INTERIM FIGHTER JETS: The Battle Heats Up

In November 2016, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced that his government was going to “enter into discussions immediately with Boeing on the acquisition of 18 Super Hornets (pictured top left) to address the [CF-18] capability gap.” In June 2017, following Boeing’s lawsuit against Bombardier, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said the government was “looking at many different options” for finding 18 fighter jets as a stop-gap solution to Canada’s aging CF-18 fleet. Thus, the door could once again opened for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lighting II aircraft

(Volume 24-09)

By David Pugliese

Canada’s quest for a fighter jet has taken a number of twists and turns. First the Conservative government wanted to buy 65 F-35s. Then the Liberal government announced that they would purchase 18 Super Hornets as an interim fighter. Now that deal could be in jeopardy. David Pugliese has the latest on Canada’s fighter jet plans.

These days, the Liberal government’s plan to buy interim fighter jets for the Royal Canadian Air Force is as clear as mud.

But one thing is certain: the proposed purchase of 18 Super Hornets has turned into a dispute crossing international borders and involving the heads of state of three countries.

The process had been smoothly proceeding, with the expected purchase of 18 Boeing Super Hornets to be wrapped up by the end of 2017 or early 2018. The deal would be handled through the U.S. Department of Defense’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, with Boeing providing new fighter jets to fill the capability gap the Liberal government said the RCAF was facing in the near future.

But that multi-billion-dollar plan was thrown into limbo after Boeing filed a trade complaint in the U.S. against Bombardier of Quebec. Bombardier has denied any wrongdoing. The complaint alleges that the Canadian and Quebec governments heavily subsidize Bombardier, which in turn allows it to sell its C-Series civilian passenger aircraft in the U.S. at below-market prices. Boeing convinced the U.S. Commerce Department and International Trade Commission to launch an investigation into Bombardier.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan used his keynote speech on the first day of CANSEC 2017 to denounce Boeing for prompting a U.S. government trade investigation into Canada’s largest aerospace firm, Bombardier. (Richard lawrence)

The Liberal government then broke off direct discussions with Boeing on the Super Hornet. In an unprecedented move, various Liberal cabinet ministers voiced their public dismay with Boeing, labelling the aerospace firm as untrustworthy.  The Liberals continue talks with the U.S. government on the acquisition of the jets, but will not proceed with a purchase as long as the trade dispute is still open against Bombardier.

Two rulings on the dispute are expected, one on September 25 and the other in early October. If those rulings go in favour of Boeing, then the Super Hornet deal may be off the table once and for all.

The Liberal government has asked Boeing to withdraw its complaint.

Boeing has refused.

Boeing representatives have pointed out in the past that the issue with Bombardier is a separate one on the commercial front and should not be linked to its defence capabilities and offerings to Canada.

They have also noted that Boeing has had a long history in Canada and contributes around $3-billion U.S. annually to the country’s economy through direct employment at its Winnipeg plant and other facilities, as well as purchase of equipment and services from Canadian firms. In total, Boeing supports more than 17,000 jobs across Canada.

Marc Allen, Boeing’s president of international business, says the company is committed to long-term growth in Canada and wants to expand its presence. “We’re Canada’s largest aerospace prime,” he told Esprit de Corps. “We’re growing in Canada faster than the rest of Canadian aerospace industry.”

So, was it worth it for Boeing to have made the complaint and are there concerns it will jeopardize future defence work in Canada?

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F/A-18A Hornets bank away. Canadian officials visited the RAAF in August 2017 to review the possibility of purchasing their used F-18s. (australian department of defence)

Allen says that the industry has to be governed by a clear set of rules that all companies follow. “We faced a tough decision as a company,” he acknowledged. “We recognized we just couldn’t stand by. It’s very important to us that the industry as a whole get to a place where there are clear rules that everyone plays by.”

The Liberal government’s anger doesn’t appear to be lessening against Boeing. The level of the seriousness the government assigns to the dispute prompted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on September 5 to phone Eric Greitens, the governor of Missouri, to reiterate his disappointment with Boeing and point out the number of Missouri jobs that depend on the manufacturing of Super Hornets that Canada could purchase.

Boeing builds Super Hornets at its plant in St. Louis, Missouri. It is believed that Trudeau is hoping the phone call would prompt Greitens to put pressure on Boeing.

“Canada is reviewing current military procurement that relates to Boeing, as Boeing is pursuing unfair and aggressive trade action against the Canadian aerospace sector. Meanwhile, Boeing receives billions in support from U.S. federal, state and municipal governments,” Trudeau’s office stated.

The issue is also being felt overseas. UK Prime Minister Theresa May phoned U.S. President Donald Trump to ask him to get involved in settling the dispute. Her government is worried Boeing’s actions could result in job losses at the Bombardier plant in Northern Ireland. “Our priority is to encourage Boeing to drop its case and seek a negotiated settlement with Bombardier,” the UK Department for Business said in statement. “This is a commercial matter but the UK government is working tirelessly to safeguard Bombardier’s operations and its highly skilled workers in Belfast.”

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan continues to insist that the capability gap, supposed to be filled by the purchase of Boeing Super Hornets as an interim fighter, will still be dealt with.

During his August 11 appearance at a defence and aerospace conference in Abbotsford, B.C., Sajjan stated the Liberal government has “many other options, so that we can fill this capability gap.”

He, however, didn’t get into details.

But it has emerged that Canadian officials were in Australia in August to examine the potential for purchasing used F-18s. “In light of Australia recently notifying all allies about their intent to dispose of their F-18 fleet, Canada visited them to inquire about the state of their equipment and spare parts,” said Department of National Defence spokesman Daniel Le Bouthillier. “Although it is too early to provide detailed information about other options, we continue to work to ensure the Royal Canadian Air Force receives the critical equipment it needs, as soon as possible.”

Sajjan, however, recently told aerospace executives that he is not keen on the purchase of second-hand fighters. “I’d prefer to buy brand new versus used, but we are currently in the process, and we’ll make a decision to making sure that our members in the Canadian Armed Forces have the right tools necessary,” he said in Abbotsford, BC.

Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin is using the opportunity to offer Canada the F-35 as the interim fighter jet.

Jack Crisler, vice president of F-35 business development, told Esprit de Corps that the offer of the F-35 as an interim fighter jet was made June 2. Canada could acquire the jets for $80-million U.S. to $85-million U.S. each, he noted. “We left it up to them to determine,” Crisler said when asked how many jets Lockheed Martin offered to Canada.

Esprit de Corps writer David Pugliese interviews the head of the Dutch air force, LGen Dennis Luyt, about the progress on the Netherlands’ purchase of the F-35 as well as aircrew training on the new fighter. The Netherlands purchased an initial order of eight F-35As as the replacement for its F-16 fighter jets, with delivery due in 2018. (mark pugliese)

Lockheed has long contended the F-35 is more cost effective and more advanced than the Super Hornet.

Crisler said the delivery of the F-35s would match the proposed delivery timetable that the Canadian government has planned for the Super Hornets if they are acquired.

Lockheed Martin says its F-35 fighter aircraft fleet recently exceeded 100,000 flight hours while the F-35 Integrated Test Force teams are completing the remaining requirements in the program’s system development and demonstration phase.

Charles Bouchard, chief executive of Lockheed Martin Canada, noted that the Danish government conducted a study into various fighter jet options. “Their conclusion was that the F-35 was cheaper” than other aircraft. “The aircraft is clearly working,” he added.

