DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN
MV Asterix is now operating with HMCS Regina in Middle Eastern waters as part of a Canadian-led coalition task force.
The Asterix, a commercial ship converted by Davie shipyards in Quebec and leased to the federal government to perform a military supply role, has been going almost non-stop since it was launched. It has refueled both Canadian and allied warships.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said there is no need for a second such interim supply ship and the head of the Royal Canadian Navy, Vice Admiral Ron Lloyd, says he is happy with having the Asterix as the force's only supply ship until 2023 when the first of two Joint Support Ships, to be built at Seaspan in Vancouver, is expected to be ready.
Davie, however, has offered to convert a second such ship, MV Obelix, to the same capabilities of Asterix and lease it to the government.
At one point the navy had three of its own supply ships supporting its vessels.
Information recently tabled in Parliament indicates that even though Asterix has been going full-tilt over the last year, there was still a requirement for Canadian warships to receive fuel and provisions from supply vessels operated by foreign navies or for Canadian ships to head to port to receive fuel and supplies.
Here are the details from Parliament:
The Asterix is also at the heart of federal government's case against Vice Admiral Mark Norman. Norman has been accused by the RCMP of warning Davie that Liberal cabinet ministers wanted to derail the Asterix project.
That development leaked out to the news media and the resulting embarrassment was one of the factors that forced the Liberal government to back down on its plans and Asterix proceeded. Norman has denied any wrongdoing.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had twice predicted that Norman would eventually wind up in court, prompting concerns of political interference and concerns the Liberal government is punishing the officer.
Norman's lawyers are in pre-trial trying to get documents they argue are needed so the officer can defend himself. Norman's trial is scheduled for August.
9 avril 2024 | Local, Aérospatial
New airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft and funding for tactical helicopters to replace multi-role CH-146 Griffons, are among the key aerospace elements of an updated defence policy.
23 avril 2018 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
Le Canada, un chef de file mondial dans cinq secteurs de technologies émergentes, continue de mettre à profit ses forces Le 23 avril 2018, Ottawa L'industrie de la défense du Canada est saine et novatrice, alors que plus de 650 entreprises emploient plus de 60 000 Canadiens. Le gouvernement du Canada soutient cette industrie notamment au moyen de la Politique des retombées industrielles et technologiques (RIT), qui exige que, pour chaque acquisition d'importance, les fournisseurs qui remportent un marché de la défense effectuent des investissements au Canada d'une valeur égale à celle du contrat obtenu. Au cours des 30 dernières années, la Politique des RIT a entraîné des investissements de 30 milliards de dollars dans l'économie canadienne, et permet la création d'environ 40 000 emplois annuellement. Gr'ce à la politique de défense du Canada – Protection, Sécurité, Engagement, les milliards de dollars investis dans l'approvisionnement en matière de défense se traduisent par des retombées économiques et la création d'emplois pour la classe moyenne. Afin de tirer profit de cette situation, le ministre de l'Innovation, des Sciences et du Développement économique, l'honorable Navdeep Bains, a annoncé aujourd'hui que le gouvernement se servira de la Politique sur les RIT pour inciter les détenteurs de contrats de défense à investir dans les capacités industrielles clés. Le Canada a de fortes capacités industrielles dans cinq domaines liés aux nouvelles technologies qui présentent un potentiel de croissance rapide. Il existe également 11 domaines où les capacités industrielles sont déjà concurrentielles à l'échelle internationale et des domaines où la capacité industrielle est essentielle à la sécurité nationale. Technologies émergentes Matériaux de pointe Intelligence artificielle Cyberrésilience Systèmes télépilotés et technologies autonomes Systèmes spatiaux Principales compétences et services industriels essentiels Systèmes et composantes aérospatiaux Blindage Intégration des systèmes de défense Systèmes électro-optiques et infrarouges Solutions en matière de véhicules terrestres Soutien en service Systèmes de mission et systèmes de plateforme navales Munitions Services de construction navale, de conception et d'ingénierie Sonars et systèmes acoustiques Formation et simulation Les capacités industrielles clés se marient bien au Plan pour l'innovation et les compétences du gouvernement, car elles permettent le développement des compétences et stimulent l'innovation dans le secteur de la défense au Canada. Citations « Notre industrie de la défense avait besoin de