Top Aces secures $100 million in financing for international expansion

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  17 décembre 2020 | Local, Aérospatial

  Saab offers two aerospace centres in Gripen E proposal for Canada’s Future Fighter

  By Garrett Reim14 December 2020 Saab is offering to open two new aerospace centres as part of its Gripen E proposal for Canada's Future Fighter Capability Project. The aerospace facilities, the Gripen Centre and the Aerospace Research & Development Centre, would be based in the greater Montreal region, the company announced at Aero Montreal's International Aerospace Innovation Forum 2020 on 14 December. Mission system software and hardware development, as well as integration, for the proposed Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Gripen E would be done at the Gripen Centre. The Aerospace Research & Development Centre would focus on a variety of aerospace technologies, including automation, artificial intelligence and “greening” technologies. That work may or may not be directly related to the Gripen E. Rather, the research and development would focus on next-generation aerospace technologies more generally. Saab is also in talks with undisclosed local universities about partnerships related to the aerospace centres, it says. Saab has only about 50 people working in Canada currently, across various businesses such as maritime traffic management and army training and simulation work. However, between the two aerospace centres, the company anticipates at least 3,000 people being directly employed. The RCAF is looking to buy 88 advanced fighters to replace its fleet of Boeing CF-18 Hornets. Canada's Department of National Defence estimates acquisition of the aircraft, related equipment and entry into service will cost C$15-19 billion ($11.8-14.9 billion). A contract is scheduled to be awarded in 2022 after evaluation by the RCAF. The air force wants the first jets received as soon as 2025. The new fleet is expected to fly beyond 2060. In addition to Saab, the RCAF received bids in July from Boeing, which is offering its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, and Lockheed Martin, which is offering F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters. Canada is also part of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme, spending more than $500 million on the effort since 1997, an investment that has allowed Canadian companies to secure C$1.8 billion in contracts from the project. However, Ottawa has not yet committed to buying F-35s, hence the acquisition competition. Politicians objected to F-35s in part due to the high cost of early examples of the stealth fighter. The cost of the F-35A has fallen to $77.9 million per unit, though operating costs remains high, at $35,000 hourly. Lockheed has promised to lower that figure to $25,000 hourly by 2025. For its part, Saab has proposed that Canada's IMP Aerospace & Defence would handle in-country production of the Gripen E, and provide support over the lifetime of the fleet. The company says initial aircraft would be produced in Sweden to meet Ottawa's goal of first fighter delivery in 2025. It is still evaluating how many aircraft could be made in Canada, but says it aims to “maximise” the number. The rest of the Saab Gripen for Canada team would include CAE, which is to provide training and mission systems; Peraton Canada, which is to supply avionic and test equipment, as well as component maintenance, repair and overhaul, and material management; and GE Aviation, which is set to provide and sustain the fighters' turbine engines. https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-wing/saab-offers-two-aerospace-centres-in-gripen-e-proposal-for-canadas-future-fighter/141602.article

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  2 novembre 2022 | Local, Naval

  Attribution d’un contrat de prolongation de la durée de vie du navire de la Garde côtière canadienne Terry Fox

