23 novembre 2018 | Local, Aérospatial
OTTAWA — The Trudeau government pressed ahead with its plan to buy second-hand fighter jets from Australia on Tuesday despite withering fire from the federal auditor general, who warned that the military might not have anybody to fly them.
Six years after blowing up the Harper government's plan to buy new F-35s without a competition, auditor general Michael Ferguson targeted the Liberals' own attempts to buy jets. He first picked apart the government's aborted plan to purchase “interim” Super Hornets to bolster Canada's aging CF-18 fleet, and then its current plan to buy used Australian fighters.
The government says those extra fighters are needed to address a shortage of CF-18s until a state-of-the-art replacement can be purchased and delivered — a lengthy process that will run through 2032, at which point the CF-18s will be 50 years old.
But the auditor general's office arrived at a very different conclusion: The military doesn't need more planes because it doesn't even have the pilots and mechanics to operate what it already has. What it really needs, the office found, is more people.
“The shortage of personnel in relation to technicians means that they don't have enough technicians to prepare and maintain the planes,” Casey Thomas, the principal auditor on the fighter jets study, told reporters on Tuesday.
“And they have 64 per cent of the pilots that they need, so they don't have enough pilots to fly the planes. What National Defence actually needed was to increase its personnel.”
The auditor general's report also flagged concerns that the government's plan to sink $3 billion into the current CF-18s and additional Australian fighters to keep them flying to 2032 won't be enough, as the money won't actually improve the aircrafts' combat systems.
Without more money, which some analysts have suggested could mean hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars more, Canada's fighter-jet fleet will become even more obsolete, to the point where the plans might not be any use at home or overseas.
Yet only a few hours after the auditor general's report was released, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced that the Liberals had signed a contract to buy the 18 second-hand jets from Australia. Officials have pegged the cost at around $500 million.
Sajjan also said he had directed officials to look at options for upgrading the combat systems on the CF-18s and Australian fighters, which he acknowledged would mean investing more money into aging fighter jets.
Missing from the announcement: Any new funding or other initiative to increase recruiting and retention of pilots and technicians.
Instead, Sajjan said the government and military have already introduced several initiatives through the Liberals' defence policy last year, such as giving tax breaks to military personnel deployed on overseas missions, to give them reasons to stay.
At the same time, the minister sidestepped questions about recruitment, saying the military can't reduce its standards for new pilots. He noted that commercial airlines are also facing a significant pilot crunch.
Air-force commanders have previously said the current training system, which can only produce 115 new pilots each year, a fraction of whom are fighter pilots, is not fast enough to replace all those who move on to commercial opportunities.
The subtext to much of the auditor general's report on Tuesday was the question of how Canada ended up in a position where the military will be flying fighter jets until they are 50 years old.
The Liberals were urged early in their tenure to launch an immediate competition to replace the CF-18s. Instead they spent two years working to buy those stopgap Super Hornets before a trade dispute with the company that makes them, Boeing, saw the government move on to the used Australian jets.
The Trudeau government insists that it was doing its due diligence, but critics — including numerous retired air force and defence officials — have accused it of trying to bend procurement rules to avoid buying the F-35.
Yet even before the Liberals took the reins, the Harper government was having a hard time making any progress on buying new fighter jets. The Tories championed the F-35 before resetting the entire process in 2012.
That move was prompted by Ferguson's first report, which accused defence officials of misleading parliamentarians about the stealth fighter's costs and various technical issues. National Defence later pegged the full lifetime cost of the fighters at $46 billion.
“Lot of people had a hand in this,” said defence analyst David Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, adding that the worst part is there is no easy or obvious solution to what has become a very troubling situation for Canada and its military.
“I think our fighter force is in trouble.”
7 juin 2023 | Local, Aérospatial
Relations have soured between Joint Task Force 2 and the Canadian Special Operations Regiment at Petawawa, according to documents.
