7 décembre 2024 | Local, Terrestre
Pentagon chief Austin announces $1 billion in long-term Ukraine aid
The defense secretary also said that Russia had now suffered 700,000 casualties since its invasion in 2022.
24 décembre 2018 | Local, C4ISR
DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN
The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) delivered its first annual report Friday to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The report includes the two substantive reviews conducted by NSICOP in 2018, and its related findings and recommendations. NSICOP examined the Canadian government's process for establishing the national intelligence priorities. These priorities serve to direct intelligence organizations in the collection and analysis of intelligence.
NSICOP also conducted a review of the intelligence activities of the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces. The committee examined the scope of these activities, their legal authorities and the existing oversight mechanisms for their control and accountability.
“This annual report marks the first time that Canada has had a committee of Parliamentarians with access to classified material and cleared to examine issues of national security and intelligence,” NSICOP chair David McGuinty said in a statement.
Trudeau will now consider whether there is any information in the report, the disclosure of which would be injurious to national security, national defence or international relations, or which includes solicitor-client information. A declassified version of the report must be tabled in Parliament within 30 sitting days, according to the committee's news release.
7 décembre 2024 | Local, Terrestre
The defense secretary also said that Russia had now suffered 700,000 casualties since its invasion in 2022.
25 février 2019 | Local, Aérospatial
DAVID PUGLIESE The federal government has issued a notice for a proposed procurement that would ultimately see the modernization of RCAF fighter aircraft training ranges. The government is looking to develop a road map for the modernization of RCAF fighter aircraft training ranges, and to allow for the creation of what it is calling Live-Virtual-Constructive (LVC) training and experimental environments. Details of the proposed procurement were released last week to industry. The road map for the modernization will include the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range and Bagotville training ranges as primary ranges, and other air training ranges including and not limited to, Gagetown, Wainwright, Valcartier, Nanoose and Suffield as secondary ranges, according to the government notice. In December, Postmedia reported that the RCAF was postponing its major exercise in 2019 at Cold Lake as it brings in improvements to its fighter jet base in Alberta. Exercise Maple Flag, which was to take place in Cold Lake, Alta., is the premier air force training event that allows pilots to test their skills with scenarios similar to “real-world” operations. But Royal Canadian Air Force commander Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger announced in December that Maple Flag won't be held next year as the service brings in improvements to the base and range that are designed to boost training for both Canada and its allies. Col. Paul Doyle, commander of 4 Wing at Cold Lake, told Postmedia the new infrastructure will eventually include a specialized facility to allow for larger classified planning sessions, briefings and debriefings about missions. In addition, work will be done on new communications systems, data links and upgrades to the threat emitter pods that are on the base's weapons range. Maple Flag is primarily conducted in the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range, a training area of more than a million hectares, located about 70 kilometres north of Cold Lake. It is a major effort for European air forces and those from other nations to come to northern Alberta for the training and Canada's allies, while still keen to train there, have noted the need for improvements at the base, according to military officers. “Infrastructure-wise, it's to have the facilities to allow us together to plan, brief and debrief at a classification level that allows us and our allies to maximize our training on a large force employment exercise,” Doyle said in December. Computer networks will be improved and the Air Combat Manoeuvering Instrumentation (ACMI) System will be upgraded, he added. The ACMI system is capable of simulating air-to-air, air-to-surface, and surface-to-air weapons employment with real-time monitoring capabilities as they relate to actual aircraft position. The ACMI system was developed by Cubic Global Defense and first installed in 1982, according to the RCAF. It was upgraded in 2003. There are two main components of an ACMI system: the instrumentation pods and the tactical display system. The mobile pods contain the avionics that track and record aircraft events and position. The display system allows its users to control, track, and monitor the exercise as it happens, and provide mission debriefs upon completion, according to the RCAF. “We want to make (the systems) more robust, better connected,” Doyle said. “That is something we can benefit from on a daily basis” in addition to improving future Maple Flags. “Threats are evolving and modernizing,” Doyle explained. “We want to make sure we're on that leading edge.” He declined to get into specifics about various threats air crews are facing but Doyle did highlight the development of integrated air defence systems that some nations are putting in place. Some social media posts have indicated the Maple Flag postponement was due to a lack of Canadian pilots and fighter jets or delays in Canada receiving new aircraft. But Doyle said such claims don't reflect reality. “Do we have shortages? Sure. But this in no shape or way has anything to do with that,” he added. Officials at Cold Lake have been advocating for several years for the improvements so as to continue to attract allied nations to Maple Flag and to keep the RCAF's own training regime up to date. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/canada-takes-initial-step-in-modernizing-fighter-aircraft-training-ranges
2 mai 2022 | Local, Autre défense
Airline executives and industry groups have been prioritizing emission reduction goals as net-zero carbon emission targets get closer but are also voicing concerns about the longer-term challenge of securing enough sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which is seen as a key to meeting emissions-reduction targets.