Federal budget resurrects 'economic harm' warning as fighter jet contract nears | CBC News

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  5 avril 2018 | Local, Aérospatial

  Calian Group Wins Royal Canadian Air Force Airworthiness Service Agreement Valued at up to $20M

  Ottawa, ON April 05, 2018 – Calian Group Ltd. (TSX: CGY) is pleased to announce it has been awarded a contract renewal worth up to $20 million in support of the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) Airworthiness Program. Calian will provide highly skilled professionals with expertise in 66 different categories of aeronautics to help ensure Canada's military fleet flies safely and effectively. The first year of the contract starts immediately and will run to March 31, 2019. The contract award includes two additional option years, with an aggregate contract value of approximately $20 million over the three years. Calian is initially providing professional airworthiness, engineering and program support services through a team of about 30 specialists, including civilians and veterans. They will provide services in mechanical engineering, propulsion, electrical engineering, weapons safety and cybersecurity. To deliver these services Calian has again partnered with Valcom Consulting Group. “We are honoured to continue providing these critical safety and security services to Canada's military aircraft fleet,” said Donald Whitty, Vice President, Calian Training. “We've been providing this support to the Airworthiness Program for 24 years, which goes far beyond technical reviews and flight test reports. We're protecting flight systems from cyber threats and providing critical security services for weapons, communications and computer systems.” Calian is providing the RCAF with uniquely qualified experts who have sought-after signing authority to endorse changes and modifications to existing aircraft as well as assessments of newly acquired aircraft. RCAF aircraft use complex, interconnected systems, and under the Airworthiness Program any modifications must be reviewed, analyzed and tested to ensure flight safety is not compromised. "This contract win falls directly in line with the first pillar of our growth strategy – customer retention. Customers come back to Calian because of our successful record delivering mission critical services with high satisfaction ratings,” said Jerry Johnston, acting President, BTS Division. “As one of Canada's largest defence companies, I am very pleased to see Calian continue this important partnership supporting the safety of the men and women in uniform.” These Airworthiness services are critical to flight safety and operational readiness for new and modernized aircraft such as the Fixed Wing Search and Rescue Airbus C295W aircraft, Maritime Helicopter Project CH-148 Cyclone helicopter, CP-140 Aurora patrol, CH-146 Griffon helicopter, CH-147 Chinook helicopter, CH-149 Cormorant helicopter, CC-130 Hercules transport and CF-118 Hornet fighter. About Calian Engineering Calian offers full-spectrum systems engineering and technical services, supporting the Department of National Defence (DND), other government departments, and industry for over 30 years. Our engineers and technologists apply expertise in disciplines essential for system development, operation, and maintenance, with capabilities that offer full life-cycle support for soldier systems, major defence projects, electrical and electronic systems, computer systems, naval architecture, and aerospace systems. About Calian Calian employs more than 2,900 people with offices and projects that span Canada, U.S. and international markets. The company's capabilities are diverse with services delivered through two divisions. The Business and Technology Services (BTS) Division is headquartered in Ottawa and includes the provision of business and technology services to industry, public and government in the health, training, engineering and IT services domains. Calian's Systems Engineering Division (SED), located in Saskatoon plans, designs and implements complex communication systems for many of the world's space agencies and leading satellite manufacturers and operators. SED also provides contract manufacturing services for both private sector and military customers in North America. For investor information, please visit our website at www.calian.com or contact us at ir@calian.com Jacqueline Gauthier Media inquiries: Chief Financial Officer Simon Doyle 613-599-8600 613-599-8600 x 205 https://www.calian.com/fr/node/1187

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  6 juin 2018 | Local, Naval

  RAPPORT SOMMAIRE FINAL Atelier de consultation sur l’industrie maritime régionale (MCMO-005)