10 octobre 2018 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
Communiqué de presse Le 9 octobre 2018 — Ottawa — Défense nationale/Forces armées canadiennes Le Canada et le Mexique ont des questions d'intérêt commun et sont résolus à accroître la sécurité et la prospérité de leur pays respectif. Ils sont tous deux déterminés à tisser des liens plus étroits en matière de défense et à intensifier les relations panaméricaines. Le Canada apporte aux Amériques un soutien multiforme qui contribue à la sécurité et à la stabilité de la région, tout en adhérant aux valeurs des Canadiennes et des Canadiens et en les incarnant. Pour souligner ces priorités communes, le ministre de la Défense nationale Harjit Sajjan a signé aujourd'hui l'accord de coopération en matière de défense Canada‑Mexique avec le général Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, secrétaire de la Défense nationale, et l'amiral Vidal Francisco Sob‎erón Sanz, secrétaire de la Marine. La signature de cet accord bilatéral de coopération en matière de défense marque un important pas en avant dans l'évolution des relations entre le Canada et le Mexique. Cet accord de coopération en matière de défense fournira un mécanisme permettant de collaborer davantage dans un certain nombre de domaines clés, dont l'éducation, la formation et le renforcement des capacités en matière de défense, le matériel de défense, les opérations de soutien de la paix, l'aide humanitaire et les secours en cas de catastrophe. Citations « Le Canada et le Mexique tirent profit d'un partenariat étroit qui mise notamment sur de solides liens en matière de défense. Le Canada est heureux de signer cet accord de coopération en matière de défense avec le Mexique, notre ami et partenaire de l'hémisphère, en marge de la Conférence des ministres de la Défense des Amériques, qui a été couronnée de succès. Nous ‎nous réjouissons à l'idée de continuer de collaborer avec le Mexique en vue de l'avancement de nos priorités communes en matière de défense. » Harjit S. Sajjan, ministre de la Défense Faits en bref L'accord de coopération en matière de défense Canada‑Mexique a été signé en marge de la Conférence des ministres de la Défense des Amériques qui s'est déroulée au Mexique, du 7 au 10 octobre 2018. L'engagement pris par le Canada et le Mexique de resserrer leurs liens en matière de défense s'est traduit au cours des dernières années par des progrès mesurés, y compris des visites de personnalités de haut niveau, un dialogue stratégique et opérationnel et des possibilités de formation. Le Mexique est membre depuis 2004 du Programme d'instruction et de coopération militaires (PICM). Pour 2018‑2019, on prévoit l'attribution de 73 cours dans le cadre du MTCP au Mexique, sous réserve de changements au cours de l'année, dont des postes de direction dans les prestigieux programmes suivants : Programme de sécurité nationale, Programme de commandement et d'état-major interarmées et Cours sur les opérations de l'Armée de terre. Liens connexes Les relations entre le Canada et le Mexique Personnes-ressources Byrne Furlong Attachée de presse Cabinet du ministre de la Défense nationale Téléphone : 613-996-3100 Courriel : byrne.furlong@forces.gc.ca Relations avec les médias Ministère de la Défense nationale Téléphone : 613-996-2353 Courriel : mlo-blm@forces.gc.ca https://www.canada.ca/fr/ministere-defense-nationale/nouvelles/2018/10/le-gouvernement-du-canada-signe-un-accord-de-cooperation-en-matiere-de-defense-avec-le-mexique.html
20 septembre 2021 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
ROBERT FIFEOTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF STEVEN CHASESENIOR PARLIAMENTARY REPORTER OTTAWA PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 17, 2021 The Canadian government was surprised this week by the announcement of a new security pact between the United States, Britain and Australia, one that excluded Canada and is aimed at confronting China's growing military and political influence in the Indo-Pacific region, according to senior government officials. Three officials, representing Canada's foreign affairs, intelligence and defence departments, told The Globe and Mail that Ottawa was not consulted about the pact, and had no idea the trilateral security announcement was coming until it was made on Wednesday by U.S. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The defence ministers from the U.K. and Australia reached out to Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan to inform him of the decision shortly before the late-afternoon announcement. Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau received a call from his Australian counterpart. Daniel Minden, a spokesperson for Mr. Sajjan, said Ottawa had been kept in the loop on talks between the countries. One of the Canadian officials referred to the pact as the new “Three Eyes” and said it's clear that Canada's closest allies consider Ottawa to be a “weak sister” when it comes to standing up to China. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the officials because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Three Eyes is a reference to what is becoming a smaller club within the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, which includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The Five Eyes pact dates back about 75 years. Members share signals intelligence gleaned from intercepted communications, as well as military intelligence and intelligence gathered directly from human sources. The new trilateral alliance, dubbed AUKUS, after the initials of the three countries, will allow for greater sharing of information in areas such as artificial intelligence and cyber and underwater defence capabilities. The U.S. and U.K. have also agreed to help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines, which would allow it to conduct longer undersea patrols. Australia will become only the second country, after Britain in 1958, to be given access to U.S. nuclear propulsion technology. