What do 48 elephants and 18 CN Towers have in common? It's CANSEC!

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  20 août 2019 | Local, Terrestre

  General Dynamics costs double original estimates

  DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN The Liberal government is buying new armoured vehicles for the Canadian Forces but the sole source deal will cost taxpayers double what was originally estimated. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced Friday that the government would buy 360 combat support Light Armoured Vehicles from General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada, with the project costing $3 billion. The project was originally announced by the Liberal government with an estimated cost between $500 million and $1.5 billion. The plan was to award the contract in 2023 after a competition. But with the federal election looming the deal was fast-tracked by the Liberals, joining a series of recent defence-related funding announcements. A competition was jettisoned, replaced with a sole-source deal with General Dynamics, based in London, Ont. The deal includes a $650 million repayable loan, but the Department of National Defence said it had no details on that arrangement. It referred questions to Global Affairs Canada, which noted in an emailed statement that the federal government is “willing to provide a loan to General Dynamics Land Systems Canada to ensure the timely delivery of the Light Armoured Vehicles for our men and women in uniform. The Government of Canada is providing a loan to GDLS-C to support jobs and suppliers as GDLS-C navigates a challenging and dynamic international defence market.” The terms of the loan would be negotiated over the coming weeks, Global Affairs Canada added. The DND noted that the project costs include not only the vehicles but logistics support and new infrastructure to house and maintain the equipment. General Dynamics will provide the new vehicles in eight variants. They will be used as ambulances and in other roles such as vehicle recovery, engineering, mobile repair, electronic warfare and as command posts. The current fleet of armoured support vehicles is comprised of the LAV II Bison and the M113 tracked vehicle. The federal government said it is in the final stages of contract negotiations with General Dynamics. The contract is expected in the coming weeks. It noted in a news release that fast-tracking the deal would allow the Department of National Defence to save costs associated with maintaining or extending the life of the current fleet. The DND stated the contract was sole-sourced to General Dynamics as the firm builds most other armoured vehicles for the Canadian Forces and having a vehicle based on the same chassis allows for savings in maintenance and training. The company's light armoured vehicle is the core of the Canadian Forces armoured vehicle fleet. In addition, as the company has recently completed the conversion of the light armoured vehicle fleet to a new configuration so it has the skilled workforce in place, according to the DND. That would reduce the risk of delays in delivery of the new vehicles, stated the DND in an email. “For these reasons, we believe it would not be in the public interest to solicit bids,” it added in an email. General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada is also building similar light armoured vehicles for Saudi Arabia in a deal worth $15 billion. The Liberal government launched a review of that controversial contract after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey. Earlier this year a United Nations report determined that Saudi Arabia was responsible for the killing of Khashoggi who was a critic of that country's regime. Saudi Arabia has also faced severe criticism for its role in the ongoing war in Yemen, with allegations it has conducted unlawful airstrikes on civilians. A dozen organizations sent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a letter earlier in August, questioning the status of the review and pointing out that no updates on progress have been provided. The lack of such information has brought “the sincerity of the effort into question,” according to the letter endorsed by organizations such as Oxfam Canada and Amnesty International. Various groups have demanded the Liberals cancel the Saudi deal, which was negotiated by the previous Conservative government. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/sole-source-armoured-vehicle-deal-with-general-dynamics-costs-double-original-estimates

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  31 janvier 2020 | Local, Aérospatial

  CC-295 maintenance trainer arrives in Canada

  A training variant of the CC-295 that will be used to instruct Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) maintenance technicians is now flying across the country towards CFB Comox, B.C., the home of search and rescue training in Canada. Flown by an Airbus Defence and Space flight crew, the fixed-wing search and rescue (FWSAR) aircraft maintenance trainer (AMT) landed in St. John's, N.L., before arriving at CFB Greenwood, N.S., on Jan. 30. It left Greenwood on Jan. 31 and is making its way across the country, stopping at the RCAF bases where it will eventually be in service (Greenwood, Trenton, Ont., and Winnipeg, Man.) before arriving at its new home at Comox. According to 14 Wing Greenwood public affairs officer Capt. Matt Zalot, the AMT attracted much attention from RCAF members on base, who currently fly the aging CC-130H Hercules in a search and rescue role. The arrival of the AMT represents a key milestone in Canada's FWSAR aircraft replacement program, said the RCAF. “As with any program, the FWSAR project is one of milestones, and the arrival of the AMT is an important one on the overall journey towards operational implementation of the CC-295 fleet,” said Isabelle Latulippe, FWSAR project manager. The AMT is for training purposes only and is not equipped to perform search and rescue missions. It is not part of Canada's order, signed in December 2016, for 16 CC-295 aircraft. Upon arrival in Comox, the RCAF said the aircraft will be disassembled and then reassembled inside the new training centre as a maintenance training aid. On Dec. 20, Airbus announced via Twitter that Canada had accepted the first of its 16 CC-295s at the manufacturer's facility in Seville, Spain, and that it would be ferried to its home base at Comox sometime in mid-2020. Members of RCAF 434 Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron have been at Airbus's International Training Centre since last fall to evaluate and train on the aircraft. In November, Skies reported that complications with the CC-295's technical manuals could delay the first delivery. Airbus unveiled the aircraft in RCAF livery in mid-October. Last July, the RCAF asked the public to help choose the name of the new search and rescue aircraft, offering five choices: Canso II, Guardian, Iris, Kingfisher and Turnstone. About 33,000 people voted for their favourites and RCAF Commander LGen Al Meinzinger was set to make the final decision. However, no announcement has been made to date. The RCAF is reportedly in the midst of legal procedures associated with using its selected name and no further details have been released. Canada is receiving the latest C-295 variant, featuring winglets for fuel savings and increased performance. The aircraft has an advanced avionics suite, fuselage reinforcements and a hatch for rapid evacuation in case of a forced water landing. Airbus tailored the cabin interior to meet RCAF operational requirements, with a new wireless intercom system for crew communications, increased equipment storage space, brighter lighting for medevac treatment, and lighting compatible with the use of night vision systems. The CC-295s will eventually replace the de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo and Lockheed Martin CC-130H Hercules fleets that currently perform the search and rescue role. https://www.skiesmag.com/news/cc-295-maintenance-trainer-arrives-in-canada

