13 février 2019 | Local, Aérospatial
An Ontario Senator says defence procurement needs better oversight and an improved process if it is to avoid the problems affecting the government's efforts to replace the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CF-188 fighter jet fleet.
“The fiasco of fighter jet replacement is the best example of a procurement system that is cumbersome, bureaucratic and beset by political interference,” Senator Nicole Eaton wrote in an article originally published in The Hill Times.
“Unless ministers start to devote close attention to the management of major projects, or until the process is overhauled, Canadians can continue to expect poor outcomes and wasted taxpayer dollars.”
Eaton is a member of the Senate National Finance Committee, which launched a study last fall into the processes and financial aspects of defence procurement. It held its first hearing on Oct. 30 and expects to conclude later this year.
In her article, the senator critiqued the process by which Conservative and Liberal governments have struggled to replace the aging CF-188 Hornets, noting that while both Canada and Australia are members of the U.S.-led Joint Strike Fighter program to develop the F-35, Australia received its first two operational F-35s in December while Canada, as part of an interim measure, is poised to take delivery of the first of 25 “well-used” Australian F-18s.
“As we take possession of Australia's scrap, Canada is in the early stages of a minimum five-year-long process to pick a replacement for the F-18, which will be more than 50 years old before it is retired in the 2030s,” she wrote.
The current government bears blame for creating some of the problems with the fighter file, she wrote, but “military procurement has bedeviled successive governments, Liberal and Conservative alike.”
She attributed part of the problem to political interference for both partisan advantage and regional turf protection, but said the main reason for “paralysis in military procurement in Canada is it is too cumbersome and bureaucratic. Process is paramount and results are secondary.
“There are layers of committees, depending on the size of the project, with membership from Public Services and Procurement Canada, National Defence, and Innovation, Science and Economic Development,” she wrote.
“The consensus-based decision-making process on which these committees operate is supposed to avoid a big mistake — no doubt an appealing quality for a risk-averse bureaucracy, but the downside is the system is not conducive to fast action. Simply put, the buck stops nowhere.”
Eaton suggested that bureaucratic morass has resulted in an inability to spend allotted project budgets, an indication the government could struggle to fulfil the commitments laid out in its 2017 defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged (SSE).
“In the last fiscal year, the policy projected capital spending of $6.1 billion, yet only $3.7 billion was spent. This year, $6.55 billion is called for under SSE, but total appropriations to date amount to $4 billion,” she noted. “Given this poor track record, the idea that military spending can be cranked up by 70 per cent over 10 years, as envisioned in Strong, Secure, Engaged, looks increasingly fanciful.
At the Finance committee's first hearing on the procurement system, Patrick Finn, assistant deputy minister, Materiel at the Department of National Defence, and André Fillion, assistant deputy minister for defence and marine procurement at Public Services and Procurement Canada, faced a barrage of questions on ongoing participation in the F-35 program, the authorities and mandates of interdepartmental committees involved in military procurement, and about the challenge of balancing military requirements with equipment costs and opportunities for Canadian industry.
“Buying a fighter plane isn't like buying a compact car, and the role of the government is very important. We had to adapt our method of supply to the context of fighter jets,” Fillion told the senators.
He said a draft RFP released in late October “was the result of many months of consultation on all five potential options (to replace the CF-188s).
“There has been a lot of back and forth over the last several months to make sure that what we are asking meets the requirements of the Air Force and ensures that we do not inadvertently limit the competition. I feel very confident that what we've put together is fair, open and transparent to all the potential suppliers.”
Finn said the government had met with and learned lessons from allies who had conducted similar fighter replacement programs. He also dismissed some of the concerns about acquiring used Australian aircraft to fill a gap while the government proceeds with the replacement project.
“In our opinion, Canada has the best expertise related to this type of aircraft. Some companies in Montreal do maintenance for the United States and other countries because they have the necessary knowledge,” he said.
“This aircraft will really increase our fleet, and it is not the number of aircraft that counts; it is rather the hours of use in the future. We are looking for an aircraft that will remain in service for another 14 years. What is needed is enough hours on the structural side. We will be able to use these aircraft until the entire fleet is no longer in service.”
https://www.skiesmag.com/news/senator-critiques-defence-procurement-process
23 septembre 2021 | Local, Aérospatial
US manufacturer Lockheed Martin claims to have slashed operating costs for its flagship F-35 platform, as it waits for a decision on two important fighter competitions.