Matthew Luloff, a spokesman with Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan’s office, acknowledged the Lockheed Martin offer. “We have not yet made a decision,” he added in an email. “Discussions must demonstrate that the interim fleet is appropriately capable and can be obtained at a cost, schedule, and economic value that are acceptable to Canadians.”

Lockheed Martin’s efforts were aided in mid-August when the F-35 made an appearance at the international air show in Abbotsford.

The air show featured an F-35 from the Royal Netherlands Air Force on static display, while a USAF F-35 flew in the “Heritage Flight” performance.

In the meantime, Dutch air force officers are updating their Canadian counterparts about their progress on the acquisition of F-35 fighter jets.

LGen Dennis Luyt, the head of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, said his organization has been providing updates to Canada on its F-35 purchase and aircrew training. “They are very interested in our experiences,” Luyt told Esprit de Corps in an interview at the Abbotsford air show.  “We’re on track,” he added. “It’s looking very promising.”

The Netherlands is purchasing the F-35A as the replacement for its F-16 fighter jets. The Dutch parliament approved an initial order of eight aircraft in March 2015.

The first aircraft are to be delivered in 2019 and Dutch pilots and maintenance crews are currently undergoing training in the U.S. The Netherlands will purchase up to 37 F-35s.

Luyt said if Canada does eventually buy the F-35, that acquisition would further strengthen the user group of nations operating the plane. Having allied air forces capable of being interoperable with each other is important, he added. “If we operate the same platform, it’s obviously a big thing,” Luyt explained.

Luyt said one of the other main attractions of the F-35 is that it will be constantly upgraded. “It will be state of the art for decades,” he added.

Meanwhile, the high stakes campaign for and against the Super Hornet as an interim fighter jet continued to play out through the month of September.

A day after Prime Minister Trudeau’s office released details of his phone call with Missouri’s governor, executives from Canadian-based defence and aerospace firms released details of their letter sent to Trudeau and Liberal ministers.

The executives suggested Trudeau back off his resistance to the Super Hornet purchase. “Prime Minister, we ask for your co-operation as we work with Boeing to keep our collective growth and innovation story unfolding here in Canada,” the letter noted. “Our partnership is deep and enduring, but it needs your engagement.”

Various executives from companies such as Héroux-Devtek, L-3 MAS, CAE and GE Canada signed the letter. “There is a bright opportunity in front of us that can be harvested, in a successful and mutually beneficial win for Canada, our Canadian companies, and Boeing,” added the letter.

News coverage of the letter, however, forced CAE to issue a clarification that it wasn’t attacking Bombardier, a firm that it has a long-standing partnership with. In addition, CAE provides training systems for the C Series. “CAE signed a letter as part of the Boeing Canadian Industry Team for the Canada Interim Fighter Capability Project (IFCP) Super Hornet program,” the firm noted. “The intention of the letter was to talk about the economic benefits to Canada of this potential program.”

“We are not in a position to tell Canada what platform to buy, but to simply champion our Canadian capabilities on procurements,” it added.

In addition, on September 12 the U.S. State Department for the first time outlined the extent of the proposed deal. The estimated cost of the Super Hornet package is $5.23-billion U.S., according to the notice issued by the State Department. The notice of a potential sale is required by U.S. law and does not mean the sale has been concluded, the statement added.

The price tag goes well beyond the aircraft themselves, which are estimated to cost around $77-million U.S. each. It includes advanced targeting systems, almost 170 missiles, spare parts and initial training and some maintenance.

In response to the U.S. State Department notice, Boeing released a statement that, “We are encouraged by the U.S. Government’s support for this important capability in the defense of North America.”

Cimetières Sans Frontière: The Untold Stories Soldiers’ Graves Tell

To be sacrificed on the altar of love is one thing. To be sacrificed by sheer stupidity — and a relentlessly advancing technology — is another. If nothing else, the War Which Did Not End All Wars left at least one major legacy: cemeteries throughout the “civilized” world, which tell many tales. The same world that came up with conventions that governed the rules of civilized warfare outlined in The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907.

(Volume 21-10)

By Ted Dentay

Military cemeteries, not often the subject of dinner or social conversation, become most sanguine on November 11. Politely, and with the hushed overtones that accompany lip service … lips perhaps dabbed in advance with fine linen napkins … the realities of politics, religion, cultural philosophies, sacrifice, and suffering, usually lost in casual repartee, are well reflected throughout the cemeteries of World War One if one has the eyes, intellectual wit, or desire to see.

How this war even influenced English-language cultural vernacular is a classic, albeit largely unknown, story. For example, the British expressions of “plonk” and “bully beef” came from the rations of the 1914–1918 period. French troops got generous rations of wine called Pinard along with ratatouille, a disgusting vegetable soup. For some reason, Commonwealth troops adopted the name plonk for cheap red wine and it is a word that exists to this day … a century later. French troops also received iron rations in the form of tins of boeuf bouillé (boiled beef). Commonwealth troops, never adroit with ‘foreign’ languages, couldn’t pronounce the words so they reduced it to bully beef.

The Jeffery Armoured Car may have looked threatening during World War One, but it had its fair share of faults. Although equipped with four-wheel drive, the solid, narrow tires didn’t provide a lot of traction in rough or muddy terrain. As for firepower, it was armed with only one machine gun, operated under less then ideal conditions with very limited situational awareness. Nevertheless, these early versions of armoured cars proved their worth, performing everything from yeoman’s work to dangerous recovery missions. (toronto city archives)

Physically, one can find forensic evidence of the nearby battles that, even today, can tell many tales. Oddly enough, a single small arms cartridge can provide limitless tales of the politics and sciences of the time.Most 1914–1918 period military cemeteries are tended by respective combatant nations such as France, Belgium, the Commonwealth, and the United States. In many cases, they are in close proximity to where the soldiers fell, attested to by the remains of materiel and unexploded ordnance that lay just beneath the cratered surface of the soil.

Vimy Ridge, with its stunning monument, is perhaps the best known of all Canadian cemeteries. But Canadian war history is also graven into much smaller stones and with much less fanfare. For example, at the Tyne Cot Cemetery — the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery and located adjacent to Passchendaele Ridge — two interesting reflections on the war lie close to one another, each with a vastly different history.

In one place lies Corporal J.T. Johnson, Regimental Number 794, age 23, who served with the Eaton Motor Machine Gun Battery and who died on October 30, 1917. His unit, part of the Canadian Machine Gun Corps, was likely deployed with one of the T. Eaton Company’s (a now-defunct department store chain, headquartered out of Toronto) 15 privately purchased Jeffery armoured cars.

In an ostensibly patriotic gesture, Sir John Eaton provided $100,000 — a huge sum in July 1915 — for 15 of the very first purpose-built armoured vehicles ever used in warfare. Ultimately, with Canadian government contributions, 25 of these armoured cars were bought from the Thomas B. Jeffery Co. of Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Cpl Johnson’s family home was located at 233 Ashdale Ave., a semi-detached house in what has become Toronto’s “The Beach” neighbourhood. His very low serial number means that he must have been first in the recruitment line on the day war was declared. Today, there is no evidence of the commemorative bronze plaque that once fronted the homes of war dead after 1918.

Russian POW graves are carefully tended by their German overseers, and strike a contrast between the plain German war graves. By the end of WWI, POWs in Germany totalled in the millions. The closest grave marker is for Iwan Kowalenka, a Russian soldier, who died fighting for France (“mort pour la patrie”) in 1914–1918.

