Push to use allies to train needed Canadian fighter pilots no longer being considered

Sur le même sujet

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  13 novembre 2017 | Local, Aérospatial, C4ISR

  PAL Aerospace and CarteNav with partner Thales Unveil Force Multiplier at Dubai Airshow

  PAL Aerospace and CarteNav Solutions Announce launch of Force Multiplier An Industry leading “On Demand” Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance special mission platform On the occasion of the Dubai Air Dhow, DAS, PAL Aerospace announced the first public appearance of an On-Demand, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Special Mission Platform named the Force Multiplier. Force Multiplier is an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance platform for special missions operations. Ownership, operation, and maintenance are all responsibilities of PAL Aerospace and clients simply acquire the actionable data and experience that they require on this industry leading platform. The Special Mission platform is equipped with two full mission system suites, AMASCOS®, from Thales, and AIMS-ISR® from CarteNav – both mission system software suites which will accommodate a diverse range of ISR applications. Both mission systems will integrate to the Thales SEARCHMASTER® radar which is the highest performance-to-weight radar on the market. The solution fits interim and immediate requirements for surveillance and/or training missions under an on-demand contracting model. PAL Aerospace has operated over 250,000 flight hours of Special Missions and has over 40 Years of Fixed Wing Operations and Surveillance Experience. Our experience as an operator of surveillance missions leaves us uniquely qualified to bring this new platform to market with a view towards client needs and future innovation. Brian Chafe, Chief Executive Officer of PAL Aerospace, stated, “The announcement of this ISR asset is transformational for our organization. We are committed to delivering this platform so our customers can react when they need it most. We are confident that our clients will appreciate the approach that we have taken to provide a flexible, proven, reliable and low-risk solution.” Rick Hillier, General (retired – Former Chief of the Canadian Defense Staff), Chairman - PAL Aerospace, LLC stated “We are pleased to announce this significant investment at the Dubai Air Show to reinforce our commitment to this region and our over 10 year commitment to the people of the UAE.” "The entire CarteNav team is excited by the launch of Force Multiplier and are pleased to be a partner on this initiative. We are looking forward to delivering advanced ISR mission system and information management capabilities for a diversity of end customer's mission requirements. In addition, Force Multiplier is a platform that is ideal for ongoing innovation and advanced product development.” said Paul Evans, President of CarteNav Solutions. Speaking of the partnership, Philippe Duhamel, EVP Defence Mission Systems activities at Thales said, “We have a longstanding cooperation with PAL Aerospace where we have commonly addressed the UAE's and other clients' needs and delivered maritime patrol aircraft with a comprehensive suite of ISR solutions in past. Through the Force Multiplier and the collaboration with PAL Aerospace, Thales will be able to further extend its service offering and demonstrate our capabilities to our entire global customer base.” https://www.palaerospace.com/s/Media-Release-PAL-Aerospace-Force-Multiplier-Launch.pdf

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  24 septembre 2020 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité, Autre défense

