7 novembre 2018 | Local, Aérospatial
The long effort to replace Canada's aging fighter jets took another surprise twist on Tuesday, as multiple sources revealed that French fighter-jet maker Dassault is pulling out of the multibillion-dollar competition.
The decision comes just over a week after the federal government published the military's requirements for a replacement for Canada's CF-18s as well as a draft process by which a winning supplier will be chosen.
Dassault had repeatedly pitched its Rafale aircraft to Canada over the years as successive governments in Ottawa have wrestled with selecting a new fighter jet. Dassault's pitch included significant promises, including that it would assemble the planes in Canada.
But sources tell The Canadian Press that Dassault's decision to withdraw was related to the fact France is not a member of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network, which counts the U.S., Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada as members. The five members have very specific requirements for how their equipment works together.
The French government, which had been closely working with Dassault as the most recent iteration of Canada's fighter-replacement program has inched along over the past year, was preparing to notify Ottawa of the company's withdrawal.
The move leaves four companies — U.S. aerospace giants Lockheed Martin and Boeing, European competitor Airbus and Swedish firm Saab — competing for the $19-billion contract to replace Canada's 76 CF-18s with 88 new fighters.
A contract isn't expected to be awarded until 2021 or 2022, with delivery of the first new aircraft slated for 2025. In the meantime, the government is planning to upgrade its CF-18s and buy 25 used fighters from Australia as a stopgap.
Dassault faced several significant challenges in meeting Canada's requirements for a new fighter, said defence analyst David Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, and while they weren't insurmountable, they would have cost time and money.
Those challenges included meeting those Five-Eyes intelligence-sharing requirements, which Perry said put Dassault at a distinct disadvantage in the competition when compared to Lockheed Martin, Boeing and, to a certain degree, Airbus.
"For any of the non-American companies, solving the Five-Eyes interoperability issues is going to be challenging," he said, noting that the U.S. in particular is very sensitive about data-sharing.
"And it costs companies a lot of money to mount and pursue bids. So if they think at this point in time that it's not a realistic prospect, then pulling out is pretty understandable."
That could explain why Dassault never established a strong presence in Canada during the many years when it was trying to sell the Rafale as a replacement for the CF-18, he added.
The CF-18s are about 35 years old. Canada's attempts to buy a new fighter jet have dragged on for nearly a decade after the previous Conservative government announced in 2010 that Canada would buy 65 F-35s without a competition, with the first to be delivered in 2015.
But the Tories pushed the reset button in 2012 after the auditor general raised questions about the program and National Defence revealed the jets would cost $46 billion over their lifetimes.
After campaigning on a promise not to buy the F-35s, the Trudeau Liberals announced in November 2016 they would take their time with a competition to replace the CF-18s, and buy 18 "interim" Boeing Super Hornets without a competition because Canada needed more fighter jets badly.
But then Boeing's trade dispute with Canadian rival Bombardier saw the Liberals scrap their plan to buy Super Hornets and instead begin talks to buy 18 used fighter jets from Australia. A contract for those used planes is expected in the coming weeks.
The formal competition to replace the CF-18s is scheduled to begin next spring.
2 juin 2024 | Local, Naval
Today at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence, announced the deployment of two Royal Canadian Navy ships in support of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy
24 septembre 2018 | Local, Naval
DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN DND officials warned that committing to a specific time to start cutting steel on the warships 'will add additional risk' Irving Shipbuilding is pushing federal officials to announce a firm date to begin construction on Canada's new fleet of warships, arguing that will help drive the project along. But the company is facing resistance from federal officials concerned about missing a publicly announced start date, as happened with the Arctic patrol ships now under construction, according to documents released to Postmedia. Federal officials have continued to say that construction of the Canadian Surface Combatant fleet would begin sometime in the early 2020s but no specific date had been set. Irving representatives tried last year to convince federal bureaucrats of the need to set a specific date to begin construction. “(Irving) noted that hard dates is what drives the work,” according to the report from the Jan. 17, 2017 meeting of deputy ministers overseeing the national shipbuilding plan. But the firm faced pushback from Department of National Defence officials. “DND cautioned against setting a hard production date to work towards, noting the challenges this approach caused on AOPS,” the report noted. DND officials warned that committing to a specific time to start cutting steel on the warships “will add additional risk.” The AOPS were announced in 2007 by then prime minister Stephen Harper and were supposed to be in the water by 2013. But construction didn't start until 2015. The first ship was launched on Sept. 15 and won't be operational until 2019. Three consortiums have submitted bids for the surface combatant program and those are still being evaluated. The project will see 15 warships buiilt by Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax. A winning bid is expected to be selected sometime this year. The ships will form the backbone of the future Royal Canadian Navy. Scott Leslie, director general of large combat ship construction at Public Services and