16 décembre 2019 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
OTTAWA — Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has come out in support of Canada's top military general, saying the country is "very fortunate" to have someone like Gen. Jonathan Vance leading the Canadian Armed Forces.
The comments come amid questions over whether the newly re-elected Liberal government plans to replace Vance, who was first appointed chief of the defence staff by Stephen Harper and is now in his fifth year in the position.
"When it comes to the chief of defence staff, this is a decision for the prime minister and so we'll reflect on that and make a decision accordingly," Sajjan told The Canadian Press during a wide-ranging interview last week.
However, he added, "Canada has been very fortunate to have somebody like Gen. Vance in this role at a very important time."
Vance is already one of the longest-serving defence chiefs in Canadian history, and his lengthy tenure has coincided with a number of significant decisions and developments for the Armed Forces - both positive and negative.
Those include significant new investments in the military through a new defence policy, the deployment of troops to Iraq, Mali and Latvia as well as efforts to crackdown on sexual misconduct and recruit more women.
Yet he has also faced his share of criticism over the years, including over his decision to suspend Mark Norman in 2017, more than a year before the now-retired vice-admiral was charged with breach of trust. The case was eventually dropped.
Vance also found himself under fire for the way he handled replacing Norman as the military's second-in-command last year, which saw significant upheaval and instability in the Armed Forces' senior ranks.
The defence chief has also been accused of being too supportive of controversial decisions by the Liberal government such as its plan to buy interim fighter jets while some in the Forces have grumbled about a domineering style.
While he wouldn't say whether the government planned to replace Vance any time soon, Sajjan said the general has brought important qualities and attributes to the high-profile and difficult position over the past four-plus years.
Those include Vance's experience having served in Afghanistan and elsewhere and the work that he put into helping the government develop its defence policy, which was released in June 2017.
"I'm very happy with the service that Gen. Vance has given," Sajjan said.
"There's only one four-star general in our Canadian Armed Forces. You don't get there easily and every single one brings a unique experience. And Gen. Vance has brought very important experience during a very important time."
Speculation about Vance's future has been mounting if for no other reason than the amount of time he has spent as Canada's top military general, said defence analyst David Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
Exactly who would replace him is an open question, however.
Norman's suspension and subsequent retirement contributed to a wider series of changes within the top ranks that have left many senior commanders relatively new in their positions.
The reality is that Vance and Sajjan, who has served as defence minister since the Liberals were first elected to power in fall 2015, have emerged as the "constants" at the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces, said Perry.
Given that and indications the Liberals do not have big plans to dramatically switch directions or roll out new initiatives for the military, "I think there's going to be a lot of continuity," he added.
Which on the surface would suggest no immediate changes at the top.
"Certainly the signals the government has sent to this point of time look a lot more like continuity and continuing to implement the policy and the framework that they set in place during the last Parliament."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Dec. 15, 2019.
3 mai 2023 | Local, Aérospatial
Ottawa étudie un partage des commandes chez Bombardier et Boeing pour remplacer ses avions militaires de surveillance vieillissants, a appris La Presse. Le scénario, qui est à l'étude, permettrait d'apaiser les tensions dans un dossier qui a pris une tournure politique.
18 août 2020 | Local, Aérospatial
ByDylan Malyasov Aug 17, 2020 U.S. and fighter jets will be conducting will conduct air defense exercises in the Arctic region, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The details were given in a media release, to announce North American Aerospace Defense Command will conduct an air defense exercise from August 17-21, ranging from the Beaufort Sea to Thule, Greenland. The exercise will include Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 fighter aircraft, CP-140 long-range patrol aircraft, and a CC-150T air refueler; as well as United States Air Force F-15 fighter aircraft, KC-10 refueler, and C-17 transport aircraft. The exercise will be based out of 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alberta; and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Exercise flights will be conducted over sparsely populated Arctic areas and at high altitudes. The public is not likely to see or hear the exercises; however, there will be increased flight activity at Yellowknife. This exercise is in no way related to the Government of Canada or United States' response to COVID-19. NORAD routinely conducts exercises with a variety of scenarios including airspace restriction violations, hijackings and responses to unknown aircraft. NORAD carefully plans and closely controls all exercises. This air defense exercise provides us the opportunity to hone our skills as Canadian and U.S. forces operate together with our allies and partners in the Arctic. NORAD has implemented preventative measures including regular hand sanitation, physical distancing, and wearing of face masks in situations where physical distancing is not possible to mitigate potential risk of exposure to novel coronavirus (COVID-19) by military members and the local population. In addition, participating U.S. military personnel require two negative COVID-19 tests prior to arriving in Canada, and all military personnel positioned at forward operating locations will be isolated on the base. For more than 60 years, NORAD has identified and intercepted potential air threats to North America through the execution of the command's aerospace warning and aerospace control missions. NORAD also keeps watch over Canadian and U.S. internal waterways and maritime approaches under its maritime warning mission. https://defence-blog.com/news/u-s-and-canadian-fighter-jets-will-conduct-military-training-in-the-arctic.html
25 novembre 2019 | Local, Aérospatial
Ahead of the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC), the world's largest military training and simulation event to be held next week in Orlando, Fla., CAE announced it has completed major upgrades to the CT-156 Harvard (T-6) and CT-155 Hawk flight training devices (FTDs) used as part of the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) program at 15 Wing Moose Jaw, Sask. The upgrades were done on three CT-156 Harvard FTDs and one CT-155 Hawk FTD that are used extensively for ground-based training elements of the NFTC pilot training syllabus. CAE replaced computing hardware on the simulators, added new visual display systems, updated the instructor operator stations, and upgraded the image generators to the latest CAE Medallion series. CAE will now begin upgrading the CT-155 Hawk FTD located at 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alta., which is used as part of phase IV fighter lead-in training under the NFTC program. “The ground-based training system and use of simulators has become increasingly important for military pilot training,” said France Hébert, vice-president and general manager, CAE Canada. “With the upgraded flight training devices used for NATO Flying Training in Canada, we will now be able to deliver ground-based training that is more immersive and realistic, which in turn contributes to the more effective and efficient delivery of live flying training.” The effectiveness of the upgraded CT-156 Harvard and CT-155 Hawk FTDs is already benefiting student pilots. The new visual systems provide more realism in the synthetic environment and have enabled training tasks such as formation flying and tactical scenarios to be rehearsed in the simulators, thus enhancing the efficiency of performing these tasks during live flying training. As the prime contractor for the NFTC program, CAE operates the NFTC base facilities, delivers the ground-school classroom and simulator training, and supports the live flying training on a fleet of Beechcraft T-6 (CT-156 Harvard) and BAE Systems Hawk (CT-155 Hawk) aircraft. CAE operates the NFTC program out of 15 Wing Moose Jaw and 4 Wing Cold Lake, and the program is designed and delivered in cooperation with the Government of Canada to support pilot training for the Royal Canadian Air Force and allied militaries. The NFTC program combines basic, advanced, and lead-in fighter training as part of the comprehensive military pilot training program. https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/cae-upgrades-trainers-at-15-wing-moose-jaw