  Canada's special forces seek outside intelligence advice

  Murray Brewster Intelligence expert says Canadian Forces may be preparing for more missions without American help Canada's elite special forces are looking for some outside intelligence advice — a move that one expert said is likely meant to make the highly-trained special forces section less dependent on allies, notably the Americans. A request for proposals was posted late last week to the federal government's tendering website asking private contractors to submit bids to become a "senior intelligence" adviser to the special forces, which undertake some of the military's most secret and dangerous missions. The individual will be expected to "aid and support in the implementation of current intelligence projects, and the design and implementation of future capabilities." Specifically, the new adviser will be responsible for helping to guide "the establishment of specific [Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance] capabilities," which will include aircraft. The special forces recently bought three new surveillance aircraft from the U.S. The planes, which are expected to arrive in 2022, will be equipped with sensors and tracking gear to intercept cell telephone and other electronic transmissions. The request for proposals also says the new adviser will be expected to have a deep background in working with other allied intelligence services. In its defence policy, released three years ago, the Liberal government committed to bolstering the military's intelligence-gathering capability. The special forces section itself emphasized intelligence-gathering in its recently released strategy, called Beyond the Horizon. Within the defence community, the strategy is seen as an important effort to refocus the special forces after nearly two decades of concentrating on counter-insurgency warfare. A spokesperson for the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM), Maj. Amber Bineau, had little to say about the rationale for hiring a contract adviser beyond what was included in the request for proposals. The branch "periodically hires contractors, on a case-by-case basis" and the adviser will be working with "oversight from senior leadership within CANSOFCOM," she said in an email. The University of Ottawa's Wesley Wark, one of the country's leading experts in intelligence, said the decision to bring in outside expertise and establish surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities for the special forces is a significant move — especially coming at a moment when the United States is seen as pulling back from engagement with its allies, or focusing on different priorities. Wark said Canada traditionally has relied on the Americans for a variety of intelligence-gathering capabilities, including military intelligence. The request for proposals, he said, amounts to a recognition by the Department of National Defence that some future special forces missions may not involve partnerships with U.S. special forces — and that Canada needs its own independent capabilities. "If you're going to work with some different kinds of partners, the expectation grows that you're going to have to have your own sources and you can't just be relying on the United States," he told CBC News. Wark said he could foresee, for example, Canadian special forces being called upon by the United Nations for specific intelligence help during peace support missions — a task that, in the current political climate, Washington would avoid. Just as important, Wark said, is the fact that the request for proposals asked for someone with expertise in social media intelligence, "which is interesting and indicative of the kind of complex operations" the force will be facing in the future. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/special-forces-intelligence-1.5726861

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  2 janvier 2019 | Local, Naval