A few rows away from Cpl Johnson lies Dominick Naplova, a Canadian Pioneer and Czech national who served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. His story is also fascinating.

As a teenager, Naplova wanted to join the fight but was turned away from every door he knocked on. Ultimately, he sailed for the U.S. hoping to get into the fray via that route. Because the U.S. did not enter the war until 1917 he was forced, once again, to search elsewhere. Thus he came to Canada, became quickly naturalized, joined up and was duly sent overseas. He was one of the last casualties before the capture of Passchendaele.

Ironically the U.S., which had declared war on Germany on April 4, 1917, then declared war against Austria-Hungary on December 7 of that same year. Ironically again, this is the first of two important December 7 milestones in American history, the latter being the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Private Naplova could have fought with American troops but for his timing.

That Germany was defeated is reflected today by the somewhat cavalier fashion in which remains of their soldiers are buried. This only becomes apparent when you run across a cemetery containing hundreds of crosses or memorial stones to find it actually contains thousands of war dead. That’s when you notice that each marker has up to eight names engraved on it in some cemeteries — four to each side — while virtually all other combatants’ war dead are individually buried, even those whose names were never linked to the interred remains.

German cemeteries speak volumes on their culture and philosophies by what is said on their monuments. They are also illustrative of both the realities of the time and of today, both by what is said and left unsaid.

What is said expresses the endless poignancy of war from their perspective. What is left unsaid are changes that took place in the post–1918 years.

German markers throughout the Western Front often have sayings (translated from German):

I had a friend/comrade. A better one you would never find.

Whosoever meets the Holy Ghost/Spirit becomes one of God’s children.

So thereafter remains belief, hope, and love. [Of] These three love is the greatest under you.

Love is stronger than death.

Here rests our hero.

What is left unsaid? Lots. The singular gravesites of impressed labourers, such as Russian POWs, buried next to their overseers, yet today tended and planted with ivy, flowers, and with much greater care than those of the plainly manicured, undecorated lawns of the massed German graves.

Not all German war dead cemeteries are well tended. It was a bizarre moment when, in mid-August 2014, there was a high-level meeting between German and French political leaders at the peak of the Hartmannswillerkopf battlefield. Yet, barely three kilometres away downslope lies the cemetery at Eherenfriedhof, hidden in the now-regenerated Vosges forest.

Political matters are also an understated part of German war cemeteries. If only “they” — the Jews who fell for the Fatherland — had known what was going to happen.

The “Ehrenfriedhof”: It was estimated that 30,000 French soldiers died fighting the Germans on Hartmannswillerkopf’s 3,100-foot slopes, which offered a strategic vantagepoint of the Rhine and of the mountain ranges of the Harz and Black Forest. Near the cemetery, located north of Vieil Armand, is a small monument that commemorates Halifax bomber MZ-807. The aircraft, which had just completed a bombing run with its seven-member crew, was hit by German flak and attempted an emergency landing in December 1944. Only one survived.

Their headstones, tablets actually, are oddly out of order within the otherwise perfectly serried ranks of steel German crosses, eight names to a cross. When viewing the sites, one can also appreciate their relatively few numbers and what a sacrifice it ultimately was for them. Germany also suffered the loss of the “cream” of their generation, if noble titles are any indication. Just south of Guise, France, one monument is dedicated to eight officers, among them four barons. The translated inscription reads: “

In the slaughter/battle of Colonfay, [these men have] fallen or died from their wounds.”

Sometimes very discreet changes have been made to German war dead monuments. One example is the monument to the cavalry battle for Halen, Belgium, known as the Battle of the Silver Helmets. Now located in the middle of a farm field, the monument used to say, “Hier ruhen gefallene Deutsche soldaten” (Here rest fallen German soldiers). However, after the remains of the soldiers were moved elsewhere, “ruhen” (rest) was chiselled out and replaced with “ruhten” (rested).

Discretion was not in the French mind when the memorial to Caporal Jules André Peugeot was erected in Joncherey, France. Peugeot was the first, official soldier to be killed in action (KIA) of World War One. This bold and brash memorial was demolished by the Germans early in World War Two, and later rebuilt by the French.

By contrast, the first German KIA of World War One, Lt. Albert Mayer, killed in the same engagement as Peugeot some 30 hours before the official declaration of war was made, occupies a tiny plot in an out-of-the-way German war cemetery near the town of Illfurth, France.

French cemeteries tell an interesting political tale. French colonial troops, usually from Morocco, Algeria, Senegal, and other African countries, are honoured with tablet headstones engraved in Arabic. Non-French nationals who fell in combat are marked as having died for the country (mort pour la patrie) while French nationals are marked to have died for France (mort pour la France).

Despite their late entry into World War One and their relative inexperience in a war of this scale, American troops acquitted themselves well. American cemeteries equally represent their own casualties and are beautifully maintained in their memory.

Echoes of ‘what was’ can be inferred from some Commonwealth cemeteries’ gravestones. For example, there’s the stone for Private Peter Pitchfork of the Northumberland Fusiliers, who died at the age of 22 in 1916. You could easily imagine the classic regimental sergeant-major, moustache bristling, spittle flying, giving a dressing down of Private Pitchfork on parade before disembarkation and inches from his perplexed face:

“PRIVATE BLOODY PITCHFORK???!!!! What kind of git, idiot parents would name you PETER-BLOODY-PITCHFORK, Private? God strike me dead if I shouldn’t just put you out of your misery meself! Save the damned Boche the effort! Twat name!“

Today it takes quite the leap of imagination to picture what was happening exactly 100 years ago … to the hour and day. The scenes are so bucolic. The mine crater of St. Eloi, just south of Ypres, is a case in point.

On private property but accessible to the public, the famous crater is now a pond surrounded by manicured lawns while, over the hedge to the south, fields of Brussels sprouts grow as far as the eye can see. A century ago, it was part of the Battle of Messines, when 19 of 21 explosive charges deeply buried beneath German lines were detonated at the same time on June 7, 1917. One of the largest was at St. Eloi: 96,000 pounds of ammonal, the most powerful explosive then known, made a crater measuring 176 feet in diameter.

At 0310 hrs the British Second Army under General Sir Herbert Plumer started an attack that resulted in the capture of the whole of the Messines Ridge on the south side of the Ypres Salient. In the days leading up to Zero Hour, 100,000 men of the Second Army were lying in position waiting to attack. A loud bang was followed seven seconds later by a continuous series of huge explosions that tore at the German front line. The explosions were so destructive that British soldiers some 400 meters away were rocked off their feet.

Nine divisions of British infantry advanced through the clouds of smoke and dust and within minutes, the whole of the German front line was in British hands. Three hours later, the whole of the Messines Ridge was taken. No official figures were ever released regarding German casualties, but 7,354 prisoners were taken and a reported 10,000 went missing; over 6,000 were known dead. British casualties numbered 16,000, of which about 30 per cent were killed.

But those echoes have died. World War One is no longer within living memory. All we have now are what remain of an incredibly stupid episode in human history — The War That Did Not End All Wars, despite expressions to the contrary. The cemeteries say it in spades; the relics support it in spades.

The voiceless have a final voice. We will remember the friends we never made and raise a toast to absent friends …

INTERIM AOR: Plugging The Navy's Capability Gap

The Resolve-class MV Asterix was official unveiled on July 20, 2017 at the Chantier Davie shipyard. Once the auxiliary oiler replenishment ship enters service with the Royal Canadian Navy at the end of 2017, she will be the country's largest naval platform for the foreseeable future. (Chantier Davie)

(Volume 24-08)

By David Pugliese

Quebec-based Chantier Davie is providing a unique solution to the Royal Canadian Navy in the form of a converted civilian vessel and a leasing agreement. The result will allow the RCN to replenish its ships at sea as early as next year.

