Trade dispute could leave U.S. firms out of the running to sell military equipment to Canada

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  21 octobre 2020 | Local, Naval, C4ISR

  Canada ensures continued support for Halifax-class radar systems

  From: National Defence Canada's Halifax-class multi-role patrol frigates are the backbone of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). Making sure that these ships have and maintain modern equipment is key to ensuring our navy can continue its important work. Canada's Halifax-class multi-role patrol frigates are the backbone of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). Making sure that these ships have and maintain modern equipment is key to ensuring our navy can continue its important work. Today, Defence Minister Harjit S. Sajjan announced an in-service support contract with Thales Canada, of Ottawa, Ontario, to support the SMART-S MK2 radar system used on Canada's Halifax-class frigates, starting in fall 2020. Valued at $4.6 million (including taxes), this contract will provide critical engineering, in-service support, and repair and overhaul services to ensure the radar remains operationally capable of detecting the location and range of possible air and surface threats up to 250 km away. The SMART-S MK2 radar is the primary tactical radar used on the Halifax-class frigates, and was installed as part of the Halifax-class Modernization Project. It is a medium-to-long-range 3-D radar that provides air and surface surveillance capabilities to the RCN's Halifax-class frigates. Keeping our Halifax-class frigates operational and at the height of modern technology is critical for maintaining the combat readiness of the RCN until the arrival of the Canadian Surface Combatant ships. Quotes “The continued support of the Royal Canadian Navy's Halifax-class frigates is an important aspect of Canada's defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged. The Halifax-class frigates are considered to be the backbone of the RCN. As maritime threats continue to evolve, this investment in equipment will provide our people in uniform with the tools they need, to continue protecting Canadians and supporting peace and security missions at home and abroad.” “We are providing the members in uniform with the equipment they need to carry out their important work. This in-service support contract is another example of our commitment to provide the Royal Canadian Navy with the technology it needs to continue protecting and serving Canadians.” The Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of Public Services and Procurement “Investing in our local industry is now more important than ever with the COVID-19 pandemic. By supporting companies like Thales here in the National Capital Region, our government is continuing to grow local Ottawa-based industry, while also providing the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces with the resources they need.” Anita Vandenbeld, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence Quick facts Halifax-class frigates monitor and control Canadian waters, defend Canada's sovereignty, facilitate large-scale search and rescue activities, and provide emergency assistance when needed. The frigates operate with and integrate into the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and coalitions of allied states in support of international peace and security operations. Introduced into service in the 1990s, the Canadian-built Halifax-class frigates were recently modernized to remain operationally effective and relevant until the Canadian Surface Combatants enter into service. This contract will provide in-service support and repair and will overhaul parts for the SMART-S MK2 radar for one year, beginning this fall. There is also an option for an additional four, one-year extensions, in order to maintain support during the transition to future in-service support contracts. Should all options be exercised, the entire contract has a potential value of up to $19 million (including taxes). This contract is fully compliant with the Government of Canada's Sustainment Initiative, which helps us ensure performance, value for money, flexibility, and economic benefits. This in-service support contract for the radar is an interim measure that will ensure services until a new contract for the Halifax-class Combat System has been awarded and a transition has been completed in 2021. This future in-service support contract will combine five current contracts for the frigate's combat systems under one long-term contract managed by a single prime contractor, helping to ensure continued service and best value. Through the Halifax-class Modernization Project, the Government of Canada successfully modernized the RCN's fleet of 12 frigates to ensure they continue to meet evolving operational needs. Valued at $4.3 billion, this project provided state-of-the-art upgrades, including a new combat management system, new radar capability, new electronic warfare systems, and upgraded communications and missile systems. Final delivery was on November 30, 2016, with full operational capability achieved by January 31, 2018. https://www.miragenews.com/canada-ensures-continued-support-for-halifax-class-radar-systems/

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  17 novembre 2021 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Investing in defence will keep Canadians safe and help the economy

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  26 mars 2020 | Local, C4ISR, Sécurité