capacités industrielles clés et c'est ce que nous lui avons donné. En favorisant les investissements dans des secteurs présentant un fort potentiel de croissance rapide, nous permettons à nos forces armées d'être mieux équipées, à l'économie d'être plus forte et aux Canadiens de la classe moyenne d'avoir accès à des milliers d'emplois. » — Le ministre de l'Innovation, des Sciences et du Développement économique, l'honorable Navdeep Bains « Pour l'industrie de la défense du Canada, les capacités industrielles clés constituent un important outil stratégique permettant de solidifier le partenariat entre le gouvernement et l'industrie. Ces capacités industrielles clés favorisent les investissements stratégiques dans des secteurs de la défense et de la sécurité, actifs ou émergents, pour lesquels le Canada est un chef de file mondial possédant des technologies concurrentielles. Les capacités présentées aujourd'hui sont le reflet des industries canadiennes de la défense et de la sécurité, industries de classe mondiale axées sur l'innovation. » — La présidente de l'Association des industries canadiennes de défense et de sécurité, Christyn Cianfarani « Par la définition de capacités industrielles clés, le gouvernement offre un autre outil important visant à utiliser les approvisionnements publics pour augmenter les investissements dans des secteurs où le Canada est bien positionné et offre diverses possibilités. L'importance de l'aérospatiale pour ce qui est des capacités industrielles clés définies par le gouvernement aujourd'hui démontre bien la vitalité de notre industrie, tout comme son potentiel à poursuivre sur sa lancée afin de conserver son avantage concurrentiel pour les années à venir. Nous sommes vraiment heureux que le gouvernement ait dévoilé ses capacités industrielles clés et nous félicitons le ministre Bains pour le lancement réussi de cet outil des plus utiles en matière d'approvisionnement. » — Le président et chef de la direction de l'Association des industries aérospatiales du Canada, Jim Quick Faits en bref La composition de la liste des capacités industrielles clés change au fil du temps, afin de tenir compte des avancées technologiques et des besoins changeants en matière de défense. La liste sera revue et mise à jour régulièrement. L'adoption de ces capacités industrielles clés a été proposée dans le rapport de 2013, Le Canada d'abord – Exploiter l'approvisionnement militaire en s'appuyant sur les capacités industrielles clés (aussi connu sous le nom de Rapport Jenkins). L'industrie de la défense est une industrie novatrice où il se fait 4,5 fois plus de R-D que la moyenne de ce qui se fait dans l'industrie manufacturière canadienne. Cette industrie est également axée sur l'exportation, avec 60 % de ses ventes destinées aux marchés internationaux en 2016. De 1986 à 2016, le portefeuille des obligations à l'égard des RIT avait à son actif 137 marchés dont la valeur a atteint 41,5 milliards de dollars, dont 28,3 milliards de dollars pour des projets d'activités commerciales terminés, 9,4 milliards de dollars pour des activités en cours et 3,8 milliards de dollars pour des activités à venir. Liens connexes Politique des Retombées industrielles et technologique (RIT) Capacités industrielles clés du Canada Guide d'acquisition de la Défense 2016 Protection, Sécurité, Engagement Plan pour l'innovation et les compétences Le Canada d'abord – Exploiter l'approvisionnement militaire en s'appuyant sur les capacités industrielles clés Personnes-ressources Suivez le Ministère sur Twitter : @ISDE_CA Renseignements : Karl W. Sasseville Attaché de presse Cabinet du ministre de l'Innovation, des Sciences et du Développement économique 343-291-2500 Relations avec les médias Innovation, Sciences et Développement économique Canada 343-291-1777 ic.mediarelations-mediasrelations.ic@canada.ca https://www.canada.ca/fr/innovation-sciences-developpement-economique/nouvelles/2018/04/stimuler-la-creation-demplois-et-linnovation-au-canada-grace-a-des-investissements-en-defense.html
8 mai 2019 | Local, Aérospatial
Matt Gurney One can only imagine the astonishment in Ottawa when a letter arrived from Washington, reminding the Canadian government that military procurement projects are about procuring military equipment, not creating Canadian jobs. I like to imagine flabbergasted bureaucrats reading the letter over and over, before finally putting it down, rubbing their temples and musing aloud, “Don't the Americans realize how things are done here?” They do, it seems. And they don't like it. On Monday, the Macdonald-Laurier Institute published a new report, “Catastrophe: Assessing the Damage from Canada's Fighter Replacement Fiasco.” The title tells you most of what you need to know about the tone of the report. Author Richard Shimooka recaps the long and embarrassing history of Canada's inability to properly replace our rapidly aging and slowly attritting fleet of almost-40-year-old CF-18 jets. The report mostly covers a story that's been oft-told, including here in the National Post. But it did break some news: apparently, Washington's frustration with Canada is boiling over, and it's not keeping quiet about it anymore. Shimooka recaps the long and embarrassing history of Canada's inability to properly replace our rapidly aging ... CF-18 jets Shimooka's report reveals the existence of two letters previously unknown to the public, sent last year by American officials to Canadian counterparts. The specifics of the complaints involve fairly legalistic and technical aspects of Canada's membership in the international consortium that helped finance the development of the F-35 stealth fighter. Suffice it to say that Canada, as a participating nation, gets access to a rock-bottom price for the fighter (meaning the same cost paid by the U.S. military) and Canadian firms have been part of the production of the planes from the very beginning. That's the deal. It's a pretty good one. But Canada wants a different deal. Specifically, it wants the same kind of deal it always insists on when buying military equipment from abroad. We want any foreign company we're purchasing equipment from to invest heavily in Canada, so that even a contract signed with a foreign supplier can be shown to have helped Canadian jobs, and the middle class, and those working hard to join it. Even this is only a second-best option, a procurement Plan B. Canadian politicians would much rather have stuff built in Canada by Canadians, no matter how much that ends up costing us in terms of cost overruns and delays. But when that's simply not possible, we'll settle for industrial offsets from foreign companies. You'll note that in the above paragraph on military procurement, there was very little emphasis on actually successfully procuring equipment for the Armed Forces. Ottawa is much too sophisticated for that kind of concern. The real action is in the jobs, the industrial benefits, the gigantic novelty cheques, the ribbon cuttings, the question period talking points and the partisan mailers crowing about all the money flowing to Canadian firms. That's what military procurement is really for, at least in the eyes of Canadian officials. That's why our national shipbuilding strategy was to first build out a shipbuilding industry and then build some ships, almost as an afterthought, when we could have bought them faster and almost certainly cheaper from an ally. The Americans, it seems, have had enough, and are threatening to pull the F-35 from consideration in Canada's upcoming program to select our next fighter. To their mind, Canada has already been offered an objectively good deal: access to one of the world's most advanced fighter jets at the same cost the U.S. military pays, and billions in industrial benefits. It's true that the F-35 program has been troubled, but most of those problems are now behind it. These jets are entering service in large numbers in the U.S. military and in allied forces, as well. The F-35 isn't perfect but it's available, now, and Canada has already paid the cost of entry to the club. Angling for a better deal than everyone else is getting, is a slap in the face to the Americans and all the other allied nations who are part of the process. Angling for a better deal than everyone else is getting, is a slap in the face to the Americans Now a cynic will say that it's just good business. There's nothing wrong with Canada trying to get the best deal for itself. In general, I have an open mind to this kind of argument. But Canada isn't a business. It's a country that has signed alliances and agreements with our democratic peers, theoretically in good faith. We have our own interests, to be sure, but we also have obligations. Canada's membership in the F-35 consortium does not obligate us to buy F-35s. We'd retain the industrial benefits even if we select another fighter. But certainly it obligates us to at least honour the agreement we've already made? The Liberals have never been keen on the F-35. Before the past election, they actually pledged to never purchase them, before realizing that that was an impossible pledge to keep if we actually intended to hold a fair and open competition to select the next plane. The prime minister himself once dismissively described the F-35 as a plane that didn't work, even as the United States was putting its first squadron into active service. Part of me wonders if the Liberals are deliberately structuring our selection process to make it impossible for the U.S. to sell us F-35s. That would certainly solve that particular problem for the Liberals. Alas, the more realistic answer is probably, as ever, the simplest one. The Canadian government is probably baffled that the Americans would object to us behaving as we always do. Military procurement in Canada isn't about procurement, or the military, or honouring our commitments to our friends. It's about political booty that can be flung around the country come election time. That's just the way we do things here. Why would that ever change? https://nationalpost.com/opinion/matt-gurney-is-it-any-wonder-the-u-s-is-steamed-at-us-over-our-fighter-jet-fiasco