New military radar to be located in southern Ontario could cost up to $3 billion

Sur le même sujet

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  17 septembre 2018 | Local, Naval

  Halifax Shipyard launches Canada’s lead Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel

  Canada's lead Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel, the future HMCS Harry DeWolf, was launched today, Sept. 15, 2018, marking a significant milestone for the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS) and the revitalization of the Royal Canadian Navy's combatant fleet. At 103 metres and 6,615 tonne, the future HMCS Harry DeWolf is the largest Royal Canadian Navy ship built in Canada in 50 years. The ship was transitioned from our land level facility to a submersible barge yesterday, Sept. 14, 2018, and launched in the Bedford Basin today. The lead ship in the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship program is now pier side at Halifax Shipyard where our shipbuilders will continue working to prepare the ship for sea trials in 2019. HMCS Harry DeWolf is scheduled to be turned over to the Royal Canadian Navy in summer 2019. Construction of the second and third ships, the future HMCS Margaret Brooke and Max Bernays, are well underway at Halifax Shipyard. Later this month, the first two major sections of the future HMCS Margaret Brooke will be moved outside. The National Shipbuilding Strategy was created to replace the current surface fleets of the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Coast Guard. Through a competitive, open and transparent process, Irving Shipbuilding was selected to construct the Royal Canadian Navy's future combatant fleet—Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessels followed by Canadian Surface Combatants. As a result of the National Shipbuilding Strategy, Irving Shipbuilding has become one of Atlantic Canada's largest regional employers, with thousands of Canadians now working in skilled, well-paying jobs. The Halifax Shipyard, long at the centre of Canadian shipbuilding, is now revitalized and home to the most modern, innovative shipbuilding facilities, equipment, and processes in North America. http://shipsforcanada.ca/our-stories/halifax-shipyard-launches-canadas-lead-arctic-and-offshore-patrol-vessel

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  15 novembre 2018 | Local, Terrestre

  Saudi Arabia and the Canadian Arms Lobby

  by Yves Engler Will they cancel the contract or won't they? In order to understand Ottawa's decision making process regarding General Dynamics' massive arms deal with Saudi Arabia one must look closely at industry lobbyists. While the Trudeau government is under substantial public pressure to rescind the $15 billion Light Armored Vehicle sale, to do so would challenge the company and the broader corporate lobby. Last week a senior analyst with the GD-financed Canadian Global Affairs Institute boldly defended the LAV sale. "There has been no behavior by the Saudis to warrant canceling this contract", said David Perry to the London Free Press. Perry must have missed the Kingdom's violence in Yemen, repression in eastern Saudi Arabia and consulate murder in Istanbul. Two weeks ago Perry told another interviewer that any move to reverse the LAV sale would have dire consequences. "There would be geopolitical implications. There would be a huge number of economic implications, both immediately and in the wider economy... canceling this, I think, would be a big step because as far as I understand the way that we look at arms exports, it would effectively mean that we've changed the rules of the game." Amidst an earlier wave of criticism towards GD's LAV sale, the Canadian Global Affairs Institute published a paper titled "Canada and Saudi Arabia: A Deeply Flawed but Necessary Partnership" that defended the $15-billion deal. At the time of its 2016 publication at least four of the institute's "fellows" wrote columns justifying the sale, including an opinion piece by Perry published in the Globe and Mail Report on Business that was headlined "Without foreign sales, Canada's defense industry would not survive." Probably Canada's most prominent foreign policy think tank, Canadian Global Affairs Institute is a recipient of GD's "generous" donations. Both GD Land Systems and GD Mission Systems are listed among its "supporters" in recent annual reports, but the exact sum they've given the institute isn't public. The Conference of Defence Associations Institute also openly supports GD's LAV sale. Representatives of the Ottawa-based lobby/think tank have writtencommentaries justifying the LAV sale and a 2016 analysis concluded that "our own Canadian national interests, economic and strategic, dictate that maintaining profitable political and trade relations with ‘friendly' countries like Saudi Arabia, including arms sales, is the most rational option in a world of unpleasant choices." Of course, the Conference of Defence Associations Institute also received GD money and its advisory board includes GD Canada's senior director of strategy and government relations Kelly Williams. Full article: https://original.antiwar.com/yves_engler/2018/11/13/saudi-arabia-and-the-canadian-arms-lobby/

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  26 septembre 2018 | Local, Aérospatial

  Transport Canada looking at used German drone to patrol Arctic

  Murray Brewster · CBC News A used German drone is one of a handful of aircraft under consideration by Transport Canada for its long-delayed Arctic surveillance program. A spokeswoman for the department said no decision has been made about the kind of remotely-piloted system the department will purchase. Marie-Anyk Cote said the plan is to buy an aircraft to detect and monitor oil spills, survey ice levels and marine habitats and keep track of shipping and ice movement in Canada's far northern waters. "As part of its technical assessment, the government sought information from suppliers to better understand the technology and the solutions available," Cote said in an email. The Associated Press reported on Monday that Canada was negotiating with Germany to purchase a secondhand Global Hawk surveillance drone, which originally cost the Germans $823 million. 'Premature' Cote said "it is still premature to speculate which remotely piloted aircraft system will be purchased" and that the evaluation is still underway. In a statement issued to AP, Germany's defence ministry said talks with Canada were planned, but declined to comment on a possible sale price or closure date. The news surfaced in a response to lawmakers tabled by the German government in the Bundestag, Germany's parliament. It stated that Germany has decided to "begin concrete negotiations with Canada for the sale of the Euro Hawk aircraft, two ground stations and possibly certain spare parts." Northrop Grumman, the maker of the Global Hawk, pitched the Canadian military on buying the high-altitude surveillance system a few years ago. New, the aircraft cost more than US $131 million each. National Defence has its own, separate drone program which is not expected to start delivering aircraft until 2021. That new fleet will not be fully operational until 2023. The drone under consideration by Transport Canada is a prototype that was purchased by the Germans in 2000, according the AP report. It has flown only a handful of times; the program was cancelled because of skyrocketing costs and the German government's inability to get it certified to fly in Europe. According to 2013 German media reports, the manufacturer had refused to share technical data with the German government and the drone lacked an anti-collision alarm required by European regulators. According to the German government's written response, the drone has now been "demilitarized" — meaning it has been stripped of its U.S.-made radio equipment, GPS receiver and flight control system. Drone or missile? There could be more complications ahead if Ottawa is successful in negotiations with the Germans. A year ago, CBC News reported the Arctic drone surveillance program had been delayed because of complex international arms control rules that would categorize the unmanned aircraft as a missile. The federal government approved $39.5 million for a technical assessment in 2015 — and the plan had been to have a small fleet airborne by last spring. Officials told CBC News last year that they were not expecting delivery of the drones until 2020. The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), adopted by Canada and 34 other countries, was intended to prevent the spread of weapons systems that can deliver nuclear missiles. Drones were added to the list recently and the rules restrict missiles and drones from carrying a payload of more than 500 kilograms or travelling more than 300 kilometres. A fully loaded Global Hawk can carry a sensor suite payload weighing up to 540 kilograms. With files from the Associated Press https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/transport-canada-looking-at-used-german-drone-to-patrol-arctic-1.4838364