With the unveiling of the MV Asterix, the Royal Canadian Navy has ended its supply ship capability gap it has faced for several years.

Thousands were on hand at the Chantier Davie shipyard in Lévis, Quebec to watch Canadian naval history in the making with the unveiling on July 20 of the Resolve-class Asterix — it is the first time a commercial vessel has been converted to conduct refuelling and resupply operations for the Canadian Armed Forces. Among those in attendance were RAdm Gilles Couturier, Steven Blaney, Spencer Fraser, Pauline Théberge, Alex Vicefield, Jacques Létourneau, Jean D’Amour, Gilles Lehouillier, Jean-Yves Duclos, and VAdm Ron Lloyd. (chantier davie)

The Asterix was unveiled on July 20 at the Chantier Davie Canada yards in Lévis, Quebec in front of RCN and Canadian Armed Forces senior leaders as well as federal, provincial and municipal politicians.

Speakers at the event included Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development; Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd, Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy; Jean D’Amour, Québec’s Minister of Maritime Affairs; Gilles Lehouillier, Mayor of Lévis; Jacques Létourneau, President, Confédération des syndicats nationaux; and Alex Vicefield, Chairman of Davie.

Davie’s 1,369 staff, together with over 900 Canadian suppliers, spent just under two years on this Resolve-class naval support ship that will enter into service with the Royal Canadian Navy by the end of 2017, Davie officials noted.

The $670-million project will provide the RCN with its own capability to refuel and resupply its warships for the first time since 2015 (both HMCS Preserver and Protecteur performed their final sea-going services in 2014). Since the retirement of its own aging resupply vessels, Canada has leased the services of Chilean and Spanish navy supply ships at various times.

The Resolve-class naval support ship will be the largest naval platform in service with the RCN for the foreseeable future and will provide a wide range of functions from at-sea replenishment of fuels and cargo to aviation support, fleet medical support as well as humanitarian and disaster relief, Davie officials pointed out.

The project involved the conversion of a modern, European-built containership into an auxiliary oiler replenishment (AOR) ship. The concept of converting a containership into a naval fleet auxiliary ship is not a new one, Davie officials point out. It has been performed on several occasions over the past decades for both the Royal Navy and United States Navy. But it is the first time that a commercial vessel has been converted to conduct refuelling and resupply operations for the Canadian Armed Forces, noted defence analyst Martin Shadwick, who teaches at York University in Toronto.

“We’re extraordinarily proud that we’re delivering the next naval support ship for Canada,” Spencer Fraser, chief executive officer of Federal Fleet Services, said in an interview. “It’s a cost-effective initiative. We’re delivering a capability at a quarter of the price.”

Federal Fleet Services, a sister company of Chantier Davie Canada, is overseeing the provision of the ship to the RCN. The vessel was designed by NavTech, a leading Canadian naval architecture firm, and Rolls Royce Marine.

Under a lease agreement, Federal Fleet Services will provide the ship and a civilian crew to operate the vessel. Royal Canadian Navy personnel would be on board to handle communications and the actual transfer of supplies and fuel to warships. The lease would run for five years, with an option after that to extend it on a yearly basis for a total of another five years. The Government of Canada also has an option to buy the vessel at the end of the 10 years.

The price tag includes the conversion of Asterix, the lease of its services to the Royal Canadian Navy for five years, maintenance and the salaries of a civilian crew to operate the vessel.

The fully integrated state-of-the-art bridge of the MV Asterix will be captained by a civilian crew provided by Federal Fleet Services for the duration of the lease agreement. Royal Canadian Naval personnel will handle communications and the actual transfer of supplies and fuel to warships. (chantier davie)

Asterix will be able to carry two Royal Canadian Air Force CH-148 Cyclone maritime helicopters and also have medical facilities on board. In addition, it has space for light armoured vehicles and other equipment.

“The success and affordability of this first ship is proof of what Canada’s largest, longest established and highest capacity shipbuilder is capable,” Davie Chairman Alex Vicefield said in a statement.

Davie officials point out that the program involves three levels of innovation for Canada. Firstly, instead of building a ship from new, a modern containership was converted into a state-of-the-art naval support ship. Secondly, the ship has been privately financed by Davie and leased to Canada — this means a fixed, transparent cost to the Canadian taxpayer, the company noted. Thirdly, as highlighted previously, Federal Fleet Services will operate the ship with a mixed crew of merchant seafarers and Royal Canadian Navy personnel.

Vice Admiral Ron Lloyd, head of the RCN, said in an earlier interview with Esprit de Corps that the service is looking at stationing Asterix on the West Coast. The vessel is expected to accompany Canadian warships next year on RIMPAC 2017, one of the major exercises involving the Canadian military and its allies in the Pacific Ocean.

Currently, the Canadian government is only committed to the one interim supply ship, but Federal Fleet Services is prepared to provide a second on short notice if needed.

In May, the Senate’s defence committee recommended the federal government not only buy Asterix but order a second vessel of the same type by 2018.

“This will provide Canada with four supply ships, two AORs by 2018 (one on each coast) and another two, when the Joint Supply Ships are delivered by Seaspan,” the Senate report noted. “These four ships also possess a modest secondary capacity to support forces ashore and can therefore significantly enhance the Navy’s ability to respond to humanitarian emergencies. By basing these four ships, two on each coast, the government will be able to significantly bolster the government’s desire to contribute to peace support and humanitarian operations.”

It is unclear at this point, however, about whether the acquisition of a second Resolve-class is being considered.

RAdm Gilles Couturier views the personnel quarters while touring the MV Asterix after the official unveiling ceremonies were completed on July 20. The ship has the capacity to house 150 regular personnel, in addition to emergency accommodation for up to 350 people. (chantier davie)

Department of National Defence spokeswoman Ashley Lemire has noted that besides providing resupply at sea, the Asterix would allow the Navy’s personnel to maintain their skills in key areas until the Joint Support Ships arrive.

Fraser has indicated the Resolve-class project has attracted the interest of foreign navies. As the vessel starts operating by the end of this year that international interest will likely increase.

DISASTER RELIEF: The Way Ahead

The German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (Technisches Hilfswerk, or THW) is an operational volunteer-based civil protection organization that operates under the Ministry of the Interior. According to THW, the use of modern equipment and well-trained specialists in a number of sectors — from supporting the fire brigade (pictured, working on a high-intensity fire) and flood relief to urban search and rescue — account for the agency’s high efficiency. (THW)

(Volume 24-7)

By Eva Cohen

In this second of a two-part feature on disaster relief, author Eva Cohen discusses the urgent need for second responders in dealing with civil protection and disasters. In preparing for the worst, Canada’s emergency preparedness system should provide communities with a more efficient way of responding to and recovering from calamity.

Assistance in domestic disasters is one of the tasks of the Canadian Armed Forces. But as the military’s main focus is on warfare, its equipment and expertise in disaster relief operations cannot be nearly as effective as a civil protection organization that specializes in all-hazards technical disaster relief, such as Germany’s Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW).

