. HMCS Nanaimo and HMCS Whitehorse also cut short their participation in U.S.-led counter-drug operations.
In addition, the Canadian Forces withdrew many of its troops assigned to the Iraq mission, ordering them home because COVID-19 has hindered training of Iraqi military personnel.
The Canadian military has also pulled back its commitment of a transport aircraft for the United Nations because of COVID-19.
The Department of National Defence, however, says it will not change the Canadian commitment to NATO's enhanced Forward Presence in Latvia. A new group of Canadian military personnel arrived in Latvia in January and will stay there until July. There are around 540 Canadian soldiers working in Latvia.
In addition, the Canadian military hopes to take incremental steps to restart training of recruits as early as June.
1 août 2023 | Local, Sécurité, Autre défense
A design contract for the new building at the Carling Campus site should be awarded in late 2025, National Defence confirmed.
22 juin 2018 | Local, Aérospatial
David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen An Italian aerospace firm dropped a lawsuit against Canada over what it claimed was a rigged aircraft purchase shortly before the federal government awarded it a new sole-source deal potentially worth billions of dollars. But the Canadian Forces and officials with Italian defence company, Leonardo, say the ending of the legal action in May had nothing to do with the company being picked for a new project the same month. Leonardo has been selected by the Royal Canadian Air Force to upgrade its Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopters and provide seven additional aircraft. It is estimated the project will cost taxpayers between $1 billion and $5 billion, a price tag that includes the purchase of simulators and support equipment. Leonardo had been fighting the Canadian government in Federal Court over its 2016 decision to award its rival, Airbus, a contract to build fixed-wing search-and-rescue planes as part of a $4.7-billion program. The company was asking the court to overturn the contract to Airbus and instead award the lucrative deal to Leonardo and its Canadian partners. It alleged the Airbus aircraft failed to meet the government's basic criteria. But that legal action was stopped in May just as the Canadian government was awarding Leonardo the new helicopter deal. The Department of National Defence suggested the decision to drop the lawsuit was not related to its decision to select Leonardo for the sole-source deal. “The Government of Canada's priority is to select a best-value package for the Cormorant Mid-Life Upgrade,” the DND noted in an email. “Decisions related to this procurement were made based on consultations with industry and our subject matter experts and follow standard procurement reviews.” But the sole-source deal to Leonardo caught the aerospace industry by surprise. The RCAF had asked companies just last year for informal proposals on how Canada's future search and rescue helicopter needs could be met. One firm, Sikorsky, went as far as launching a campaign to promote its civilian S-92 helicopter as a cost-effective solution. It proposed that it was cheaper to buy new helicopters than to upgrade the older Cormorants. The federal government acknowledged that it has now received correspondence from aerospace firms raising issues about the sole-source deal with Leonardo. “We have received some responses,” Pierre-Alain Bujold, a spokesman for Public Services and Procurement Canada, stated in an email. “PSPC officials are currently reviewing the responses, in collaboration with the Department of National Defence and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.” “Once this review is complete, officials will determine appropriate next steps and inform respondents accordingly,” Bujold added. But defence industry insiders say the review is simply for the sake of appearances and it is expected the deal with Leonardo will proceed. Leonardo officials said their decision to drop the lawsuit was made in April but it took until the next month before that process could be completed. The Cormorant fleet entered service in the year 2000 and the modernization would allow the helicopters to operate for another 25 years at least. One of Leonardo's subsidiaries was the original manufacturer of the Cormorants. The decision to sole-source the deal moved through the federal system quickly. On April 20, RCAF spokesman Maj. Scott Spurr stated the air force was still examining options on how to proceed and that the next phase of the project wouldn't come until 2019. But on May 24 the Canadian government announced it had decided to go with Leonardo on the exclusive deal. Department of National Defence officials say it was determined that it was more cost effective to stay with the Cormorant fleet as it is a proven aircraft the RCAF knows well. The upgrade program is expected to include the latest avionic and mission systems, advanced radars and sensors, vision enhancement and tracking systems. http://nationalpost.com/news/politics/aerospace-firm-drops-lawsuit-against-dnd-as-defence-officials-award-it-multibillion-dollar-contract
19 décembre 2023 | Local, Aérospatial
In a statement, Bombardier said it remains “deeply disappointed” it was not allowed to bid on the contract, but will hold off on a court challenge.