The Liberals want to 'refresh' the shipbuilding strategy. What does that mean?

Sur le même sujet

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  11 juillet 2024 | Local, Terrestre

  Trudeau says Canada can meet NATO's military spending benchmark by 2032 | CBC News

  Following a blizzard of criticism from allies — most notably the United States — the Liberal government announced Thursday that it hopes to meet NATO's military investment benchmark of two per cent of alliance members' gross domestic product by 2032.

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  8 décembre 2022 | Local, Naval

  La ministre Anand annonce l’attribution de contrats visant un système d’élimination et de chasse aux mines à distance afin d’accroître la sécurité des navires et des équipages de la Marine royale canadienne

  Le 8 décembre 2022 – Défense nationale / Forces armées canadiennes – Ottawa (Ontario) Aujourd’hui, la ministre de la Défense nationale, Anita Anand, au nom de la ministre de Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada, Helena Jaczek, a annoncé l’attribution de deux contrats pour du nouvel équipement qui permettra d’améliorer la sécurité des navires et des équipages de la Marine royale canadienne (MRC). Les deux contrats visant un système d’élimination et de chasse aux mines à distance (SECMD), dont la valeur pourrait atteindre jusqu’à 57,9 millions de dollars (y compris les taxes), ont été attribués à Kraken Robotic Systems Inc., de Mount Pearl (Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador). Les nouveaux systèmes permettront à la Marine royale canadienne de repérer et de détruire les mines marines et les engins explosifs sous-marins improvisés, tout en assurant la sécurité de ses équipages. Les SECMD seront utilisés principalement sur les navires de la classe Kingston. Au besoin, ils pourront également servir pour appuyer diverses opérations à bord d’autres navires de la MRC. Une fois mise en œuvre, cette capacité protégera les bâtiments de guerre du Canada déployés à l’étranger là où la menace de mine est considérée comme élevée. Les SECMD devraient être pleinement opérationnels en 2025. Le premier contrat, dont la valeur est estimée à 45,8 millions de dollars (y compris les taxes), vise l’acquisition de deux SECMD nouvellement conçus à l’intention des formations côtières de la MRC sur les côtes Est et Ouest du Canada. Le second contrat, évalué à 12,1 millions de dollars (y compris les taxes), porte sur le soutien en service continu des systèmes. Conformément à son engagement énoncé dans la politique de défense du Canada, Protection, Sécurité, Engagement, le gouvernement du Canada est résolu à doter la MRC de l’équipement moderne nécessaire au maintien de capacités opérationnelles maritimes essentielles. Citations « Le tout premier point de ma lettre de mandat consiste à veiller à ce que les FAC soient une armée du XXIe siècle dotée des capacités, de l’équipement et de la culture nécessaires pour assurer la sécurité de la population canadienne. L’annonce faite aujourd’hui donnera lieu à la livraison d’équipement moderne et efficace pour la Marine royale canadienne et aidera à protéger ses membres. Des outils de chasse aux mines et de déminage de pointe comme ceux dont nous faisons l’acquisition dans le cadre de ce projet renforceront la sécurité de nos navires et de notre personnel. » - L’honorable Anita Anand, ministre de la Défense nationale « Je me réjouis de l’annonce faite aujourd’hui concernant l’attribution de ce contrat à Kraken Robotic Systems Inc. Le contrat démontre notre engagement continu à fournir à la Marine royale canadienne et à ses membres l’équipement de pointe dont ils ont besoin pour faire leur travail, au meilleur rapport qualité-prix pour la population canadienne. » - L’honorable Helena Jaczek, ministre de Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada « Ces marchés permettront à notre gouvernement de fournir à la Marine royale canadienne l’équipement moderne dont elle a besoin et de générer des retombées économiques au profit de tous les Canadiens. Grâce à la Politique des retombées industrielles et technologiques, cet investissement servira aussi à maintenir des emplois de grande valeur dans le secteur maritime canadien et à mettre à l’avant-plan l’innovation et les capacités de calibre mondial du Canada, et ce, tant au pays qu’à l’étranger. » - Le ministre de l’Innovation, des Sciences et de l’Industrie, l’honorable François-Philippe Champagne « Le système d’élimination et de chasse aux mines à distance apportera à notre flotte des capacités nouvelles plus que nécessaires. Les caractéristiques de la guerre navale évoluent, et l’intégration de cette technologie nouvelle à notre flotte actuelle permettra à la Marine de détecter et de neutraliser rapidement la menace que représentent les mines sous-marines et de mieux connaître l’environnement sous-marin, tant au pays qu’à l’échelle mondiale. » - Vice-amiral Angus Topshee, commandant, Marine royale canadienne Faits en bref La valeur totale des deux contrats s’élève à 57,9 millions de dollars (y compris les taxes). Le SECMD permettra à la MRC d’effectuer l’ensemble des activités navales de chasse aux mines y compris l’élimination des mines marines à l’aide d’une technologie autonome et télécommandée, ce qui réduit les risques pour notre flotte et nos équipages. La Politique des retombées industrielles et technologiques s’appliquera à ces contrats, de sorte que pour chaque dollar que le gouvernement dépense dans ce contrat, un dollar retourne dans l’économie du Canada. Les travaux qui seront réalisés dans le cadre de ce projet sont cruciaux pour tirer parti des principales capacités industrielles existantes au Canada, en particulier dans les domaines des systèmes télépilotés et technologies autonomes, des sonars et systèmes acoustiques ainsi que du soutien en service. Les systèmes devraient être livrés en 2024, et pleinement opérationnels en 2025.  https://www.canada.ca/fr/ministere-defense-nationale/nouvelles/2022/12/la-ministre-anand-annonce-lattribution-de-contrats-visant-un-systeme-delimination-et-de-chasse-aux-mines-a-distance-afin-daccroitre-la-securite-des.html

