29 octobre 2020 | Local, Naval
David Pugliese
Two reports by the parliamentary budget officer looking into the costs of major Canadian naval equipment projects have been delayed.
The Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates had unanimously passed a motion in June to request the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer undertake a costing analysis of the Royal Canadian Navy's new joint support ships as well as the leasing of the Asterix supply ship from a private firm. The PBO study was to also look at the cost of building the joint support ships in Canada at Seaspan shipyard in Vancouver. The committee asked that the PBO report be provided by Oct. 15.
Another motion from the committee, passed later in June, asked the PBO to examine the $60 billion price tag of Canada's proposed new fleet of warships – the Canadian Surface Combatant or CSC. Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux was tasked to investigate the cost of the CSC as well as examine the cost of two other types of warships: the FREMM and the Type 31. That study was supposed to be presented to the committee by Oct. 22.
But those original motions from the committee expired when Parliament was prorogued. So new motions have to be provided to the PBO.
The Commons committee passed a new motion on Oct. 19 on the Asterix and Joint Support Ship analysis. That analysis is to be delivered by Nov. 30, PBO spokeswoman Sloane Mask told this newspaper. A date for the analysis to be made public has not yet been determined.
“Currently, we are also in the process of confirming the revised timelines for the CSC report,” she added.There is particular interest in the defence community about what the PBO determines is the current price-tag of the Canadian Surface Combatant project.
Last year the Liberal government signed an initial deal on CSC that is expected to lead to the eventual construction of 15 warships in the largest single government purchase in Canadian history. Lockheed Martin offered Canada the Type 26 warship designed by BAE in the United Kingdom. Irving is the prime contractor and the vessels will be built at its east coast shipyard.
Construction of the first ship isn't expected to begin until the early 2020s.
But the Canadian Surface Combatant program has already faced rising costs. In 2008, the then-Conservative government estimated the project would cost roughly $26 billion. But in 2015, Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, then commander of the navy, voiced concern that taxpayers may not have been given all the information about the program, publicly predicting the cost for the warships alone would approach $30 billion.
The overall project is currently estimated to cost around $60 billion. “Approximately one-half of the CSC build cost is comprised of labour in the (Irving) Halifax yard and materials,” according to federal government documents obtained by this newspaper through the Access to Information law.
But some members of parliament and industry representatives have privately questioned whether the CSC price-tag is too high. There have been suggestions that Canada could dump the Type 26 design and go for a cheaper alternative since the CSC project is still in early stages and costs to withdraw could be covered by savings from a less expensive ship.
Canada had already been pitched on alternatives. In December 2017, the French and Italian governments proposed a plan in which Canada could build the FREMM frigate at Irving. Those governments offered to guarantee the cost of the 15 ships at a fixed $30 billion, but that was rejected by the Canadian government.
The other type of warship the PBO will look at is the Type 31, which is to be built for the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Those ships are to cost less than $500 million each.
In 2017, then Parliamentary Budget Officer Jean-Denis Fréchette estimated the CSC program would cost $61.82 billion.
The entry of the BAE Type 26 warship in the Canadian competition was controversial from the start and sparked complaints that the procurement process was skewed to favour that vessel. Previously the Liberal government had said only mature existing designs or designs of ships already in service with other navies would be accepted on the grounds they could be built faster and would be less risky. Unproven designs can face challenges if problems are found once the vessel is in the water and operating.
But the criteria was changed and the government and Irving accepted the BAE design, though at the time it existed only on the drawing board. Construction began on the first Type 26 frigate in the summer of 2017 for Britain's Royal Navy.
5 octobre 2023 | Local, Sécurité
The Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence, today announced the launch of an online Conduct and Culture Research and Policy Database.
