6 avril 2022 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
18 décembre 2018 | Local, Aérospatial
Feds going ahead with plan to buy used jets, says Defence minister
Nothing will make the government reconsider its controversial plan to buy 25 second-hand, 30-year-old fighter jets as a temporary stopgap for its fleet, says Canada's minister of National Defence.
“For us, (cancelling the purchase is) not even in the picture at all, because it would be absolutely irresponsible if we don't try to fill this capability gap,” Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan told iPolitics in an interview. “We have to invest.”
When they came to power, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals deferred a plan to buy 65 F-35 fighter jets, deciding instead to buy a much smaller number in the interim.
They first sought to purchase 18 new Super Hornet jets built by American manufacturer Boeing, before canning that plan about a year ago as trade tensions between the countries boiled over. An announcement followed that Canada was buying 18 used F-18s from Australia to supplement its existing CF-18 fleet, which dates from the early 1980s, and was due for replacement after about 20 years.
Over the summer, the government announced it would buy seven jets from Australia for parts. The Liberals had set aside $500 million for this purchase, but the final cost is still unclear.
Since the announcement to purchase Australia's old planes, Sajjan has faced harsh criticism from opposition members who call the plan unacceptable, especially after a damning report from the auditor general of Canada less than a month ago.
Yet when asked if the purchase could be stopped, Sajjan replied, “Why would you want to stop it?”
One answer to that — cherrypicked from the auditor general's report — is that under the current plan, Canada will not meet its commitment to NORAD and NATO, which government officials, including Sajjan and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, have cited as a major reason for the government's decision to buy the planes.
The auditor general also casts doubt on the viability of the government's interim fleet because of a shortage of technicians and pilots capable of maintaining and flying the jets.
“National Defence expects to spend almost $3 billion, over and above existing budgets, without a plan to deal with its biggest obstacles to meeting the new operational requirement,” says the report.
“We know it's going to take time,” Sajjan said, “but at least we're investing in the problem so we can finally get rid of it.”
National Defence doubled down on its current plan following the auditor general's report, saying it's seeking approval of “a number” of upgrades to keep Canada's CF-18 fleet in the air until 2032. It also says it will increase the number of technicians and pilots in the fighter force, even though it identified the shortage as far back as 2016.
The first jets to replace the existing CF-18s, and those the government is buying from Australia, will arrive in 2025. A yet-to-be-chosen future fleet of 88 fighter aircraft are supposed to be fully operational by 2031, and last until the year 2060.
https://ipolitics.ca/2018/12/17/feds-going-ahead-with-plan-to-buy-used-jets-says-defence-minister/
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7 avril 2022 | Local, Terrestre
OPPORTUNITY: US Army xTech International - Energy Water Synthetic Biology - DEADLINE APRIL 15TH
The Trade Commissioner Service would like to make industry aware of the US Army's xTechInternational Competition, which provides a forum for eligible international small businesses to engage with the Army, earn prize money and investigate funding opportunities to tackle Army challenges across three key technology areas: Energy; Water; and Synthetic Biology. Responses are due by APRIL 15, 2022 in the form of a 3 page white paper and option 3 minute video. See full details on the xTech website here: https://www.arl.army.mil/xtechsearch/competitions/xtechinternational.html The registration/submission page may be found here: https://usg.valideval.com/teams/xtech_International/signup Problem Statements · Topic 1: Electric Power and Energy Technologies o Challenge: As new and future Army systems are planned for expeditionary operations; developers are focusing on electric power to decrease the reliance on fossil fuels and to alleviate supply line issues. The DoD is seeking technologies to facilitate future electric systems that can operate in varied conditions. Of particular interest are the following energy technologies for expeditionary operations: § Critical Infrastructure energy technologies to support high demand for electric power on the battlefield, such as tactical battlefield recharging capability for onboard vehicle batteries. § High Energy Battery Technology, greater than 400Wh/kg, to keep up with the demand for high density energy storage with long life cycle and fast charging capabilities (>=4C rate with limited degradation), across a wide operational temperature range (-46 to +71 Celsius, per MIL-PRF-32565). § Technologies for Improving Battery Safety that can reduce safety risks posed by thermal runaway of high energy density battery systems. § Open-Source Lithium ion 6T Battery Management System (BMS) & Case design that meets Army standards, which the Army can then provide to battery manufacturers, to reduce battery manufacturers' challenges to developing Army compliant lithium-ion 6T batteries. This also enables the Army to swiftly adopt of new and emerging battery cell technologies in the Lithium-ion 6T space. · Topic 2: Water Technologies o Challenge: Expeditionary forces are operating in locations where local water sources may contain microbial, chemical, or heavy metal contamination and supply lines are unreliable to deliver timely supplies. The DoD is seeking technologies to produce potable water in real-time using a scalable solution with minimal logistical requirements, in order to support enduring operations. Of particular interest are the following water technologies for expeditionary operations: § Technologies for the extraction of water from atmosphere or non-traditional water sources. § Removal of microbiological, chemical, and heavy metals on an individual scale. § Real time water sensors to support individual Soldier field purification efforts by ensuring the efficacy of the water purification device in real time and identifying contaminants in indigenous water sources. · Topic 3: SynBio Technologies o Challenge: Synthetic biology is enabling us to better harness nature to produce leap-ahead materials that we cannot make efficiently in any other way. Cell culture methods that have been the workhorse for industrial use often require very controlled process conditions and can have various limitations on the types/complexity of product produced. We want to harness biosynthesis methods beyond that paradigm to realize more efficient on-demand production of biochemicals/biomaterials anywhere in the world or fabrication of multifunctional protective materials (e.g., self-cleaning armor with integrated sensing, eye protection, tunable RF antenna and camouflage properties), and we are interested in any advancements that have been made in characterizing novel organism capabilities and steps towards engineering them. Such novel organisms could include, but not be limited to: extremophiles or typical eukaryotes (e.g., microalgae/diatoms, insect cells). Examples of potential interest areas include: § Extremophile novel biochemical pathways tuned for selective synthesis, recovery, separation, and/or remediation of high value elements/materials (e.g., production of novel energetic materials; remediation of energetics; recovery and separation/processing of rare earth and other high-value elements). § Open cultures (instead of expensive sterile systems) that support using non-sterile nutrients by non-experts in minimal protective gear. § Expanding the breadth of elements that organisms can utilize to make novel materials or precursor materials that can be converted into novel materials (e.g., as is done in polymer-derived ceramics). § Synthesis of biohybrid/multifunctional materials, toward next generation military-grade materials/coatings that cannot be affordably/feasibly fabricated in any other way [e.g., eye and sensor protection, camouflaging or concealing materials, complex multifunctional fiber materials (integrated strength/sensing/RF emission/decontamination/optical properties)]; novel energetic material production with micro/nanopackaging; structural or adhesive materials; or reinforced materials with enhanced degradation/erosion characteristics. § Human performance applications such as living sensors for harsh environments, encapsulated skin-biotics for UV/nuclear radiation protection, responsive textile-attached antimicrobials Eligibility The entities allowed to participate in this competition must be international SME businesses. SME businesses are defined as those with
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20 décembre 2023 | Local, Terrestre
Canadian Army’s network systems get a $1.68 billion update
“Right now, in Ukraine, we are seeing the fight of tomorrow, where we can learn valuable lessons to help improve our own armed forces,” said Deputy Commander Peter Scott. “Whatever we decide to procure in the future is taking into consideration what’s happening on the battlefield now.”