7 mai 2019 | Local, Aérospatial
Murray Brewster · CBC News
The Trump administration fired two warning shots last year over the Liberal government's long-delayed plan to replace Canada's CF-18 fighters, saying the procurement process discriminates against the Lockheed-Martin-built F-35 stealth jet, according to a new academic report.
The study by a researcher at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) cites leaked Pentagon letters written last summer and late fall to officials at Public Services and Procurement Canada.
The report, released Monday, largely blames the Liberal government for the delays in the procurement, while making only a passing reference to the inability of the former Conservative government to deliver on the same program.
The report's major revelation involves the leaked letters — which are expected to inflame the debate over the nearly decade-long on-again, off-again plan to replace the air force's 1980s-vintage CF-18s with modern warplanes.
The source of the Pentagon's irritation is a federal government policy that insists defence manufacturers deliver specific industrial benefits to Canadian companies.
That's not how the F-35 program is structured. Countries that participated in the development of the stealth jet — as Canada did — pay an annual fee to remain part of the program, which gives domestic aerospace companies in those countries the right to bid on F-35 work.
The U.S. undersecretary for defence acquisition and sustainment wrote to Canada's assistant deputy minister of defence procurement in Public Services and Procurement Canada last summer to complain about the Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) policy.
Ellen Lord warned the policy runs contrary to the F-35 participation agreement and accused Canada of trying to leverage a better deal than its allies.
"This text basically stated that Canada had signed the [Memorandum of Understanding] clearly understanding these provisions and could not now try to renegotiate a better deal," said the Aug. 31, 2018 letter, leaked to MLI researcher Richard Shimooka.
Lord went on to say the current procurement process "would be fundamentally and structurally prejudicial to any F-35 bid."
The point was hammered home when former U.S. Vice-Admiral Mathias Winter, in charge of the Joint Program Office overseeing F-35 development, wrote to Canada's head of future fighter development at Public Services.
After reviewing the federal government's draft request for proposals, Winter wrote that the F-35 would not be able to participate given the way the system is structured now.
"Fundamentally, the F-35 program is different from Foreign Military Sales or Direct Commercial sales procurements," said the Dec. 18, 2018 letter.
"The current [Future Fighter Capability Program] does not allow the F-35 to participate in a fair and open competition that recognizes the special nature and distinct advantages of the partnership."
Lockheed-Martin is one of four manufacturers that plan to bid on the fighter jet replacement program. Several defence and defence industry sources told CBC News in a story published last month that the full tender was expected to be released at the end of May, with final bids to be delivered by the end of the year.
There is considerable uncertainty about the timeline, however, because of questions and disputes about the project's industrial expectations.
"A delay is inevitable," said one defence industry source on Monday.
With the release of the letters, the institute's analysis peels back the curtain on perhaps the most contentious of the disputes: how to reconcile the existing F-35 benefits package with the federal government's standard procurement model.
Lockheed-Martin would not confirm whether the issues raised in the letters remain active concerns, but sources within both the defence industry and the federal government say there is an ongoing dialogue.
The U.S. defence giant, in a statement, said it did not commission the report but acknowledged it had provided "factual information to several think tanks in Canada" about its various programs.
The company said the structure of the F-35 program means it is the U.S. defence department that does all of the talking.
"We continue to provide our feedback to the U.S. government, which leads all government-to-government discussions related to the Canadian fighter replacement competition," said Cindy Tessier, head of communications for Lockheed Martin Canada.
She touted the $1.25 billion in contracts already awarded to Canadian companies because of the F-35 program and said the potential is there for more work once the fighter aircraft reaches full production in a few years.
"As a valued current partner on the program, Canadian industry has the opportunity to produce and sustain components and systems to a fleet that is expected to grow to more than 4,000 aircraft," she said.
A spokeswoman for Public Services Minister Carla Qualtrough did not address the Pentagon letters directly, but did say the government has engaged in continuous dialogue with potential bidders as it sought feedback on the proposed tender.
"The approach is inherently designed to encourage continuous supplier engagement," said Ashley Michnowski. "We do this so that suppliers are able to make informed business decisions.
"Our government has been hard working to address as much of the supplier feedback as possible to ensure a level playing field and a fair and open competition with as many eligible suppliers as possible."
The process is not yet complete, although it is nearing its conclusion and a final request for proposals will be issued soon, she added.
18 février 2024 | Local, Sécurité
The recent Defence Department results report provides a clear picture of the overall readiness of the CAF at barely 50 to 60 per cent.