26 janvier 2018 | Local, Naval
Communiqué de presse De Défense nationale Le 26 janvier 2018 – Esquimalt (C.-B.) – Défense nationale/Forces armées canadiennes Le gouvernement du Canada s'est engagé de par sa politique de défense, Protection, Sécurité, Engagement (PSE), à fournir aux femmes et hommes des Forces armées canadiennes l'équipement dont ils ont besoin. Aujourd'hui, l'honorable Harjit S. Sajjan, ministre de la Défense nationale, a annoncé l'attribution d'un contrat de soutien des systèmes d'armes qui protègeront les matelots et les navires canadiens pour les deux prochaines décennies. D'une valeur de 704 millions de dollars, ce contrat profitera aussi à l'industrie canadienne puisqu'on s'attend à ce qu'il crée et maintienne plus de 450 emplois qualifiés et bien rémunérés à travers le pays. Dans le cadre de ce contrat, l'entreprise Raytheon Canada Limited mettra à niveau et soutiendra 21 systèmes d'armes de combat rapproché pour la Marine royale canadienne. Ces systèmes de canons à tir rapide et à guidage radar fournissent le système d'autodéfense naval le plus efficace disponible contre les menaces rapprochées comme les missiles, les petits navires et les aéronefs. Ces systèmes sont actuellement utilisés sur les frégates de la Marine de la classe Halifax, et seront installés sur les navires de soutien interarmées de la classe Protecteur après leur construction. Citations « L'annonce d'aujourd'hui s'aligne avec les objectifs que nous nous sommes fixés dans Protection, Sécurité, Engagement. Nous réalisons des investissements stratégiques dans la Marine royale canadienne qui aideront à protéger nos hommes et femmes matelots alors qu'ils mènent toute la gamme des opérations dans le contexte de sécurité actuel. » – Ministre de la Défense nationale, Harjit S. Sajjan « Gr'ce à la politique sur les retombées industrielles et technologiques du gouvernement, Raytheon Canada Limited réalisera d'importants investissements au Canada pour maintenir des emplois de la classe moyenne bien rémunérés, favoriser la croissance économique et aider à stimuler l'innovation partout au Canada chez les petites et moyennes entreprises. Voilà comment nous nous assurons que l'innovation bénéficie à toute la population canadienne. » – Ministre de l'Innovation, de la Science et du Développement économique Navdeep Bains Faits en bref Le contrat de soutien en service des systèmes de défense rapprochée (CIWS) continuera jusqu'à la fin de 2037, et comprend une période de service de dix ans avec trois options pour cinq, trois ou deux années supplémentaires, respectivement. Le CIWS est le système de défense rapprochée le plus largement déployé au monde et est utilisé actuellement par 24 nations. Ce niveau d'interopérabilité permettra à la Marine de tirer profit des améliorations qui seront réalisées par nos alliés à l'avenir. La politique sur les retombées industrielles et technologiques (RIT), y compris la proposition de valeur, s'applique à ce contrat et encouragera la croissance d'une défense canadienne et d'une industrie de la marine durables. De plus, Raytheon Canada Limited s'est engagé à investir dans des petites et moyennes entreprises canadiennes et en activités de recherche et développement. Personnes-ressources Byrne Furlong Attachée de presse Cabinet du ministre de la Défense nationale Téléphone : 613-996-3100 Relations avec les médias Ministère de la Défense nationale Téléphone : 613-996-2353 Sans-frais : 1-866-377-0811 Courriel : mlo-blm@forces.gc.ca https://www.canada.ca/fr/ministere-defense-nationale/nouvelles/2018/01/contrat_de_maintiendessystemesdarmespouraideraprotegerlesmatelot.html
4 septembre 2019 | Local, Aérospatial
THE CANADIAN PRESS Days after Airbus Defence and Space pulled out of the $19-billion race to replace Canada's aging fighter jets, the only European firm still eligible to compete says it has not decided whether it will. Saab Canada president Simon Carroll says the Swedish firm is interested in entering its Gripen jet against its two remaining competitors, both of which are from the United States: Boeing's Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin's F-35. However, Mr. Carroll told The Canadian Press on Tuesday that his company is still analyzing the competition's nitty-gritty details – including a security requirement that forced out two other European jet makers. All bidders are required to explain by Sept. 20 how they plan to ensure their planes can integrate with the top-secret Canada-U.S. intelligence network known as “Two Eyes,” which is used to co-ordinate the defence of North America. But in announcing its withdrawal from the competition on Friday, Airbus said meeting the requirement would place “too significant of a cost” on non-U.S. aircraft. French firm Dassault cited the same requirement when it pulled its Rafale jet in November. “We are still looking at that security assessment side of things from the Two-Eyes perspective,” Mr. Carroll said. “We don't see any major issues with it as this point in time. Having said that, we're still reviewing everything through the whole [request for proposals] at this point in time and we will reserve the right to make our judgment on whether or not we provide a bid.” Airbus also raised concerns about changes to a long-standing policy that requires bidders on military contracts to legally commit to invest as much money in Canadian products and operations as they get out of contracts they win. Bidders can now instead establish “industrial targets,” lay out a plan for achieving those targets and sign non-binding agreements promising to make all efforts to achieve them. Such bids do suffer penalties when the bids are scored, but are not rejected outright. That change followed U.S. complaints the previous policy violated an agreement Canada signed in 2006 to become one of nine partner countries in developing the F-35. The agreement says companies in the partner countries will compete for work associated with purchases of the planes. While Saab has previously raised its own concerns about the change, saying it would shortchange Canadian taxpayers and industry, Mr. Carroll said it was “not a hurdle” and that “we think we have a very good offering for what we can offer in Canada.” Even participating in the competition is not a cheap proposition for fighter-jet makers; while Carroll would not speak to the potential cost to Saab, analysts have previously pegged the cost in the millions of dollars. While companies are expected to submit their plans to meet the Two Eyes security requirement on Sept. 20, the government has said it will provide feedback and let bidders amend their submissions. Final bids aren't expected until next winter, with a formal contract signed in 2022. The first plane won't arrive until at least 2025. Successive federal government have been working to replace Canada's CF-18s for more than a decade. Mr. Carroll praised the government for being transparent as it has worked for years to launch the competition, which followed an aborted attempt between 2010 and 2012 to buy F-35s without a competition. “We're supportive of the government processes and what they've done moving forward,” he said. “The transparency from the government has been very good. They've given ample opportunity for us to review documents. They've been very open in saying that these are the dates and these are the times.” https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-swedens-saab-undecided-on-whether-it-will-participate-in-canadian/