Minister Blair announces $40 million to provide Ukraine with artillery ammunition at the 20th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group

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  21 novembre 2019 | Local, Naval

  Why the Australians are better at buying new warships than Canadians: report

  Andrea Gunn (agunn@herald.ca) OTTAWA, Ont. — Canada could have a thing or two to learn from the Australians when it comes to buying warships, a new report claims. Ian Mack, a retired rear admiral and director-general in the Department of National Defence, released a paper via the Canadian Global Affairs Institute on Friday shedding light on what he believes are some key mistakes in the way Ottawa has handled the $60-billion procurement of a new fleet of frigates. Mack has a unique perspective. He served in his DND role from 2007 to 2017 and was responsible for the conception, shaping and support of the launch and implementation of the National Shipbuilding Strategy, including the initial stages of the Canadian surface combatant competition. In 2017 Mack was selected by the Australian government to join an international expert advisory panel for their Future Frigate Program as it moved into its competitive evaluation process. In the paper, Mack points out the similarities between the two countries: they embarked on the procurement process at about the same time, they both sought to break the boom-and-bust cycle of shipbuilding, and ultimately they would both end up selecting BAE's Type 26 global combat ship as their preferred design. But the differences, Mack says, are what have encumbered Canada's process, and why the Canadian government took three years longer to go from government approval to design selection than the Australians, In the paper, Mack points to excessive red tape, inexperience among officials working on the project, and a general lack of drive to change the process to make it more efficient and cost-effective. For example, the Australian government made the decision up front to restrict the competition to three shipbuilders and their warship designs, whereas Canada only required shipbuilders to qualify to compete, which over 10 of them did. The initial request for proposals for the Canadian surface combatant also included hundreds of mandatory technical requirements characterized in great detail which proved problematic and led to an eventual overhaul of the process. In comparison, for Australia's future frigate, there were only a few mandatory requirements of any kind with further guidance provided to bidders via a question and response process. Mack also pointed out that in Canada, the project management office was about the same size as in Australia but entirely drawn from the public service and the Canadian Armed Forces, with a significant number of team members having little or no applicable industry experience or knowledge, whereas in Australia, the office was populated by knowledgeable contractors. The Canadian government, Mack concludes, has traditionally worn blinders when it comes to executing complex procurement projects. “It takes a serious investment of effort to study what others are doing,” he writes. “One useful place to start is by comprehensively exploring other nations' approaches to identify gems we might adopt and trial before we need to buy warships again.” https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/local/why-the-australians-are-better-at-buying-new-warships-than-canadians-report-377148/

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  9 novembre 2020 | Local, Naval

  Canada spending $650 million on U.S. missiles for new warships

  David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen, Postmedia News (dpugliese@ottawacitizen.com) Published: Nov 06 at 10:29 a.m. Updated: Nov 06 at 7:20 p.m. The Canadian government is spending around $650 million to buy new missiles and launchers from the U.S. for the Royal Canadian Navy. Canada is buying 100 Standard Missile 2 Block IIIC missiles and 100 MK 13 Vertical Launch Systems. The total estimated cost of the purchase is $500 million U.S., according to the U.S. government, which posted details of the deal on Thursday. The U.S. State Department announced it had approved the pending sale and Congress has also been notified. It is expected to proceed but there were no details about when the weapons would be delivered. The missiles will be installed on the 15 Canadian Surface Combatant ships, according to the U.S. Raytheon Missiles and Defense of Tucson, Ariz., will build the weapons. Last year the Liberal government signed a deal that would lead to the eventual construction of 15 Canadian Surface Combatant warships in the largest single government purchase in Canadian history. A final contract, however, has not yet been signed. Lockheed Martin offered Canada the Type 26 warship designed by BAE in the United Kingdom. Irving is the prime contractor and the vessels will be built at its east coast shipyard. Construction of the first ship isn't expected to begin until the early 2020s. But the Canadian Surface Combatant program has already faced rising costs. In 2008 the then-Conservative government estimated the project would cost roughly $26 billion. The overall project is currently estimated to cost around $60 billion. The $60 billion price tag is now being examined by the Parliamentary Budget Officer. That report was supposed to be delivered to the House of Commons government operations committee on Oct. 22 but has been delayed. No new date has been provided on when the report will be delivered. “Approximately one-half of the CSC build cost is comprised of labour in the (Irving's) Halifax yard and materials,” according to federal government documents obtained by this newspaper through the Access the Information law. But some members of parliament as well as industry representatives have questioned whether the CSC cost is too high. There have been suggestions that Canada could dump the Type 26 design and go for a cheaper alternative since the project is still in early stages and costs to withdraw could be covered by savings from a less inexpensive ship. In 2017 then Parliamentary Budget Officer Jean-Denis Fréchette, estimated the CSC program would cost $61.82 billion. The entry of the BAE Type 26 warship in the Canadian competition was controversial from the start and sparked complaints the procurement process was skewed to favour that vessel. Previously the Liberal government had said only mature existing designs or designs of ships already in service with other navies would be accepted, on the grounds they could be built faster and would be less risky. Unproven designs can face challenges as problems are found once the vessel is in the water and operating. But the criteria was changed and the government and Irving accepted the BAE design, though at the time it existed only on the drawing board. Construction began on the first Type 26 frigate in the summer of 2017 for Britain's Royal Navy. Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2020 https://www.thetelegram.com/news/canada/canada-spending-650-million-on-us-missiles-for-new-warships-517604/

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  12 octobre 2023 | Local, Sécurité

  Minister of National Defence Bill Blair concludes productive visit to Belgium for Ukraine Defense Contact Group and NATO Defence Ministers’ Meetings

  Today, the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence, concluded a productive visit to Brussels, Belgium, where he participated in the 16th United States-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Defence Ministers’ Meeting (DMM).