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  17 décembre 2019 | Local, Aérospatial

  Think The F-35 Is Impressive? Then 6th Generation Fighters Will Blow Your Mind

  by Kris Osborn (Washington, D.C.) Drone fighter jets, hypersonic attack planes, artificial intelligence, lasers, electronic warfare and sensors woven into the fuselage of an aircraft - are all areas of current technological exploration for the Air Force as it begins early prototyping for a new, 6th-Generation fighter jet to emerge in the 2030s and 2040s. While the initiative, called Next Generation Air Dominance(NGAD), has been largely conceptual for years, Air Force officials say current “prototyping” and “demonstrations” are informing which technologies the service will invest in for the future. “We have completed an analysis of alternatives and our acquisition team is working on the requirements. We are pretty deep into experimenting with hardware and software technologies that will help us control and exploit air power into the future,” Gen. James Holmes, Commander, Air Combat Command, told reporters at the Association of the Air Force Air, Space and Cyber Conference. Part of the progress with the program, according to Air Force Acquisition Executive William Roper, is due to new methods of digital engineering. “I have spent six months with our industry leaders and NGAD team looking at examples of applied digital engineering. I'm impressed with what they have done,” Roper. Digital engineering, as Roper explains it, brings what could be called a two-fold advantage. It enables weapons developers to assess technologies, material configurations and aircraft models without needing to build all of them -- all while paradoxically enabling builders to “bend metal” and start building prototypes earlier than would otherwise be possible. “The reward is more than the risk,” Roper said, speaking of the need to “try something different” and pursue newer acquisition methods which at times results in prototyping earlier in the process than the traditional process typically involves. The Air Force Research Laboratory has been working with the acquisition community on digital engineering techniques, often explored through modeling and simulation, for many years. “Digital engineering is another exciting area and we see the opportunity to accelerate the pace of moving things from the bench level of science and technology into a system, integrating concepts into an operational campaign model,” Tim Sakulich, Executive Lead for Implementing the Air Force S&T Strategy and Air Force Research Laboratory Lead for Materials and Manufacturing, told Warrior in an interview. Current work on a futuristic 6th-gen fighter - to come after and fly alongside upgraded F-35s -- includes development of stealthy drone fighters, hypersonic flight, lasers, new precision weaponry and advanced AI able organize targeting data in milliseconds. While all of these things are of course key parts of the equation, the Air Force Penetrating Counter Air/NGAD program is equally focused on information exchange itself as a defining element of future war. Such an approach, looking beyond isolated systems and weapons themselves, envisions expansive “networked” combat with war platforms operating as “nodes” in a larger warfare system of weapons and sensors working together in real time. “This approach is one that views military operations in terms of wholistic elements of an information-shooter-effector complex. That will require a lot more going into the design of the next generation of combat aircraft than how fast and far it can fly - or what the numbers of weapons it can carry,” Ret. Lt. Gen. David Deptula, former planner of the US air attacks in Operation Desert Storm and current Dean of the The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies , told Warrior Maven in an interview. The NGAD program, which traces its history to the Air Force's “Air Superiority 2030 Flight Plan,” envisions the possibility of a “family of capabilities.” Holmes explained that this study began by examining more than 650 different ideas for 6th-Gen combat, which were then narrowed down to merely a few. Directed by the Air Force Chief of Staff, service weapons developers who worked on the study have been working in Enterprise Capability Collaboration (ECCT) teams designed to pursue next-generation air superiority. “We are moving into a future where aircraft need to be looked at as not just elements of their own, but as a system of information nodes - sensor - shooter - effectors. It is about creating an entire system of systems that is self-forming and self-healing with a greater degree of awareness than an adversary can achieve, and a much greater degree of survivability,” Deputla said. Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works and Boeing's Phantom Works are all among a handful of industry developers already working on prototype 6th Gen planes and advanced technologies - intended to align with key elements of the Air Force vision. The Air Force itself, while not yet decided upon a particular platform or fixed set of new technologies, is moving quickly beyond the conceptual realm into the active exploration of weapons, sensors, technologies and networks. “There are maybe two to three companies that can build high-performance tactical aircraft,” Roper said. Next-generation stealth technology is also of course a large focus of the technical equation. Newer radar absorbing coating materials, improved IR suppressants or thermal signature management, evolved radar-eluding configurations and acoustic reduction technologies offer a window into current areas of developmental focus. A 2013 Essay by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Science and Technology Committee discusses the evolution of advanced heat reduction technologies built into the “skin” of an aircraft. “To become low-observable in multiple spectrums, advanced skins manage a plane's heat distribution to foil radar, infrared, and thermal detection systems. These skins do this by distorting or eliminating heat distribution to restructure its thermal shape. They may also be able to heat up or cool down all parts of an aircraft's surface to perfectly match the surrounding atmosphere, making it virtually undetectable,” the report, titled “The Future of Combat Aircraft: Toward a 6th Generation Aircraft,” writes. The Air Force B-21 Raider, a new stealth bomber expected to emerge in the mid 2020s, is said by developers to incorporate a new generation of stealth - but very few details are available. Engine development is yet another area of major leap-ahead technological focus, according to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly report. Emerging “Variable Cycle Engines” introduce a third air stream into an engine, which can be controlled by the pilot, the essay explains. The new engines reportedly massively increase an aircraft's reach, fuel efficiency and speed. “By opening or closing the third air stream, the pilot can adjust the fuel intake of the jet engine and optimize its performance,” the report states.​ Fighter-jet launched laser weapons, expected to be operational by the mid 2020s, are of course part of the planning for 6th-Generation fighters. Targeting and sensor technology, coupled with advanced guidance systems, are progressing so quickly that ships, fighter jets and land assets can no longer rely upon an existing threat envelope. Simply put, all US military systems will increasingly become more vulnerable as enemies acquire more drones, high-speed fighter jets and longer-range precision weaponry - all enabled by AI-fortified long-range sensors and targeting technology. This includes the emergence of advanced enemy fighter jets, ships, ballistic missiles and weapons such as land-based anti-ship missiles, all further necessitating the need for information and combat awareness in warfare. The pace of advancement in computer processing speeds, miniaturization and AI also promise to bring new things to air combat. Algorithms able to instantly gather, compile and organize ISR data and perform real-time analytics will bring faster targeting and attack systems to fighters. AI-enabled real time analytics will, for instance, bring an ability to compare new sensor information against vast databases of relevant data in milliseconds. Information dominance, therefore, could among other things enable a fighter jet to both launch attacks and also function as an aerial ISR node. Operating as part of a dispersed, yet interwoven combat sensor network, a fighter could transmit combat relevant data to air assets, ground-based weapons, command and control centers, Navy ships and satellites. If a ship, ground or air commander has occasion to see or learn of an incoming attack at greater distance, he or she is obviously much better positioned to defend it. Perhaps, for instance, a medium-range ballistic missile attack is airborne, approaching land based artillery formations or a Carrier Strike Group - what might a Commander do? Should the attack be met with a ground-based interceptor, jammed with electronic warfare technology, hit with a laser or thrown off course in some other way? What if a fighter jet, configured to function as an aerial node in a larger interwoven combat network, were able to detect the approaching attack earlier in its trajectory? From beyond the horizon? Perhaps the jet might itself be positioned to attack, intercept or dismantle the approaching missile - or at least provide early warning to the weapons intended target. In this case, more “time” simply means more options to inform a commander's decision cycle. Referring to this emerging tactical complex as a “combat cloud,” Deptula posited that, for instance, an aircraft such as an F-35 could cue or alert an Aegis Navy Cruiser about an incoming attack, therefore offering ship-based radar, fire control and interceptor weapons a vastly improved envelope with which to take out an attack. Thus, an interconnected web of attack, targeting and information nodes can better sustain operations should one node be destroyed, and “sensor-to-shooter” time can be massively accelerated. https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/think-f-35-impressive-then-6th-generation-fighters-will-blow-your-mind-105587