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday played down Canada's exclusion from the Indo-Pacific security deal, saying it is merely a way for the U.S. to sell nuclear submarines to Australia. Speaking to reporters in Montreal, Mr. Trudeau said Canada will still have access to defence and intelligence sharing as a member of the Five Eyes alliance. “We continue to be strong members of the Five Eyes,” he said. “This is a deal for nuclear submarines, which Canada is not currently or any time soon in the market for. Australia is.” Retired Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, who once commanded the Royal Canadian Navy, said Canada should have been part of this defence pact, which he described as a “somewhat unprecedented” trilateral arrangement. He said he was surprised to hear Mr. Trudeau play down the pact as merely a submarine purchase deal. “I think it's misleading and concerning ... I would like to believe he was poorly briefed by his staff,” Mr. Norman said. The retired naval flag officer said that, if Mr. Trudeau was fully briefed, “he doesn't understand what is going on internationally and he doesn't understand what the significance of an arrangement like this is as it relates to international security.” He said the agreement goes far beyond access to U.S. submarine technology. “This is about accessing both current and emerging technologies, from cyber and artificial intelligence, to acoustics and underwater warfare – a whole range of very important strategic capabilities.” Mr. Norman said Canada has many national interests in the Indo-Pacific – including trade, promoting the rule of law and democracy, and countering China's aggressive behaviour and posturing – but he suspects close allies do not take Canadian defence commitments seriously. “I don't think our allies think we are serious when it comes to defence. I think they have concerns not just about our defence expenditures, but also the extent to which our [international] commitments are both lasting and meaningful,” he said. Stephanie Carvin, a former national security analyst and an associate professor of international relations at Carleton University, said the U.S.-U.K.-Australia defence pact is the latest evolution of military and intelligence co-operation between those three countries. “Three Eyes is very real,” Prof. Carvin said. “Australia is strategic in making its presence known in Washington, arguably much more than Canada despite it being geographically closer.” She said Canada not being a part of the new agreement is consistent with the country's low engagement in the Indo-Pacific. “We haven't been part of a military alliance in the Pacific since the Korean War. And the government has never addressed the question of if this is still the correct security posture.” The leaders of the Conservative and New Democratic parties criticized Mr. Trudeau for Canada's exclusion from the pact. AUKUS, they said, could put added pressure on China to respect international norms and rein in its expansionism. “This is another example that Mr. Trudeau is not taken seriously by our friends and allies around the world,” Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole told reporters at a campaign stop on Thursday. “Canada is becoming more irrelevant under Mr. Trudeau.” Mr. O'Toole said he would seek to join the new Indo-Pacific security arrangement if the Conservatives are elected on Monday. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, speaking to reporters on Thursday, questioned whether Mr. Trudeau had given serious thought to the importance of the new trilateral pact while preoccupied with campaigning. By joining this arrangement, Canada could have ratcheted up pressure on China to free Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, Mr. Singh said. “The pact seems like a potential avenue to add more pressure [on China]. Canada was absent. Another reason why this election should not have been called,” Mr. Singh told reporters. The U.S., U.K., Australia and Indo-Pacific countries have been growing alarmed about how Beijing is rapidly modernizing its armed forces and increasing its military presence in the disputed waters of the South China Sea and the East China Sea. China reacted harshly to the new partnership. The three countries are “severely damaging regional peace and stability,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian. White House spokesperson Jen Psaki defended the U.S. decision, saying “we do not seek conflict with China.” Instead, she said, this is “about security in the Indo-Pacific.” The submarine deal also represented a blow for France, because Australia intends to tear up a $40-billion agreement to buy French conventional submarines. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called the loss of the deal a “stab in the back.” Speaking at a news conference after meetings between the U.S. and Australian foreign and defence ministers in Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said France remains a “vital partner” in the Indo-Pacific region. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-canadian-government-surprised-by-new-indo-pacific-security-pact/