Germany, like Canada, is a federation where the German states and cities — like our provinces and municipalities — have jurisdiction in emergency management. Yet, through the THW, a federal operational agency, Germany ensures that states and communities all over the country are supported with local capacity, logistics, coordination, structure and oversight before an emergency situation escalates into a disaster or catastrophe. In Canada, this structure would also help to ensure other volunteer groups like our Canadian Red Cross, the Canadian Ski Patrol, St. John Ambulance, Ground Search and Rescue, etc., could be used to their full potential and be more effectively integrated into the overall relief effort.

 THW volunteers erect a flood wall to protect the city of Cologne from flooding along the Rhine. These protective walls are made of aluminium lamellae and can be quickly built when flooding is expected. They provide another more modern option to traditional sandbags.

As much as we need to focus on mitigating the effects of disasters, we also need to acknowledge that we cannot prevent disasters or catastrophes from happening. We need to be able to adequately respond to and recover, and as Canadians we all need to have a role in this!

Right now, our system reduces the role of the federal government largely to costly after-the-fact damage repair with little improvement for future crises. In Germany, taxpayers’ money is invested in sustainable capacity, guaranteeing preparedness for all kinds of scenarios that the average person would rather not think about. For example, the majority of people imagine an earthquake to be a terrible rumbling and shaking, but believe that many of the newest buildings will withstand tremors due to better building codes. What we don’t think about is that, even though a lot of buildings might not collapse, they could still be considered unsafe for months or even years. In addition, many roads and bridges could be destroyed or rendered unsafe and power could be cut off; and there could be food shortages, no drinking water, no sewage disposal, and thousands of people needing shelter for a long period of time. And the situation would be incomparably worse in the middle of a harsh Canadian winter.

A potential cyber attack also seems a bit abstract for most people, yet the consequences of an attack on our critical infrastructure could quickly translate into a devastating large-scale catastrophe. For some of us, these thoughts seem so terrifying — or intangible — that ignoring them is often the easiest solution.

Governments though cannot afford this complacency. Above all, the safety, protection, survival and recovery of Canadians facing major disasters is their paramount responsibility. Yet, expensive long-term projects to strengthen safety and security are not always politically attractive.

In Germany’s case, federal, state and municipal governments do have an operational capability at hand 24/7 to meet worst-case scenarios. Large-scale disasters fortunately do not happen on a regular basis, but the THW still conducts tens of thousands of domestic operations annually, assisting with all kinds of damage to infrastructure or other hazardous situations. Some recent examples are:

In June, over 700 THW volunteers from 25 detachments assisted the Berlin fire department in providing illumination, building sandbag walls, pumping out basements and providing electricity to mitigate flooding in the German capital caused by heavy rains.

Some 60 THW volunteers helped to clean up a beach in Hamburg after masses of unidentified, possibly toxic, white particles appeared on the shore.

After a terrible bus crash that resulted in 18 deaths, 20 THW members diverted traffic and salvaged the wreckage of the burnt-out vehicle.

Members of 4th Artillery Regiment (General Support) knock on a window during their door-to-door check to ensure residents are safe during Operation LENTUS 17-01 — the CAF’s response to the ice storm that affected some 200,000 homes in the Acadian Peninsula of New Brunswick in January 2017. Following the April flooding in Kashechewan, Ontario and the May flooding in Quebec and Newfoundland, the CAF is now undertaking its fifth mission against natural disasters in 2017 with the committing of resources to assist in fighting the B.C. wildfires emergency. (wo jerry kean, 5 cdn div public affairs, dnd)

About 100 THW volunteers assisted in the July 1 funeral procession for former Chancellor Helmut Kohl by directing the crowds, erecting a media platform and a temporary dock for the ship that carried Mr. Kohl’s casket.

In June, some 1,200 THW volunteers secured this year’s German section of the Tour de France, directing spectators and ensuring emergency routes for paramedics were planned, prepared and kept open.

These activities could of course be done by others, but they demonstrate one reason why the THW concept has been so successful for over half a century. Preparedness means to be ready when the call comes. THW volunteers routinely practise their technical skills — all needed in worst-case scenarios — to prevent or fight flooding, provide power supply, deal with hazardous material, carry out debris clearance, control traffic, provide logistics in large crowd situations, and even deal with dead bodies.

Rather than merely relying on the Canadian Armed Forces as our only technical backup for first responders, we need to give communities the means to help themselves. Civil protection cannot just be a government responsibility. But governments must play a key role in initiating, funding, organizing and setting standards to achieve this capability. A national operational federal agency for civil protection would give citizens the choice of becoming trained and certified expert volunteer members of their local detachment, to help raise funds to support them, or as business owners, to donate money and resources and/or to allow employees time off for training courses and volunteering at operations in support of first responders.

Canadian “seasons” are spring-flooding, summer-storms and wildfires, fall-flash floods and winter-ice storms. That our reactive system is outdated and no longer adequate is very obvious when we observe how we currently deal with emergency situations. The federal government assures us that they are “monitoring” the situation, like with the current wildfires in BC, and days after thousands of people are evacuated, the situation is out of control and a state of emergency is declared, we start to “quickly” deploy the CAF, our asset of last resort.

In Canada, it would be much easier than we might think to establish a proactive civil protection agency. On the national level, we need to discuss the structure and tasks of such a second response capability. To be able to quickly draw resources together in large-scale emergencies, we need to agree on standards for training curricula and equipment. Provincial offices would determine location and number of local detachments, and ensure regional and provincial coordination. As the agency is based on unpaid volunteers, funding is not spent on wages but on a lasting and sustainable infrastructure that could be used for generations to come.

At the local detachment level, it would be a family-friendly organization offering an attractive range of skills in the field of technical disaster relief. On weekends or in the evenings, the basic training curriculum would prepare volunteers on how to operate in a hazardous environment and, once certified, to focus on one or more of a wide variety of specialized skills. Among them: logistic support, communication, debris clearance, water purification, power supply, high capacity pumping, bridge repair, and many more. Very often, volunteers bring knowledge and skills from their work life into the organization and naturally fill positions they are already experienced in. The key to success, however, is for these volunteers to consistently train their skills in an operational setting and in joint exercises with other available assets, like first responders and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

This also helps to identify local vulnerabilities and creates close personal and professional relationships. Larger exercises, at the regional and provincial levels, would further strengthen cooperation and ensure common standards are maintained.

An important part of the organization would be its youth element. Like the highly successful THW youth component, it would be a vehicle for recruiting, fostering a family spirit and building long-term commitment in the next generation of skilled second responders. For the youth groups, these regional or provincial gatherings are organized as competitions, where the different local groups test and strengthen their hands-on skills in an entertaining camp setting. International exchange programs add exciting and unforgettable experience within the network of civil protection.

A Canadian civil protection agency could also have an active international role. Armed forces are not always welcome in disaster-stricken countries. Experience has shown that very often a civilian agency is more agile, certainly less expensive and, most importantly, can stay longer and transform disaster assistance into efficient humanitarian aid. It also allows government to keep control over how its aid is used and delivered. As many countries have their own local urban search and rescue capacity, the most valuable international assistance is infrastructure repair and assisting in the recovery phase of disasters.

Experience gained and lessons learned in active international operations, as well as in joint international exercises, would also be of tremendous value for operations in Canada.

We have not yet recovered from this year’s spring flooding in Quebec and Ontario, and now we’re battling wildfires in B.C. But we can’t allow these ongoing crises to distract us from the pressing need to transform our inadequate reactive system into a state of proactive preparedness.