Procurement Canada, said that a more precise construction date can't be provided now because a winning design has yet to be selected. “There are a lot of variables around it, one of the main ones being which design is chosen and how much work is required to get that design evolved and buildable at Irving Shipyards,” Leslie explained. Irving is worried about the gap after building of the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships but before construction of the surface combatants. If the two projects are not aligned, workers could face layoffs and Irving is worried it will lose skilled personnel. The government has already faced delays and rising costs with the warships. In 2008, it estimated the total cost to be about $26 billion. But in 2015, then navy commander Vice Admiral Mark Norman voiced concern that taxpayers may not have been given all the information and predicted the cost alone for the ships would be around $30 billion. Cost estimates for the entire project are now between $55 billion and $60 billion. About half is for systems and equipment on the 15 ships, according to federal documents obtained by Postmedia through the Access to Information law. “Approximately one-half of the CSC build cost is comprised of labour in the (Irving's) Halifax yard and materials,” the documents added. Last year, Jean-Denis Fréchette, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, estimated the CSC program would cost $61.82 billion. He also warned that every year the awarding of the contract is delayed beyond 2018, taxpayers will spend an extra $3 billion, because of inflation. The first ship will be delivered in the mid 2020s. In November, in a surprise twist, a French-Italian consortium declined to formally submit a bid and instead offered Canada a fleet of vessels at around $30 billion. Officials with Fincantieri of Italy and Naval Group of France said they don't believe the procurement process as currently designed will be successful. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/canada/federal-officials-dont-want-to-be-pinned-down-on-a-date-to-start-building-new-navy-documents-show/wcm/eaace91c-ece6-4a5a-b130-e1d96b7ff261
18 février 2019 | Local, Aérospatial
Le 17 février 2019 – Cold Lake (Alberta) – Défense nationale/Forces armées canadiennes Gr'ce à la politique de défense du Canada, Protection, Sécurité, Engagement, le gouvernement du Canada s'assure que nous ayons des aéronefs prêts pour les missions, et dont nous avons besoin pour remplir nos obligations nationales et internationales, en prévision de l'arrivée de chasseurs pour remplacer la flotte entière de CF-18. Aujourd'hui, l'Aviation royale du Canada (ARC) a annoncé l'arrivée des deux premiers chasseurs provisoires, une étape importante et un investissement dans le soutien de notre flotte actuelle de CF-18 Hornet. Le Canada achète 18 chasseurs et des pièces auprès du gouvernement de l'Australie afin d'accroître rapidement la disponibilité de la flotte de CF-18 et de faire en sorte que l'ARC puisse remplir toutes ses obligations simultanément. Ces aéronefs sont du même type que la flotte actuelle de CF-18 du Canada et peuvent être intégrés rapidement à notre flotte. Les modifications et les travaux techniques commenceront immédiatement afin qu'ils puissent avoir une configuration semblable à celle des CF-18 du Canada. Le travail continuera d'être effectué par des entreprises canadiennes. Les livraisons se poursuivront à intervalles réguliers au cours des trois prochaines années, et les aéronefs seront intégrés à la flotte des CF-18 à mesure que les modifications seront complétées. Les derniers aéronefs devraient arriver d'ici la fin de 2021. Citations « La flotte de chasseurs intérimaires est essentielle pour que l'Aviation royale du Canada puisse continuer à remplir sa mission et assurer la sécurité de la population canadienne et du Canada. Nous connaissons bien ces aéronefs et sommes convaincus qu'ils peuvent fournir le soutien supplémentaire dont notre flotte actuelle a besoin. Ils ont été transportés hier par la Force aérienne royale d'Australie et j'ai h'te de les voir voler à nouveau sous nos couleurs canadiennes. » Harjit S. Sajjan, ministre de la Défense « La livraison de ces aéronefs viendra appuyer nos militaires pour qu'ils puissent réaliser leurs missions et répondre aux obligations internationales du Canada. Dans le cadre de l'approvisionnement, nous ferons les investissements nécessaires dans ces appareils pour veiller à ce qu'ils répondent aux besoins de l'Aviation royale canadienne. » Carla Qualtrough, Ministre des Services publics et de l'Approvisionnement et de l'Accessibilité Faits en bref Ces deux premiers aéronefs sont le modèle F/A-18A, ce qui signifie qu'il s'agit d'appareils à siège unique. Ces aéronefs se sont rendus de Nellis (Nevada) à Cold Lake (Alberta), où ils participaient à l'exercice RED FLAG. Les modifications et l'entretien de la flotte actuelle de CF-18 continueront d'être nécessaires jusqu'à ce que l'ARC passe à un futur chasseur. Un examen des améliorations de la capacité de combat est en cours. Comme il est indiqué dans Protection, Sécurité, Engagement, des efforts dynamiques de maintien en poste et de recrutement sont en cours pour s'assurer que l'ARC atteigne le nombre et les niveaux d'expérience voulus chez les pilotes et les techniciens. Les aéronefs seront utilisés à la 3e Escadre Bagotville et à la 4e Escadre Cold Lake. Le Canada continue de faire des progrès dans le remplacement de sa flotte de chasseurs. La demande officielle de propositions pour la future flotte de chasseurs devrait être publiée au printemps 2019, et l'attribution d'un contrat devrait suivre en 2021-22, les livraisons devant commencer en 2025. Liens connexes Documentation : Intégration des chasseurs australiens à la flotte actuelle de l'Aviation royale canadienne Protection, Sécurité, Engagement : La politique de défense du Canada Chasseurs Projet de capacité future en matière d'avions chasseurs CF-18 Hornet Images fixes et vidéo de l'arrivée des deux aéronefs australiens le samedi 16 février https://www.canada.ca/fr/ministere-defense-nationale/nouvelles/2019/02/arrivee-des-premiers-chasseurs-interimaires-a-cold-lake.html