6 novembre 2020 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
Nouveaux défis du programme IDEeS Nos collègues du programme Innovation pour la défense, l'excellence et la sécurité (IDEeS) du ministère de la Défense nationale ont lancé leur quatrième appel de propositions ! Consultez leur site Web pour savoir comment vous pouvez soutenir nos troupes gr'ce à vos solutions logistiques, aux nouvelles conceptions de blindage et à la sécurité visuelle et des données. Voici leurs possibilités actuelles : Livraison essentielles : Approvisionnement de fournitures vitales pour les troupes à l'aide de véhicules autonomes Protégez-vous! Blindage léger et modulaire pour véhicules terrestres Ce n'est pas que du bruit : Des outils novateurs pour les opérateurs de capteurs acoustiques Au-delà des apparences : Détection fiable d'objets parmi les vagues Donnez du sens aux données : Analyse des données en temps réel pour une prise de décision rapide Nœud pas être vulnérable : Enclaver la cybersécurité sur les navires canadiens Voguez vers votre prochain chapitre : Le retour à la vie civile Les demandes doivent être soumises au plus tard le 10 décembre 2020. En savoir plus
17 mars 2020 | Local, C4ISR, Sécurité
It's a 'huge opportunity' for online crime, one expert warns The number of "phishing" attacks meant to steal the online credentials of public servants and corporate sector employees now housebound due to the COVID-19 pandemic is on the rise, one cyber security expert warns. Many attempts are being made against employees who are working from home on virtual private works (VPNs). Cyber experts are still gathering data to establish a direct correlation between the pandemic crisis and the increase in malicious activity. But Rafal Rohozinski, chief executive officer of the SecDev Group of Companies, said this pandemic moment — when large numbers of employees are at home and receiving instructions from their workplaces on how to connect to internal networks — offers online thieves a "huge opportunity." Federal government and corporate sector systems were never designed to support a sudden, mass migration of employees from offices to their homes, he said. "The opening that creates for those who want to wreak havoc through ransomware and malware is really, really significant," said Rohozinski. "And I don't think we're anywhere near prepared for that. "What we're seeing is an increase in phishing being used as a means to get people's credentials." U.S. Health Department attacked The U.S. Health and Human Services Department's website was hit by a cyber attack over several hours on Sunday, an incident which involved overloading its servers with millions of hits. Officials said the system was not penetrated, although media reports in Washington described it as an attempt to undermine the U.S. government's response to the coronavirus pandemic — and may have been the work of a foreign actor. Rohozinski said that while the facts are not all in yet, his "professional guess" is that there's a link between the attack and the COVID-19 crisis. Last week, Canada's top military commander warned that he'd seen recent indications the country's adversaries intend to exploit the uncertainty, confusion and fear generated by the pandemic. Send in the trolls: Canada braces for an online disinformation assault on COVID-19 Gen. Jonathan Vance, chief of the defence staff, was not specific about the potential threats — but experts say they could range from hacking to online disinformation campaigns aimed at discrediting the federal government's response. Rohozinski said he's concerned about the federal government's technical capacity to support thousands of employees on private networks. "Everybody's moving on to VPNs. Everybody," he said. "This is an enormous pinpoint and an enormous vulnerability." Federal Digital Government Minister Joyce Murray's office was asked for a response Monday, but was unable to provide an immediate comment. Many of the country's leading information technology companies are part of the Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange (CCTE), a nonprofit centre where companies can swap information and insights. A CCTE spokeswoman said the corporate sector is better prepared to face the challenges posed by the mass movement of employees to home networks. Canada to bar entry to travellers who are not citizens, permanent residents or Americans Canadian military bans international travel in response to COVID-19 Still, there is reason for concern. "Given we are moving people to work from home now, companies need to ensure that the work from home environment is as safe as the corporate environment and that people are trained to notice these phishing campaigns, just like they were in the corporate environment," said Mary Jane Couldridge, director of business development at the CCTE. "It's a matter of keeping our community aware of what is impacting Canada daily so we know how to react to it and prevent it from spreading — and not chase rainbows." Most corporations have plans they'll activate now to cover the wholesale movement of employees to networks outside of the office, she added. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/online-hacking-phishing-covid-19-coronavirus-1.5499725