Canada urgently needs to fill the dangerous gap between our first responders and the agents of last resort, the Canadian Armed Forces. A Canadian civil protection agency is the way forward. And as others have shown, it is clearly achievable!  

CSC: Forging Ahead

Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class frigate HMCS Vancouver steams in close formation as one of 40 ships and submarines representing 13 international partner nations during Rim of the Pacific 2016. The RCN’s Canadian surface combatant fleet is meant to replace the capabilities found in both its frigates and retired destroyers. (Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ace Rheaume, U.S. Navy)

(Volume 24-7)

By David Pugliese

The Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) program has emerged as this country’s largest single military procurement since the Second World War, now dwarfing the planned acquisition of new fighter jets.

It has been more than a decade since the Royal Canadian Navy identified the need to acquire what it hoped would be a common fleet to replace its Halifax-class frigates and Iroquois-class destroyers.

The CSC will consist of two variants. The first of these will be the Area Air Defence and Task Group Command and Control variant to replace the Iroquois-class. The second will be a General Purpose CSC variant designed to replace the Halifax-class frigates. Irving Shipbuilding Inc. of Halifax, Nova Scotia has already been designated by the Canadian government as the prime contractor.

The program has sailed, at times, into troubled waters, with delays and concerns raised by various companies.

So what are the latest developments?

Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan visited HMCS Scotian — which celebrated its 70th year of service to the RCN and the Halifax region this past April — on June 12, 2017 to talk about the government’s new “Defence Policy: Strong, Secure, Engaged.” Sajjan was adamant that this new policy would fully fund “the Royal Canadian Navy’s full complement of 15 Canadian Surface Combatant ships necessary to replace the existing frigates and retired destroyers.” (leading seaman dan bard, dnd)

First off, the Liberal government has actually made a commitment to a specific number of ships and has released what is seen to be a more accurate costing figure of the entire program.

The previous Conservative government had assigned a $26-billion budget that would build of up to 15 CSC vessels. By 2015, then Defence Minister Jason Kenney was backtracking from that promise.

“We’re not going to write a blank cheque on this program,” Kenney told reporters in October 2015. “Based on the expert advice that we received from the Royal Canadian Navy after exhaustive analysis by the Department of Public Works, following the most exhaustive and transparent major procurement process in Canadian government history, we believe it’s possible with a $26-billion budget to build between 11 and 15 surface combatants.”

Defence Policy: Strong, Secure, Engaged, the Liberal government’s defence strategy released on June 7, has solidified the commitment to 15 vessels. The budget has been increased to $60-billion to reflect actual costs, according to the Liberals. “This plan fully funds, for the first time, the Royal Canadian Navy’s full complement of 15 Canadian Surface Combatant ships necessary to replace the existing frigates and retired destroyers,” according to Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan. “Fifteen. Not ‘up to’ 15 and not 12. And definitely not six, which is the number the previous government’s plan would have paid for, as the Parliamentary Budget Officer reported.”

The next step is the submission of bids. The Liberal government announced October 27, 2016 that Irving Shipbuilding had issued a request for proposals to companies on the design of the new warships. Firms are required to provide those bids, which must not only include the design but details of teaming arrangements with Canadian firms.

Originally, the submission of bids had been set for April 27, 2017. That was pushed back to June 22. There are now further delays and the bids will be required to be submitted “no sooner than mid-August,” according to Public Services and Procurement Canada.

HMCS Athabaskan sailing towards the Scapa Flows off Scotland in 2009. Sailing into the sunset, Athabaskan, Canada’s last serving destroyer, was paid off in Halifax on March 10, 2017. Built in the early 1970s, the RCN had four Iroquois-class destroyers in service at one time. Now, the RCN must wait a decade for the CSC, the fleet’s replacement, to enter service. (cpl chris ringius, formation imaging service)

The department insists that the program is in order and all questions from companies about the bidding process have been answered. Those pre-qualified bidders are now working with an amended request for proposals.

Irving Shipbuilding president Kevin McCoy says the firm is ramping up to work on the CSC. He noted that Irving’s workforce is currently around 1,800, but by 2020 that is expected to grow to 2,400.

McCoy acknowledged the CSC program is the most complex procurement Canada has ever undertaken. But he is confident a contract announcement will be made in the spring of 2018.

Steel will be cut between mid-2021 and early 2022, he added.

Although some firms have raised concerns about the issue of intellectual property of the vessel design and systems, McCoy does not see that as an issue that can’t be dealt with. Companies who are bidding on the CSC program worry about turning over their sensitive intellectual property (IP) to a rival shipyard like Irving.

Intellectual property negotiations are a challenge, McCoy conceded, but Irving won’t be able to take proprietary intellectual data and then turn around, for instance, and sell such designs or systems to other nations. “I don’t view the IP as a stumbling block,” McCoy added.

Still, with up to $60-billion in contracts on the line it’s not unusual that there are other concerns associated with the Canadian Surface Combatant project. Prime contractor Irving, public service unions as well as defence firms have all raised issues.

Irving had identified several areas including the effect of inflation, the potential gap in work and the in-service support contract for CSC. “It is imperative that we work at a steady pace and minimize delays,” McCoy has warned. “Starting in fall 2019, production work on AOPS (Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships) starts to wind down. If we don’t put our skilled shipbuilders to work on CSC we face significant layoffs. If there is a production gap between the two shipbuilding programs, the cost to reconstitute this workforce and their experience will be borne by the CSC program.”

McCoy also warned that “the impact of inflation is very real on a shipbuilding program such as CSC. With shipbuilding inflation running 3-5 per cent annually, on a 15-ship program you lose the buying power equivalent of 45-75 per cent of one ship for every year of delay. Delays have a serious impact on a program such as CSC.”

(Jean-Denis Fréchette, the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), has also raised such concerns. In late May, the PBO also estimated the cost due to inflation for delaying the awarding of the contract after 2018. “We estimate that for each year of delay, the program would cost about $3-billion more,” Fréchette noted in the study.)

In addition, Irving Shipbuilding has emphasized its belief that the long-term in-service support (ISS) contract for the CSC fleet should be in the hands of the shipyard that constructed the vessels. It only makes sense since Irving would have intricate knowledge of the warships, the firm argues.

But various unions representing federal employees involved in ship maintenance are starting to warn about the increasing role private firms are playing in what used to be largely a federal government responsibility. They have already complained to the Liberal government about the ISS package for AOPS/Joint Support Ships that will be awarded to industry. It is expected they will ramp up for a campaign to prevent a similar deal with industry for CSC.

Then there are the concerns from industry itself on how the CSC acquisition is structured.

First there were complaints that the 12 pre-approved companies were not being given enough time to prepare their bids. There were warnings from firms that the limited six-month window to prepare bids didn’t allow time to adequately team up with Canadian suppliers.

At first, Procurement Minister Judy Foote dismissed such concerns. But when a third of pre-approved bidders requested a delay in the bidding process, the federal government and Irving eventually acted. The bid period has been extended a number of times. In addition, some companies have also warned the Canadian government about the alleged flaws in the CSC procurement process.

Fincantieri, the Italian shipbuilder, had told Foote in October 2016 that the project was so poorly structured it had doubts whether it could bid unless significant changes were made.

Fincantieri sent Foote a detailed outline of why the acquisition process was in trouble, warning that “Canada is exposed to unnecessary cost uncertainty.”