  All-volunteer cyber civil defence brigade assembles to fight COVID-19 hackers

  Number of online attacks on health care institutions jumped 475 per cent in one month, says one report Murray Brewster Civil defence used to involve air raid wardens, ambulance drivers and rescue teams. That was at the height of the Cold War, and the hot wars of the 20th century that preceded it. These days, it means taking the fight online — against hackers and cyber criminals looking to take down or ransom critical infrastructure, such as hospitals. The COVID-19 crisis has prompted Canadian IT professionals to form an all-volunteer cyber defence team to protect Canada's hospitals, health-care providers, municipalities and critical infrastructure from online attacks during the COVID-19 crisis. The SecDev Group, which has pioneered advanced analytics and cyber safety, has been spearheading the recruitment effort and has asked information technology professionals to step up and provide preventative measures and remedial services. 'Preying on fear' "Hackers are targeting hospitals and health care providers, preying on their distraction, fear and anxiety and their hope for a cure," said Rafal Rohozinski, principal and CEO of the SecDev Group "Posing as public health officials from the World Health Organization, [the] Centers for Disease Control and UNICEF, cyber criminals are flooding hospitals, medical laboratories, vaccine testing facilities, municipalities and critical service providers with phishing emails, forcing some to shut down." Trudeau leaves door open to using smartphone data to track Canadians' compliance with pandemic rules Twelve companies and associations have signed on to the initiative. Together, they plan to set up a secure online exchange to match high-tech professionals — who will volunteer their services free of charge — with agencies and institutions that need help to shore up their cyber protection, or to deal with an intrusion. "It's both a patriotic and public service reflex," said Rohozinski. "If the internet goes down, and in particular if critical institutions that we count on — like hospitals, like cities, like utilities — start to be ransomed or start to go down because of cyber malfeasance, we're all in a lot of trouble." The exchange website is still in the process of being built, but Rohozinski said it will launch within days. Online attacks exploded since pandemic began Across the globe, the number of coronavirus-related attacks on health-care institutions has increased by 475 per cent in just the past month, according to a SecDev Group assessment. At the moment, no Canadian hospitals or institutions have reported being attacked. Rohozinski said there have been signs of trolling by both cyber criminals and so-called "state actors" — including some of the Russian groups identified by U.S. intelligence as being behind the tampering in the 2016 presidential election. The Communications Security Establishment (CSE), Canada's electronic intelligence service, has said it has taken down some fake websites that were posing as government departments and institutions and trying to scam people. The U.S. Health and Human Services Department was recently targeted and the FBI has warned that hospitals in the states with the highest rates of infection — California, New York and Washington — should be on the alert for attacks from foreign actors. Hammersmith Medicines Research, a British company that is on standby to perform medical trials on any potential COVID-19 vaccine, was hit with an online attack last week, according to published reports. Over the last few days, according to a Bloomberg news report, hackers targeted hospitals in Paris with a major cyberattack. A hospital in the Czech Republic was also hit last week in what is thought to have been a ransomware attack, which forced administrators to take the network offline. Forbes Magazine reported late last week that the cybercrime groups behind the DoppelPaymer and Maze ransomware threats had promised not to target health care organizations during the COVID-19 crisis — but at least one of the groups was reportedly linked to a recent attack. Remote work networks are vulnerable An executive at one of the companies now volunteering for the cyber civil defence initiative said one area where institutions likely need help is in protecting the virtual private networks (VPNs) of employees who've been forced to work from home because of the crisis. Robert Mazzolin, the chief cyber security strategist at the RHEA Group, said the VPN systems used by most hospitals, power plants and other utilities were never designed to support so many secure connections outside the workplace. "The world is fundamentally different than it was a week ago and I don't think any large corporation or institution realistically would have been prepared to see virtually its entire workforce be working from home via remote connections," said Mazzolin, a former brigadier-general who was responsible for cyber operations in the Canadian military. Canada's cyber spies taking down sites as battle against COVID-19 fraud begins Canada's health sector at risk of cyberattacks as COVID-19 fear spreads: CSE "That places a large stress on an institution's communications workforce. The threats out there, including ransomware — it's important to be able to defend VPNs that are stretched well beyond their normal capacity and limits." He said his company and staff, who regularly work for the European Space Agency, will be able to provide insight and capability that will complement existing networks. The mandate of CSE is to protect the federal government's electronic network and — through its cyber security centre — to provide advice and guidance to people and businesses looking for cyber security information. Rohozinski said there's a difference between providing advice and actively helping in the defence and the initiative has CSE's support. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/covid19-cyber-companies-1.5508570