10 mars 2020 | Local, Aérospatial, Sécurité
A new Department of National Defence report says military search-and-rescue personnel were delayed and in some cases unable to provide emergency assistance on about one in 20 of the hundreds of calls they received last year.
While some of the problems related to bad weather, animals on runways and having to wait for provincial medical teams to arrive, more than half were attributed to refuelling issues and breakdowns on the military's ancient search-and-rescue aircraft.
The Canadian Armed Forces says the refuelling problems and breakdowns, which afflicted a total of 20 search-and-rescue missions, did not lead to any deaths.
Yet they do raise questions about the military's ability to respond quickly to potentially life-threatening emergencies given the age of its search-and-rescue aircraft, some of which entered service in 1967.
The Royal Canadian Air Force officially accepted the first of 16 new search-and-rescue planes from European manufacturer Airbus in December, but the aircraft is still in Spain where it was built and has yet to make the trip to Canada.
The government has also said it plans to replace the air force's aging air-to-air refuelling tankers, but the first replacement isn't expected until 2028 at the earliest.
https://globalnews.ca/news/6650860/military-search-rescue-mission-problems/
12 octobre 2023 | Local, Sécurité
Today, the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence, concluded a productive visit to Brussels, Belgium, where he participated in the 16th United States-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Defence Ministers’ Meeting (DMM).
3 octobre 2022 | Local, Terrestre
Le 3 octobre 2022 – Ottawa – Défense nationale / Forces armées canadiennes À l'issue d'un processus concurrentiel, équitable, ouvert et transparent, Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada a attribué, au nom de la Défense nationale, un contrat de 122 millions de dollars (taxes inclues) à la société Nasittuq Corporation d'Ottawa, en Ontario, en vue de fournir des services de soutien à la SFC Alert au Nunavut pour une période initiale de huit ans et demi. La SFC Alert est une station militaire située au Nunavut, à l'extrémité nord-est de l'île d'Ellesmere, la plus septentrionale des îles de l'archipel Arctique canadien. Environnement et Changement climatique Canada y opère une station météorologique, laquelle est une installation militaire qui n'est toutefois pas ouverte au public. Le contrat avec la société Nasittuq Corporation couvre tous les services de soutien du site de la SFC Alert, y compris les logements, les services d'alimentation, l'entretien et l'utilisation des terrains et des routes (y compris la piste d'aérodrome), les centrales électriques, les b'timents, les génératrices, les réseaux d'approvisionnement en eau et de traitement des eaux usées, les systèmes d'alarme incendie, les réservoirs de stockage des carburants ainsi que l'exploitation d'une carrière. Nasittuq Corporation s'occupera également de l'entretien et des travaux majeurs de réfection de quelque 90 b'timents de la station – dont 19 grandes structures. Les services offerts dans le cadre du contrat aideront à fournir au personnel des milieux de travail bien entretenus qui appuient l'efficacité des opérations de base, ainsi que le nécessaire pour vivre et travailler dans l'environnement arctique. La Politique sur le contenu canadien ainsi que les obligations du Canada en vertu des Ententes sur les revendications territoriales globales, notamment la récente Directive sur les marchés de l'État dans la région du Nunavut du Secrétariat du Conseil du Trésor, s'appliquent à ce contrat. https://www.canada.ca/fr/ministere-defense-nationale/nouvelles/2022/10/le-gouvernement-du-canada-attribue-un-contrat-de-services-de-soutien-pour-la-station-des-forces-canadiennes-sfc-alert-au-nunavut.html
21 février 2020 | Local, Terrestre
DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN The Canadian military is investigating potential problems with brakes on its new armoured vehicle fleet which may have contributed to a number of incidents, including where one of the 18-tonne vehicles hit a car near Petawawa. There have been eight reported incidents involving problems with stopping or issues with brakes affecting the Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicles, or TAPVs. A formal safety advisory was issued Feb. 12 to the army units using the $600-million TAPV fleet. But the use of the vehicles is not being restricted at this time. The brake issues started being reported in January 2018 and the intermittent problem has only occurred at speeds in the range of five to 15 kilometres an hour, according to the Canadian Forces. “We are working with experts to try and determine if there is a problem with the vehicles braking performance at low-speed, and if the problem is isolated to a few vehicles or the result of something that may affect the wider fleet,” noted army spokesman Lt.-Col. Doug MacNair. So far, the Canadian Forces and Department of National Defence has been unable to replicate the reported problem, nor have inspections uncovered any obvious causes. There have been no injuries as a result of the incidents. Among the eight incidents is a Feb. 3 accident during which a TAPV rolled through a red light and hit a civilian vehicle near Canadian Forces Base Petawawa. No injuries were reported, and Ontario Provincial Police issued a ticket to the TAPV driver for failing to stop at a red light. Driver error was the “apparent problem” according to the Canadian Forces. But sources point out the driver in question reported problems with the TAPV brakes. During a change of command parade in Halifax in November 2019 a TAPV hit a wall causing minor damage after the brakes failed to stop the vehicle. A soldier near the vehicle had to “take evasive action to avoid being struck,” according to the Canadian Forces. In one case the brakes on a TAPV caught fire. In the aftermath of several other incidents involving brake failure large amounts of ice were found in the brake drums. In another case a TAPV hit the side of a bridge during training. “Following each of these incidents, technicians were unable to locate a problem with the brakes after they conducted technical inspections,” the Canadian Forces added. In 2016 the TAPV fleet had brake issues. At that time it was determined the anti-lock braking system on the vehicles was engaging erratically at higher speeds. A retrofit was introduced across the entire fleet to deal with that problem. The military says there is no evidence to suggest a connection between the 2016 braking issues and these latest incidents. Last year this newspaper reported on a series of rollovers and fires affecting the TAPV fleet. Between April 2014 and January 2019 there had been 10 incidents when Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicles have tipped on to their sides, six where they have rolled over completely, and four where they have caught fire. Pat Finn, then the assistant deputy minister in charge of procurement at the Department of National Defence, said at the time there have been no serious injuries as a result of the incidents. Finn suggested the rollovers might be caused because of the high centre of gravity the vehicles have. Training was improved to deal with the issue of rollovers. No explanation was provided at the time for the cause behind the fires. The TAPVs have also faced other problems, according to DND documents obtained by this newspaper using the Access to Information law. The TAPV program has “experienced a number of significant technical issues, particularly affecting vehicle mobility,” then-Conservative defence minister Rob Nicholson was told in August 2014. There have been problems with the suspension, steering and other items on the vehicle, according to the briefing document for Nicholson. The technical issues significantly delayed the test program for the vehicles, the document added. The Conservative government announced the TAPV contract in 2012 as part of its re-equipping of the Canadian Army. Canada bought 500 TAPVs from Textron, a U.S. defence firm, at a cost of $603 million. The TAPV is a wheeled combat vehicle that will conduct reconnaissance and surveillance, security, command and control, and armoured transport of personnel and equipment. The TAPV project cost taxpayers a total of $1.2 billion, which not only includes the vehicles but also includes the building of infrastructure to house them, as well as the purchase of ammunition and service support for the equipment. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/new-armoured-vehicle-fleet-faces-more-problems-civilian-vehicle-hit-near-petawawa