  China’s advances in Arctic may pose security threat to Canada

  By EMANUELE SCIMIA Calgary academic believes Beijing will conduct naval operations in the Arctic soon and that China's next-generation nuclear subs will have 'under-ice' capabilities China's growing focus on the Arctic Ocean has drawn the eye of circumpolar nations, including Canada, which lays claim to the waters of the Northwest Passage. The Canadian government tends to downplay the military threat posed by Beijing, but at the same time has voiced concern about its disrespect for international rules in dealing with territorial disputes in the China seas, and the possibility that it could replicate its intimidatory tactics in the High North. The Chinese rolled out their Arctic policy last January. The Asian giant considers itself a “near-Arctic” state, and wants a stake in the region's development as ice melting is creating new business opportunities – a concept reiterated by Gao Feng, China's special representative for Arctic Affairs, at the Arctic Circle Conference in Seoul on December 8. Beijing aims to set up the polar leg of its Belt and Road Initiative for better connectivity across Eurasia and beyond. The Chinese are keen to utilize new Arctic sea routes to narrow the distance and cut transport time with Europe for their cargo ships, besides exploiting the region's natural resources and investing in infrastructure projects. Canada's Department of National Defense spokesperson Jessica Lamirande told Asia Times that her country was committed to cooperation with other states in the Arctic, provided they abide by international law, including environmental, navigation and other standards. Against this backdrop, “Canada welcomes continued discussions with China on Arctic issues,” she said. Arctic militarization Militarization of the Arctic is becoming reality. Russia is busy reinforcing military positions in its polar territory and will require foreign warships that want to sail through its Arctic waters to give prior notification to the Defense Ministry starting from next year. The USS Harry S Truman sailed beyond the Arctic Circle in October, the first time a US aircraft carrier has operated in these latitudes since the early 1990s. The warship then joined the Northern Atlantic Treaty Organization in Norway for its largest military exercises after the fall of the Soviet Union. Still, it is worth noting that the British-led Joint Expeditionary Force also includes circumpolar states such as Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, which are all concerned with Russia's military build-up in the High North. But Lamirande said the Canadian armed forces had not seen an increase in Chinese military presence in the country's Arctic region. “While there is no immediate military threat in Canada's Arctic, our military carefully monitors the changing security environment in the polar areas and is focused on exercising surveillance and control there,” she insisted. “All of the waterways that are commonly referred to as the Northwest Passage are internal waters of Canada and we have an unfettered right to regulate them.” Underestimating China's challenge Not everyone shares Canada's optimistic view of the Chinese commitment to the Arctic. Robert Huebert, a senior fellow at the University of Calgary's Center for Military and Strategic Studies, thinks it is naive on the Canadian government's part to believe that China will not conduct naval operations in the Arctic in the future. “The Chinese have expanded their overall naval capability from 1994 on to the point of becoming the real world's second-largest navy,” he said. “Not to mention that China's naval shipbuilding currently surpasses that of any other country, including the United States.” Huebert noted that Beijing had shown its interest in having Arctic and near-Arctic operations in 2016 when it sent a five-vessel taskforce to the Bering Sea, and later deployed naval units to visit some Nordic countries and hold drills with the Russian navy in the Baltic Sea. “All of this points to a Chinese desire to have vessels that will be able to operate globally,” the Canadian scholar said. “Given the activities of both American and Russian submarines in the Arctic, and given the Chinese intention to become a challenger to both of these navies, it is inevitable that China will soon have an Arctic capability for its naval forces.” Cooperation with the US Canada is trying to beef up its military potential in the High North, but it may not be up to the task of coping with a serious external threat in the region. The Royal Canadian Navy will have six new Arctic and offshore patrol ships down the line. Lamirande explained that jetty infrastructure was being upgraded at Esquimalt and Halifax dockyards to berth these vessels. She said that a new jetty was under construction at Halifax, Canada's naval base on the Atlantic coast, and would be ready for use in the spring of 2019. Similar work is also underway for two new jetties at the naval facility in Esquimalt, which hosts the country's Pacific fleet, with this project expected to be completed in the late 2020s. “Work to establish a docking, replenishing and refueling facility in Nanisivik [in Canada's northern Nunavut territory] is well advanced and expected to be operational in 2019,” she added. According to Huebert, the new Arctic and offshore patrol ships are not designed to respond to an expanding Chinese (and Russian) submarine threat in the Arctic. “The vessels are important in providing Canada's navy with the opportunity to learn how to operate in the Arctic region,” he pointed out. However, to be able to counter the Chinese and the Russians in the Arctic waters, he said Canada would have to work closely with the United States to improve the underwater mission of NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command). “It was agreed in 2005 that NORAD would have a maritime detection mission, but there have been limited efforts to actually operationalize this requirement,” Huebert admitted, adding that prospects of any improvement in the immediate future were not that great, given the strained relations between US President Donald Trump's administration and the Canadian government. To complicate the issue, Washington asserts that the Northwest Passage is an international strait, and not Canadian territorial waters. “Nevertheless there will be a requirement to improve underwater detection systems, and those that can in fact operate at a distance from the northern section of North America,” Huebert said. “Given the range of new weapon systems that are now coming online, this will be an increasingly complicated challenge for the two North American countries.” Submarine deployment China launched its first home-built polar icebreaking vessel in September and is said to be working on a nuclear-powered icebreaking cargo vessel. A Chinese icebreaker made its way into the Canadian Arctic in August 2017. Professor Huebert noted that the Chinese navy actually has more icebreakers operational today than either the American or Canadian naval forces. More importantly, it has been reported that the Chinese are studying submarine technology for deployment in the Arctic waters. For Huebert, an increase in China's submarine activities in the polar region is a plausible scenario, and Ottawa should not underestimate it. “As the emerging naval challenger to the United States, China will inevitably develop a submarine capability to enter the Arctic,” he warned. In his view, China's new Type 094 and next-generation Type 096 nuclear-powered missile submarines will likely have “under-ice” capacities, posing a great threat to both Canada and the US. http://www.atimes.com/article/chinas-advances-in-arctic-may-pose-security-threat-to-canada/amp/