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  23 juin 2020 | Local, Sécurité

  Talon Helicopters AS365 Dauphin ready to fight fires at night

  Talon Helicopters of Richmond, B.C., is ready to take on nighttime fire attack missions with its night vision goggle (NVG) approved Airbus AS365 N2 Dauphin — the only Transport Canada approved NVG night fire attack medium helicopter in Canada. The nine-passenger aircraft, configured with a night vision cockpit and cabin, has been approved for day and night fire attack operations with the Simplex Model 301 belly tank, which can hold up to 901 litres (238 gallons) of water. Peter Murray, president of Talon Helicopters, said the company is taking advantage of the benefits and safety factors of NVGs, and “the ability to not have a grounding time.” Talon's AS365 is approved to fight fires at night with the Simplex Model 301 belly tank, which can hold up to 901 litres of water. Heath Moffatt Photo He added: “With doing initial attack at night... if a fire starts at 11 p.m. and you're on it at 11:30 p.m., of course you're going to reduce the impact the fire makes if you're on it six or eight hours earlier than if you got on it in the daylight. . . . So we're right on the leading edge of all this.” The NVG certification for the Dauphin has been a multi-year project for Talon. Murray said the company has had the capabilities to fight fires at night for just under a year now, but recently received approval from Transport Canada for all part 702/703 operations with NVGs, which includes flying passengers at night. All of the company's pilots have completed basic NVG training, and “the AS365 pilots have done advanced NVG [training],” said Murray, “so they can go into remote areas and land at night with NVGs.” Murray said the Dauphin outfitted with the Simplex tank is 30 per cent faster than other belly tank-equipped mediums. “It's a fast tank for this machine. With the snorkel stowed, it's 140 knots VNE. . . . With the snorkel on its 120 [knots]. If you're going out to do initial attack and go a distance, you're going to go there at 140 knots and you're going to get there faster,” he said. The Simplex tank has an easy install process with four hard points on the aircraft, and can be removed just as easily for a different mission configuration. “You can probably do the whole hook change and remove the tank within 20 minutes or a half-hour,” said Murray. In place of the belly tank, the Dauphin can be equipped with a 350-gallon FAST Bucket for daytime wildfire operations. A multi-mission helicopter, Talon's Dauphin is also used for medevac, search and rescue, aerial lift work and passenger transport operations. “We call it the Swiss Army knife of helicopters because we have a full approved stretcher kit (we got that approved in Canada), and then we have the hoist as well; we're approved for day and night hoisting” using Transport Canada approved crew harnesses and evacuation equipment, and a 300-foot hoist cable with a 600-pound load limit. Along with its night fire attack and nighttime hoist certifications, Talon is approved for night hover entry/exit. The aircraft has a number of STC'd avionics upgrades including the Garmin GTN 750 touchscreen navigator, helicopter terrain awareness warning system, traffic collision avoidance systems, and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast. Building on the company's NVG firefighting capabilities, Murray said Talon is looking into collecting data on daytime and nighttime fire attack operations to evaluate the difference in the cost of fighting the fires and the cost of losing resources like trees, as well as structures. For example, “what would happen if we put 20,000 litres of water around one burning tree at nighttime... what would we have in the morning? Would it be a mop up for a couple of days, instead of a two-month production?” he said. While the current Covid-19 crisis has delayed these data-gathering initiatives, Murray said the company is still working to pursue them in the near future. https://www.skiesmag.com/news/talon-helicopters-as365-dauphin-fight-fires-night