Heron and MQ-9 drones approved for Canadian military program

Sur le même sujet

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  2 novembre 2018 | Local, Aérospatial

  Canada to accept bids for new fighter jet in May — here are the potential competitors

  By: David Pugliese VICTORIA, British Columbia — Canada expects to accept formal bids for a new fighter jet in May, with the first aircraft delivered by 2025, according to Canadian government procurement officials. A draft bid package for 88 fighters was issued to companies for their feedback by the end of this year, said Pat Finn, assistant deputy minister for materiel at the Department of National Defence. From there, the final bidding instructions for the CA$16 billion (U.S. $12 billion) procurement will be issued and bids required by May 2019, he added. The aircraft will replace Canada's current fleet of CF-18 fighter jets. The aircraft expected to be considered include Lockheed Martin's F-35, the Eurofighter Typhoon, the Dassault Rafale, Saab's Gripen and the Boeing Super Hornet. The Canadian government will require a robust package of guaranteed industrial benefits or offsets from the winning bidder, government officials said. But that could be a problem for the F-35, as Canada is still a partner in that program, which does not guarantee participating-nations contracts. Work on the F-35 program is based on best value and price. Canadian industrial participation in the F-35 program has reached $1 billion, as more than 110 Canadian firms have landed contracts related to the aircraft program. Jeff Waring, director general for industrial benefits policy at the federal Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, said the country sees the fighter jet program as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity for the Canadian economy.” But he noted the industrial benefits policy is flexible. “It is a market-driven approach,” he said. “It encourages suppliers to make investments that make sense to them.” The issue of industrial benefits has already been discussed with companies interested in bidding on the project, and those talks will continue as feedback is received on the draft bid package, government officials said. Email: dpugliese@defensenews.com https://www.defensenews.com/global/the-americas/2018/10/30/canada-to-accept-bids-for-new-fighter-jet-in-may-here-are-the-potential-competitors

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  14 mars 2019 | Local, Aérospatial

  Canadian military wants retired pilots to come back - system needs to be flexible to allow that, says general

  DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN The Canadian Forces says it is bringing in new initiatives to boost the numbers of pilots and the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff Lt.-Gen. Paul Wynnyk recently outlined some of those for Members of Parliament. At the Commons defence committee Feb. 28 Wynnyk pointed out the issue of pilots who are assigned to staff jobs but who want to keep flying. He suggested there could be changes that will allow that but didn't provide many details. Wynnyk did note that the call will be sent out for retired pilots to come back to the RCAF. “We're reaching out to retired individuals from the Canadian Forces and seeing if they'd like to join and particularly making it more flexible for pilots who have retired to go into the reserves to perhaps look at ways of getting into Cold Lake, Bagotville, or wherever we need to fly them,” he told MPs. Wynnyk also mentioned “potential bonuses” but didn't provide details. Late last year RCAF commander Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger told MPs the reasons behind the fighter pilots leaving but money appeared to be low on the list of issues forcing pilots to leave. “Certainly the feedback from those who are releasing is it's a question of family, challenges for their family,” Meinzinger explained to the Public Accounts committee. “There's a dimension of ops tempo, work-life balance, predictability in terms of geographical location, and then typically fifth or sixth are comments about financial remuneration.” “We find that, unless there's a degree of predictability and positive career management over that individual, we often find individuals who are vexed,” Meinzinger further explained. “They come up to a point where they may not have anticipated they were going to move, or we're asking them to move their family to a location where perhaps their spouse cannot find employment.” Another factor is that some fighter pilots are not happy being streamed into administrative jobs. They want to keep flying. “We find a lot of individuals often don't wish to move to headquarters and work in an office versus work in an aircraft,” the RCAF commander acknowledged. “We recognize that and respect it. But that dialogue, which must happen at the margin, before we force an individual to move, is very, very important.” The U.S. Air Force has had mixed results with its bonuses offered to stem the exodus of various pilots to commercial aviation jobs. Last year the USAF announced that, for the first time, some bomber, fixed-wing combat search-and-rescue, special operations, mobility and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance pilots would be eligible for the same maximum bonus that were previously given only to fighter pilots, Stephen Losey of Air Force Times wrote in December 2018. That maximum is $420,000 but to receive that a pilot must commit to serving 12 more years. “But turning on the cash spigot appears to have had limited effect,” Losey wrote. “According to statistics provided by the Air Force, the overall percentage of eligible manned aircraft pilots agreeing to take the bonuses — known as the take rate — increase from 44 percent in 2017 to 45 percent in 2018. That halted two years of declines, after the take rates dropped from 55 percent in 2015 to 48 percent in 2016, and to 44 percent in 2017. But even though the take rate ticked up, overall number of pilots signing up for retention bonuses dropped from 476 to 418, the statistics showed.” Losey's article is here: https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/12/10/alarming-number-of-mobility-pilots-decline-bonuses-to-keep-flying-overall-bonus-take-rates-tick-up-slightly/ https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/canadian-military-wants-retired-pilots-to-come-back-trying-to-make-system-flexible-to-allow-for-that

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  17 septembre 2018 | Local, Sécurité

  Simulation Technologies & Training for Law Enforcement

  CASEY BRUNELLE © 2018 FrontLine (Vol 15, No 4) The realities of modern frontline policing – from increasingly broad and demanding operational mandates and changing environmental constraints, to the constant pressure of real-time public scrutiny – have never been more challenging. Traditional crime prevention and response have long been coupled with the requirements of community-oriented public safety, counter-terrorism measures. Lately that has further included the implications of social media and the instantaneous reporting of officers' actions, in some cases spread worldwide before formal inquiries can even begin. Effective training solutions, more so than ever before, rely on a holistic and judgmental regime that can replicate to the best possible degree the tactical challenges of response, the fluidity of operational changes on the ground, and the importance of informed decision-making strategies that keeps the safety of the public at the forefront of all policing actions. In an era of hyper-connectivity, public scrutiny can sometimes lead to denouncements of police actions within minutes, through traditional and novel media alike, often riddled with accusations of institutionalized racism, systemic brutality, and discretionary justice. These shifts in technology and the underlying public culture are not exclusive to the United States; they are increasingly fluid game-changers throughout the West and law enforcement policymakers and frontline officers rarely go a day without considering their implications or witnessing their consequences for themselves. There is no doubt that this is will have a positive result in the long run, and simulated training is being seen as one of the most efficient and cost-effective ways to ensure the right decision-making processes become ingrained. Increasingly, law enforcement agencies at the local, provincial, and national level are recognizing the utility of replicating these fluid challenges with advanced simulations and virtual and augmented reality technologies. From the use of wireless small arms platforms (such as BlueFire technology from Meggitt Training System) and simulators of cruisers for high-speed pursuits (such as the “souped up” version from General Electric), to customizable hardware that can be used to construct any building interiors at will (as in the flexibility offered by Mobile Police Training Structures), simulations technology has become one of the most effective and cost-efficient measures in ensuring that police are as equipped as possible to handle the evolving challenges of their profession. Full article: https://defence.frontline.online/article/2018/4/10362