  Ottawa (Ontario) - Veiller à ce que le personnel de la Garde côtière canadienne dispose de l'équipement dont il a besoin pour maintenir les voies navigables du Canada ouvertes et sécuritaires est une priorité essentielle du gouvernement du Canada. Aujourd'hui, la Garde côtière canadienne (GCC) annonce l'attribution d'un contrat de prolongation de la durée de vie du navire de la Garde côtière canadienne (NGCC) Terry Fox à hauteur de 135,56 millions de dollars. Le navire sera placé en cale sèche et entamera une période d'entretien prolongée destinée à augmenter sa durée de vie opérationnelle. À la suite d'un processus concurrentiel ouvert, Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada, au nom de la GCC, a attribué le contrat à Heddle Shipyards, de St. Catharines, en Ontario, pour effectuer les travaux de prolongation de la durée de vie du NGCC Terry Fox. Le contrat de prolongation de la durée de vie du navire comprend deux phases : une phase d'ingénierie et d'approvisionnement de 14 mois qui préparera le chantier naval pour la deuxième phase, et une période de travail de 18 mois, où le navire sera placé en cale sèche pour le projet de prolongation de sa durée de vie. Grand brise-glace polyvalent, le navire est capable de mener des opérations soutenues dans l'archipel arctique pendant les mois d'été, et des opérations d'escorte de déglaçage dans le golfe du Saint-Laurent et sur la côte est de Terre-Neuve en hiver. Le navire participe également à divers programmes de la GCC, notamment à des missions scientifiques dans l'Arctique. Pendant que le navire fait l'objet de travaux de prolongation de sa durée de vie de la fin de 2023 au printemps 2025, la Garde côtière canadienne réaffectera ses autres ressources maritimes, afin de s'assurer que les voies navigables du Canada continuent d'être sécuritaires pour tous les gens de la mer. Ce contrat s'inscrit dans le cadre du volet des projets de réparation, de radoub et d'entretien de la Stratégie nationale de construction navale, qui contribue à faire en sorte que le Canada dispose d'une flotte de navires sécuritaire et efficace pour servir et protéger les Canadiens dans les années à venir, tout en offrant des possibilités continues aux chantiers navals et aux fournisseurs dans l'ensemble du Canada. https://www.canada.ca/fr/garde-cotiere-canadienne/nouvelles/2022/11/attribution-dun-contrat-de-prolongation-de-la-duree-de-vie-du-navire-de-la-garde-cotiere-canadienne-terry-fox.html

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  29 octobre 2020 | Local, Naval

  Defence Watch: New dates set for budget watchdog's reports on major naval projects

  David Pugliese Two reports by the parliamentary budget officer looking into the costs of major Canadian naval equipment projects have been delayed. The Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates had unanimously passed a motion in June to request the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer undertake a costing analysis of the Royal Canadian Navy's new joint support ships as well as the leasing of the Asterix supply ship from a private firm. The PBO study was to also look at the cost of building the joint support ships in Canada at Seaspan shipyard in Vancouver. The committee asked that the PBO report be provided by Oct. 15. Another motion from the committee, passed later in June, asked the PBO to examine the $60 billion price tag of Canada's proposed new fleet of warships – the Canadian Surface Combatant or CSC. Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux was tasked to investigate the cost of the CSC as well as examine the cost of two other types of warships: the FREMM and the Type 31. That study was supposed to be presented to the committee by Oct. 22. But those original motions from the committee expired when Parliament was prorogued. So new motions have to be provided to the PBO. The Commons committee passed a new motion on Oct. 19 on the Asterix and Joint Support Ship analysis. That analysis is to be delivered by Nov. 30, PBO spokeswoman Sloane Mask told this newspaper. A date for the analysis to be made public has not yet been determined. “Currently, we are also in the process of confirming the revised timelines for the CSC report,” she added.There is particular interest in the defence community about what the PBO determines is the current price-tag of the Canadian Surface Combatant project. Last year the Liberal government signed an initial deal on CSC that is expected to lead to the eventual construction of 15 warships in the largest single government purchase in Canadian history. 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. But in 2015, Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, then commander of the navy, voiced concern that taxpayers may not have been given all the information about the program, publicly predicting the cost for the warships alone would approach $30 billion. The overall project is currently estimated to cost around $60 billion. “Approximately one-half of the CSC build cost is comprised of labour in the (Irving) Halifax yard and materials,” according to federal government documents obtained by this newspaper through the Access to Information law. But some members of parliament and industry representatives have privately questioned whether the CSC price-tag is too high. There have been suggestions that Canada could dump the Type 26 design and go for a cheaper alternative since the CSC project is still in early stages and costs to withdraw could be covered by savings from a less expensive ship. Canada had already been pitched on alternatives. In December 2017, the French and Italian governments proposed a plan in which Canada could build the FREMM frigate at Irving. Those governments offered to guarantee the cost of the 15 ships at a fixed $30 billion, but that was rejected by the Canadian government. The other type of warship the PBO will look at is the Type 31, which is to be built for the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Those ships are to cost less than $500 million each. 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 that 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 if 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. https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/canada/defence-watch-new-dates-set-for-budget-watchdogs-reports-on-major-naval-projects-512897/