The Naval Ensign on the back of a rigid hull inflatable boat flies as HMCS Toronto leaves her namesake port during Canada 150 celebrations. Until the CSC’s arrival, the RCN’s 12 Halifax-class vessels will be serving as the backbone of the Navy. As such, the fleet has undergone a modernization of its combat systems and a mid-life refit to ensure the frigates remain effective throughout their service life. (cpl kenneth galbraith, dnd)

In its letter to Foote, Fincantieri pointed out that the current structure of the procurement limited the role of the warship designers to simply providing engineering and design services to Irving, which will then build the vessels.

In return for that small role, the companies were being asked to provide valuable intellectual property to their designs, access to their established supply chains, and transfer technology to Irving and Canada.

In addition, the warship designers had to provide a warranty on the integration of technology into their designs, even though they were not responsible for buying that equipment.

The project as it is structured now leaves little incentive for warship designers and builders such as Fincantieri, which has designed and constructed ships for the navies of Italy, the United Arab Emirates, India, Iraq, Malta and Malaysia.

“If the current proposed procurement approach is retained, then it will be very difficult for Fincantieri to obtain approval to bid from its board,” the company warned Foote.

The company instead proposed to Foote that a fixed-price competition be held, with the wining shipyard building the first three warships, complete with Canadian systems, and deliver those to Irving. The ships would then be run through evaluations and, after any technical issues were worked out, Irving would begin to build the remaining 12 vessels.

That way work on the new ships could get underway faster, the vessels will be fully tested, and the risk to the Canadian taxpayer significantly reduced. The “winning team can be held accountable for the overall performance of the finished ship,” Fincantieri added.

“Companies are also given incentive to make long-term investment in Canada because they can expect to get a fair return from the greater value of their work responsibility,” Foote was told.

The minister responded by suggesting Fincantieri approach Irving with their concerns.

However, the Italian firm’s proposals were not adopted.

Lucas Maglieri, a consultant for Fincantieri, has pointed that the company “remains interested in doing business in Canada and in the CSC project — we continue to assess our options for the Canadian marketplace.”

Fincantieri, however, is not alone in its concerns.

In June the CBC, citing industry responses to Irving about the CSC program, noted one of the bidders told the shipbuilder that the project faces a “very high risk of failure” unless the requirements were rewritten. The unidentified firm warned the plan was more complex than initially advertised by the federal government and that no pre-qualified bidder had an off-the-shelf design which could be modified to meet all of the Canadian requirements, the CBC reported.

“Not only will we not be in a position to make a proposal, which we believe will best meet Canada’s objectives, but we have reason to believe that most, if not all, other pre-qualified bidders with an existing ship design will be in a similar situation,” the firm noted in its comments to Irving. “In such an event, a failure to respond positively to our enquiries might put the (request for proposal) process at a very high risk of failure, either because an insufficient number of bids are received or because the bids which are received do not meet Canada’s value for money objectives.”

Irving responded that it would look into the issues that were raised but no changes to the request for proposals would be made.

Whether that is the right call will be seen in the coming years as the CSC moves forward.

What is the future of Ballistic Missile Defence?

Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly via Department of Defense. Public Domain: https://www.defense.gov/Photos/Photo-Gallery/igphoto/2001094823/

This interview was first published by the NATO Association of Canada. http://natoassociation.ca/interview-with-gen-patrick-oreilly-what-is-the-future-of-ballistic-missile-defense/

 

Interview with Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly

"Touraj Riazi, the Program Editor for the NATO’s Arc of Crisis section at the NATO Association of Canada, had the great privilege of interviewing former director of the Missile Defense Agency Lt. General (Ret’d) Patrick O’Reilly. Gen. O’Reilly enjoyed a lengthy and distinguished career in the Army where he occupied a variety of positions including Program Manager for the Directed Energy Programs, Patriot Missile PAC 3, THAAD, and the Ground based Midcourse Defense Program. Gen. O’Reilly culminated his career with being appointed Director of the MDA from 2008-2012.” 

Could you talk a little about the future of BMDS, specifically about the integration of solid state lasers (SSL) with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)?

We invested a lot in the terrestrial and sea based BMD systems. However, the opportunities of using UAV’s as BMD platforms is what missile defense needs to leverage for the future.

 UAVs are flying higher and longer with larger payloads. This progress in aviation technology offers an exciting opportunity for missile defence. Not only from putting sensors up there, not only adding nodes to communication but UAVs also reduce the reliance on space based assets.  And, space based assets- putting things up in space to do missile defence functions- are obviously the most expensive alternative.

If you look at future technology, orbiting systems that predictably circumnavigate the earth become more, and more, vulnerable over time as other countries develop anti-satellite technologies with greater and greater ranges. Space systems are by their nature expensive and the sensors on board that need to be very accurate.  I’m not saying don’t do it, but it’s the most expensive option.

I think we are approaching an era of leveraging the latest advancement in aviation which is UAVs. UAVs can fly predictable patterns or can fly using artificial intelligence.  Thus, if you lose communications with them they are still preprogrammed to do what they are supposed to do.

Most of BMDS components are dormant 99.9 % of their operating lives, so you could integrate BMDS functions with other functions that UAVs could do for the military, to support all the other military functions that UAVs do. So UAVs are very nice platforms for combining missile defense with other functions.

At the same time, we have learned from our experience with lasers that Solid-State Lasers (SSLs) are becoming more powerful and compact. And what is really important, is that the higher you fly, and UAVs give you that opportunity, the thinner the earth’s atmosphere is and less complex beam propagation systems are required. 

You know, when we build ABL [Airborne Laser system] a large part of the investment and development of the laser system on that 747 was in the optical system. And that was an optical system designed to very precisely track and compensate for the earth’s atmosphere at the altitudes it flew. But, if you fly at much higher altitudes, then you do not have as much of the atmosphere to deal with and you can use much smaller beam pointing and atmospheric compensations systems.

So the concept of ABL was developed in the 90’s and it’s predecessors were developed in the 70’s and 80’s. Since then, UAVs have been developed to fly extremely high for long periods of time.

Now that we have high altitude UAVs, on-board laser beams can propagate farther and with less power required to propagate through a thin atmosphere.  A vulnerability of a long range offensive missile is that if it’s going to be effective, it needs to fly accurately.  However, the tolerances for an offensive missile are not as strict as a defensive missile, which has to hit an object the size of a warhead. If you’re trying to hit a power plant or a military base, you have a much bigger target and the missile doesn’t have to be as precise, but you still need to fly with some level of precision.

If you’re trying to destroy a missile with a laser, which we have done, a lot of power is needed to destroy the missile. However, if you are trying to disrupt, interfere, or harass, a missile so that the offence knows it does not have the same confidence that the missile is going to strike the target they are shooting at, then you can use much lower power lasers.

When you add all that up we are approaching a point today where we are looking at the releases of the amount of power that you read in the press releases for the SSL and their size.

Equally important as the development of solid state lasers is the advancement in energy storage in the automotive and the solar industries. They have invested billions of dollars in research in power storage and conditioning. The progress in those enabling capabilities allow one to conclude that technology is very close to allowing the integration of high-power SSL’s with UAVs.

I have no knowledge of any specific SSL or UAV program, but just by looking at the status of technologies attractive for integrating BMDS packages on UAVs, it is easy to conclude that they would provide very cost-effective anti-missile technology. Additionally, you don’t have geopolitical issues if you are only deploying UAVs to patrol the earth’s oceans and costal areas where if you previously had to deploy ships, or if you had to deploy ground based BMDS, and negotiate treaties with countries, it becomes very expensive.

