The Royal Canadian Air Force transports U.S. air defence equipment during exercises (US Defense Dept. photo)

By Tim Ryan

On Nov. 21, 2024, analyst Richard Shimooka wrote in the online publication, the Hub, that “National Defence recently announced it was canceling the ground-based air defence program – a key army modernization priority.”

That is a pretty significant decision and blow to the troops….if it were true.

Except it isn’t, according to the Canadian Armed Forces and National Defence.

(It is unclear why Shimooka, the Macdonald Laurier Institute and the Hub falsely claimed that Ground Based Air Defence or GBAD was cancelled but they have in the past written/distributed incorrect information about defence issues).

So what is actually happening with the GBAD procurement?

The Canadian Armed Forces or CAF is prioritizing its efforts to focus on getting air defence as quickly as possible for its troops in Latvia and the region (Operation Reassurance). So it is restructuring its GBAD initiative into different phases.

In the face of continued Russian aggression in Ukraine, Canada intends to first address Operation Reassurance’s urgent need for a short-range air defence system that will be able to deal with incoming rockets, artillery and mortar rounds, according to an Oct. 10 notice to defence firms. It will continue to work with companies on the technical details for the new equipment. “The intention is to procure a nearly Military Off The Shelf system with very little Canada specific modifications and changes,” added the government message to companies.

Canada has already acquired man-portable surface-to-air missiles for the Latvia mission.

Once the purchase of the short-range air defence battery for Latvia is completed (phase 1), the procurement team will then turn its attention to the purchase of more extensive ground-based air defence systems for the rest of the military as outlined in phases 2 and 3, noted an article in the Ottawa Citizen.

DND spokesperson Nick Drescher Brown explained some of the key points of the phased process:

--“The introduction of Phase 1 represents an additional Battery of SHORAD equipment, but the high-level requirements of this system remain the same. The requirement refinement process for Phase 1 will focus on Military Off the Shelf systems that are readily available to support OP REASSURANCE, which may result in a different capability than that which will be defined for the enduring solutions of Phases 2 and 3.”

--"Breaking the project into phases was necessary to address the army's priority. Breaking the project into phases and accelerating the Phase 1 procurement will result in a better alignment with the army's immediate priorities while maintaining the integrity of the original GBAD project scope so that the project can balance the needs of OP REASSURANCE (Phase 1) with a focus on best value and long term sustainment for the army's enduring GBAD capability (Phase 2 and 3).

-“Project resources will resume Phase 2 definition work once the Phase 1 RFP is released for tender. The Phase 2 schedule will be further refined as part of industry engagements. The project cost range for Phases 2 and 3 combined remain within the $500M - 1B previously advertised. The sequencing of Phase 3 follows the same rationale as that for Phase 2 and therefore still being refined.”

Now that this project is under way, or at least being planned and worked on, it is worth remembering a little history of air defence for the Canadian Forces.

The Canadian Army was outfitted in 1989 with a then state-of-the art air defence anti-tank system known as ADATS. It was purchased to protect bases in Germany against attack by the Russians, but, shortly after ADATS was delivered, the Cold War ended and the systems were shipped back to Canada. ADATS was occasionally used for domestic security, including to provide protection from potential air threats during the G8 summit in Alberta in 2002.

But after a series of budget cuts, the Canadian Army decided to shed its the ground based air defence capability. In 2005, the Army determined that the primary role of ADATS was “to be direct fire” with air defence a secondary role.

But the Army’s efforts to dump GBAD were met with serious concern, particularly in the Royal Canadian Air Force. The office of then Maj.-Gen. Charles Bouchard tried to push back against the Army, according to 2005 documents obtained by Esprit de Corps.

“While understood and not unexpected, this planned reduction in GBAD capability is happening at a time when the asymmetric threat and associated response dictates that the requirement for such a capability remains valid,” Bouchard’s office responded in a 2005 briefing note for the Canadian Army.

While the Army commander saw little need to maintain GBAD for an expeditionary role, Bouchard’s office countered with the following: “This capability does have a utility from both a NORAD and a domestic operations perspective.”

In fact, during a May 2005 NORAD planning conference, the joint U.S.-Canadian air defence command had identified the requirement “for a rapidly deployable” air defence capability for national special security events or important gatherings such as a G8 conference, according to the records.

But the RCAF’s concerns only delayed the inevitable. Almost all ADATS were declared surplus, and except for a few units for testing and support, the GBAD capability all but disappeared in 2012.

But, faced with budget cuts ordered by the Conservative government, the Army announced it was removing ADATS from service in 2012.

The move left the Canadian Forces without a primary air defence system. Army officers acknowledged at the time that decision was risky, but the service had determined it was acceptable in the short term. The Army had plans to introduce a new air defence system around 2017, but that project never went forward.

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