24 décembre 2018 | Local, Naval
David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen Naresh Raghubeer, a senior adviser to Davie Shipyards, said the Asterix sister ship — Obelix — can be ready for missions with the navy within 24 months: 'We've proven already we can do it' A Quebec company is offering the Liberal government a second supply ship at a reduced price as it warns about further delays on a similar vessel being built for the Royal Canadian Navy by a firm on the West Coast. Davie Shipyards delivered its first ship, Asterix, to the government on time and on budget in a deal worth $659 million. It is now offering a second ship at $500 million to entice the Liberals to move ahead with such a purchase. But industry representatives privately say Davie faces an uphill battle as Asterix is at the heart of the trial of Vice Admiral Mark Norman and any government move to buy a sister ship would signal the actions of that naval officer in supporting the original deal was right. Naresh Raghubeer, a senior adviser to Davie, said the Asterix sister ship — Obelix — can be ready for missions with the navy within 24 months. “We've proven already we can do it,” he added. Davie was selected by the previous Conservative government for a sole-source deal to convert Asterix, a commercial vessel, into a naval supply ship. That was done after the military's two existing supply vessels were taken out of service because of damage and age. When the Liberals formed a new government in the fall of 2015 they tried to delay the Asterix project but backed down after Davie warned it would have to shut down its yard. Asterix has been operating for the last nine months, refuelling and resupplying Canadian and allied warships. Norman, who had been head of the navy, was accused of leaking information to Davie about Liberal plans to delay Asterix as well as advocating for the Davie design. He is charged with one count of breach of trust but has said he did nothing wrong as he was following government directives. Conservative leader Andrew Scheer questioned the Liberal government Dec. 12 in the Commons why it was not moving ahead with acquiring Obelix, pointing out the navy needed a second ship. But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Scheer of playing “petty politics.” “The armed forces did an assessment,” Trudeau said. “They don't need the Obelix.” Asked about the assessment, the Royal Canadian Navy referred Postmedia to a November 2014 internal document which outlined the requirements of a interim supply ship. The document was produced before a deal was reached on Asterix. The navy's statement noted that the Joint Support Ship being built at Seaspan Shipyards in Vancouver “remains a critical component for achieving success in both international and domestic” Canadian military missions. That joint supply ship was supposed to be delivered by Seaspan in 2017. That schedule slipped and the 2019 and 2020 delivery dates were proposed. The latest delivery date for the first of two ships is now 2022-2023 but with the caveat attached “ with risk”, meaning that it could fall further behind schedule, government officials confirmed to Postmedia. The cost of the Asterix project included the conversion of the ship, the lease of the vessel from Davie over a five-year period, and the company's provision of a 35-member civilian crew to run the vessel. The Royal Canadian Navy provides as many as 50 personnel to do the actual at-sea refuelling and resupply of its warships. A similar arrangement could be made for Obelix but the cost would be lower since the engineering for the conversion process has already been worked out, Davie officials pointed out. Raghubeer said Davie could fill the gap in supply ships while Seaspan continues to build the two vessels the government originally requested from that yard. The Davie yard represents 50 per cent of Canada's shipbuilding capability. Currently the firm has 200 employees, down from the 1,400 working in 2017 when Asterix was delivered. Both the Commons defence committee and the Senate defence committee recommended acquiring a second supply ship from Davie. Davie's rival, Irving Shipbuilding, has voiced opposition to the Quebec company receiving any additional federal shipbuilding contracts. https://nationalpost.com/news/quebecs-davie-offers-to-build-second-supply-ship-at-reduced-cost-to-entice-liberal-government-to-buy
18 janvier 2018 | Local, Aérospatial
By Tim Naumetz. Published on Jan 11, 2018 4:49pm Canadians don't have to wring their hands over whether the country should sign on to the U.S. ballistic missile defence system, says a former top defence adviser to President Barack Obama. Washington is paying more attention to bigger Canadian defence issues such as the long-delayed acquisition of a fleet of new modern fighter jets, Lindsay Rodman, former director of defence policy and strategy for Obama's National Security Council, said in a Canadian interview streamed earlier this week. Rodman, a temporary U.S. expatriate who now is an international affairs fellow at the University of Ottawa, said in a podcast interview with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute that the missile defence question is not a major issue in U.S. military and security circles. “The question of ballistic missile defence has been really surprising to me since I came to Canada a little over a year ago now,” Rodman said in the interview with Global Affairs institute vice-president David Perry. “It is just not on the forefront of anyone's mind in the United States, but it is one of the first things that any Canadian wants to talk to you about the U.S. American alliance,” said Rodman, an attorney who also served in the Pentagon as Obama's senior adviser for international humanitarian policy. “The U.S. is much more concerned with just making sure that NORAD is healthy, that the NATO alliance is healthy, that our homeland defence is being well supported, and we know that we don't depend on Canada for ballistic missile defence. “We do depend on Canada's fighter capability in terms of how we've planned our North American defence, so making good on the promises that Canada has made is going to be more important than new promises that Canada could make in the future, which would be something like ballistic defence.” The Global Affairs Institute offered the podcast up earlier this week, but the interview was recorded on Dec. 18, the same day U.S. President Donald Trump released his administration's first national security strategy. It was only two years after President Obama released his second national security strategy, which Rodman said should have been in place for four years under the normal U.S. four-year cycle for renewing national security and military strategies. While explaining U.S. views on Canadian defence positions — particularly the first Canadian defence strategy released by the Trudeau government last June — Rodman told Perry that while Canada's overarching defence positions have rarely diverged after a change of government, Trudeau's new personal and political approaches to Canada's role in the world may have made a difference. “I would say that Justin Trudeau, just by nature of his international sort of celebrity status, brought a new cachet to Canada, and that's pretty useful,” she said. “Certainly, being in Canada now and learning the ins and outs about the political system a little bit more, I can appreciate the nuances in Canada's position much better.” Canada's new defence policy specifically ruled out Canadian involvement in U.S. ballistic missile defence, even after the topic had been raised multiple times in four months of cross-country consultations that preceded the defence review in 2016. Still, by last December, even Trudeau signalled that the government has not yet ruled the possibility out, and several military experts have advocated Canada's participation in a series of House of Commons and Senate committee hearings. “For a very close ally like Canada, the most important thing is interoperability,” said Rodman. “We not only depend on Canada to potentially help us out in the world, but in terms of our homeland defence there's no one we depend more on than Canada. We really need everything to be interoperable.” The most important question facing the government as it slowly moves toward a 2025 target for acquiring a fleet of 88 new fighter jets could be how the most sophisticated warplane in the world — the Lockheed Martin F-35 strike fighter — fares as it goes through a competition that will decide which aircraft Canada will buy. Interoperability with U.S. warplanes has been a central part of the argument favouring the F-35 acquisition for Canada. https://ipolitics.ca/2018/01/11/u-s-isnt-worrying-canada-missile-defence-says-obama-adviser/