  Dans le cadre des efforts continus visant à établir les stratégies du programme maritime national, le Groupe de travail sur la modernisation des approvisionnements maritimes (MAM) a tenu quatre ateliers régionaux d'un bout à l'autre du Canada, de novembre 2017 à avril 2018. Collectivement, les ateliers régionaux comprenaient la participation de près de 100 représentants de l'industrie (constructeurs de navires régionaux, fournisseurs, entreprises de génie maritime et chantiers de réparation), sans compter les homologues provinciaux et les représentants d'organismes de développement régional. Les contributions de l'industrie aux séances ont permis au groupe de travail sur la MAM de mieux comprendre les enjeux et les préoccupations de l'industrie maritime canadienne à l'égard des quatre thèmes (présentés ci-dessous). Les séances ont permis de relever un certain nombre de points récurrents, tout en ciblant de nouvelles idées et approches qui amélioreraient les pratiques fédérales en matière d'approvisionnement maritime. https://achatsetventes.gc.ca/donnees-sur-l-approvisionnement/appels-d-offres/PW-18-00830335

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  12 février 2018 | Local, Aérospatial

  Arrival of used Aussie fighters pushed back to summer 2019 or later

  Senior defence official says Canada will take used Aussie FA-18s as they become available It will be 2022 before the Royal Canadian Air Force receives all of the used Australian fighter jets the Liberal government intends to purchase, says senior defence official. The plan was rolled out with much fanfare at the end of last year because the air force has faced — in the words of Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan — an "urgent capability gap" and is not able to meet its NATO and Norad commitments at the same time. Pat Finn, who is in charge of the materiale branch of National Defence, told CBC News in a recent interview a final agreement is still months away. He is confident, however, everything will come together. Delivery is "staggered over three years," Finn said. The Trudeau government announced in December it would buy 18 used Australian "classic" FA-18s as an interim measure to bolster the air force until the entire Canadian fleet of CF-18s is replaced, beginning in the mid-2020s. It had wanted to buy brand new Boeing Super Hornets, the newer, bigger, more advanced version of the FA-18 and CF-18. The plan was scuttled when the manufacturer, Chicago-based Boeing, filed a trade complaint against Canadian aerospace giant Bombardier. No price tag for the Australian deal was released at the time of the formal announcement, which was made by Sajjan and Public Works Minister Carla Qualtrough. Ongoing discussions Finn said those details are still being worked out. The Liberal government said in December the first used fighters, which were purchased by Australia around the same Canada bought its CF-18s, would arrive by January 2019. Finn said the delivery schedule is being finalized, but he anticipates receiving the first two warplanes by the summer of that year. Another one would follow by the end of the year, but much depends on the Royal Australian Air Force and how quickly it retires the fighters and the age of what's being offered. "They, of course, release aircraft as they get aircraft," Finn said. "We do not necessarily want the oldest aircraft, so we would like to have an ongoing discussion." He said there is some flexibility and if "summer '19 turns into" something a few months later because they can get a better jet, then it's something that can be negotiated. The Australian government is in the process of seeking permission to sell the planes because they were originally manufactured in the U.S. Once the Australian warplanes arrive in Canada, they will need to be given life-extension modifications that will bring them up to the standard of the CF-18s, which have been modified to continuing flying until 2025. It stands in stark contrast to the urgency with which the Liberals initially painted the shortage of fighter aircraft. "In 2025, the CF-18s will not be able to fly, and it is important that we move very quickly in filling this capability gap." said Sajjan in June 2016. Finn said the air force is managing the capability gap by making more CF-18s available for operations on a daily basis. "We're basically working right now to increase the availability of our current airplanes," he said. Experts say that would mean pouring more than expected into the maintenance budget in order to keep fighters on the flight line. Urgent purchase? One defence analyst said the government has a strange definition of urgent. "Nothing about the handling of this file lines up with the identification of it as an urgent need, either the interim or the permanent purchase," said Dave Perry, an expert in procurement at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. He said he believes it will present a political headache for the Liberals come the next election. "The fact that this government may, at best, have a couple of second-hand aircraft before the next election after having identified an urgent need to acquire new fighter aircraft is just incredible," he said. When the Australian deal was announced, the government also laid out a timeline for the full replacement of the CF-18s, which were purchased in the 1980s, but extensively modified and upgraded in the early 2000s. Public Works recently held a consultation day with defence contractors, but Perry says no one seems to understand why it will take until the early 2020s to launch the competition. When the former Conservative government was struggling over whether to buy the F-35 stealth fighter, it conducted extensive research on the alternatives and possible types of warplanes Canada would need. That research, which conceivable could move things along faster, was largely discarded by the Liberals and is gathering dust on a shelf, Perry says. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/aussie-fighter-jets-1.4530875