This goes back to some of my earlier comments about how do you calculate the cost of a missile defense system, and I think UAVs and modern technologies- not only of lasers, but energy storage work that’s going on from the commercial side- have taken us to a point where it’s extremely attractive to pursue the integration of UAV and BMDS technologies.

You spoke of diminishing the reliance on space based technologies and radars like the STSS I assume. Is that just a function of developing technologies in both aircraft and lasers or was reducing reliance on space a specific driver of those developments?

I’m un aware that it was a driver. It’s more of an emerging opportunity. When you look over the past 20 years at missile defense technologies, and the architecture, UAVs never played a prominent role. During my service in government we had a tendency to attribute our military technical progress with what we chose to invest in. That is a very narrow view. We have to open our aperture of consideration to technologies that somebody else developed for other purposes.

They constantly use the term dual purpose, but a lot of times that dual purpose was not readily recognized. And, frankly, the investments on the commercial side today are so much higher in technology than what the Pentagon does on the R&D side. If you’re going to have the most cost effective BMDS possible, you really need to be investing as large an effort into harvesting technologies that were developed by somebody else for other commercial purposes because they really have eclipsed the work that DOD would have done.

 Industrial lasers are driving the SSL development, it’s not defense. It’s the solar, the automotive industry, that’s developing power storage, light weight, extremely high power density, and equally important power conditioning - which means you can precisely manage the on-board power and the software processors to enable the next generation of BMD. Obviously the commercial processor industry is investing by many orders of magnitude more than DOD (Department of Defense) in new R&D.

So I don’t think the current focus on UAVs was intentionally done to reduce the reliance on space. I think it was more of we stumbled into it and realized we are under-investing in UAV applications.  So, the decisions that have to be made are really about budget balance. How much are you going to invest in ground based,  sea-based, space-basedand aviation based lasers and sensors. It has to be a balance. But, the area that I think has had the least amount of investment in over the past decade, compared to its technical progress, is UAVs.

What are your views on mobile laser platforms, in sea or space, and do you think it would be preferable to have space based, ground based, or air to air power supplying units?

Space launch capabilities are continually being developed and the cost continues to come down. Even at their most optimistic cost, its an order of magnitude more expensive to put power systems in space instead of on aviation platforms.  Likewise, aviation platforms are much more expensive than ground-based. So I think the real consideration goes back to basic science and it’s the advantages of operating in the earth’s high atmosphere.

If you’re operating a laser on the ground, you unfortunately do need a tremendous amount of power. I see lasers being deployed on ships today and that makes perfect sense because you have a big ship engine, with a lot of power, to power the laser. However, the beam propagation distances are not that great because the laser has to burn through the earth’s dense low atmosphere.

Thick atmospheres also scatters a laser beam, so you need to incorporate adaptive optics, and all the tricks that we have learned over the years, so that the beam is perfectly focused at the intended point, in the path of the beam over a great distance. The use of adaptive optical to accomplish that requirement are well known and unclassified.

Just look at what astronomy has gone through in the past decades. The idea of forming beams at a great distance is basic physics. The nice thing about UAVs are, if you can get them high enough, they have the advantages of operating in a thin atmosphere, but they don’t have the expense or vulnerability of operating in space. That vulnerability is not just a threat having a new weapon that could shoot down our satellites with lasers and things. I’m referring to the vulnerability that was just demonstrated a decade ago when the Chinese shot down their own satellite and caused it to orbit large debris fields.

The moving “Gravity” that was built around that debris pattern is a real threat to all objects in space. So, I’m not saying UAVs are a replacement for space based components, I’m just saying that these advantages justify a lot investment, and this has to be taken into the calculus of determining how much is invested in different BMD platforms.

Are you in favor of having a UAV powered by artificial light as opposed to a solar powered UAV, given the differences in proven capability today, especially their sustainability and altitude requirements?

The number one focus from the technology point of view, is power density storage. How much power can you store in a small device?

The investments that Tesla has made have really been advantageous. They not only showed you could have an ability to store power that is orders of magnitude greater than it was in previous decades; but, also when they’re mass produced, you have great reliability and cost reduction. So dense power storage has become a real catalyst in opening up high powered systems to be placed on UAVs because they’re small.

Now the next question is, how do you provide that power to the storage device? You can either charge it up on the ground or you have the alternative, where advancements have been made in solar lined aircraft where all the space on the wings is exposed to the sun. Then the question becomes what is that rate of power charging and how much time do you have in order to sufficiently reach a charge? I don’t know the answers to that. But I do know we are making great progress.

What also needs to be taken into account is what is the total amount of charge / power you need, which directly relates to how many times you can shoot your laser. And if you want to be able to shoot your laser 40 or 50 times then you calculate the amount of power you need but are you going to do it all at once or can you trickle charge slowly? It doesn’t make sense to me why you would not send up UAVs that are fully charged, but then the question is can they recharge themselves.

This is where I think we are with cutting edge technology today on the commercial side. I’m not cognizant of all of the military projects that are going on but I do believe that it appears reasonable that this area is where you want to be investing. To get as much of a benefit as you can from the commercial investments and breakthroughs that have been made in power storage.

I do want to emphasize though, that I was not stating you would send up an aircraft that has no charge with it. What I’m saying is, you would fully charge those batteries and the size of those batteries would be driven by how many times you expect to shoot your laser before needing to recharge. And I don’t know the answers to that, but again, where we are venturing into this conversation is the great opportunity there is for these types of technologies to be applied today without significant development. It’s just harvesting and leveraging what has been done in industry, as long as you can convince industry to participate.

Can you explain what potential utilities of such a program would be, short of its conceived end? So assuming you don’t fully arrive at a stage where you could fully integrate UAV’s and SSL, do you think there is a benefit, in terms of communications or surveillance, in having a high altitude aircraft that is pretty much sedentary due to power requirements?

Well it is more of a platform that could perform any of the missile defense functions. You could also place command and control on board these UAVs.

And, as I said before, any BMDS is dormant for large periods of time. So the smartest application would be to integrate various missile defense functions, including C3, sensors and other functions that the military would need.  For example, you could put a system that might be there for sea navigation purposes, atmospheric sensing, or other communications that have functions other than just purely missile defense.

I think that as missile defense continues to grow, one way of reducing the cost of missile defense is to integrate it with other military functions so that you’re not building single dedicated systems that only performs a missile defense function.

GAINING INTELLIGENCE: An Interview With CFINTCOM's Rear-Admiral Scott Bishop

Rear-Admiral Scott Bishop addresses members of the Canadian Forces Intelligence Group. Serving his country since 1983, Bishop was appointed Commander of the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command and Chief of Defence Intelligence in June of 2016. Prior to taking the helm of CFINTCOM, he commanded both the Pacific and Atlantic fleets. (dnd) 

(Volume 24-06)

By Micaal Ahmed

On June 7, 2017 the Government of Canada released the result of its Defence Policy Review, which had a significant focus on the defence intelligence community across the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces. To shed more light on the intelligence section of the CAF, Esprit de Corps’ Micaal Ahmed met with Rear Admiral Scott Bishop, Commander of the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command and Chief of Defence Intelligence, for a one-on-one interview.

Esprit de Corps: What led to the transition from the Chief of Defence Intelligence organization to the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command?

RAdm Bishop: Intelligence, obviously, has been a part of military operations since the military started. Intelligence is critical to conducting operations. And intelligence has always been the future of National Defence Headquarters. But, prior to CF Intelligence Command standing up, it was treated like a staff function — at the strategic level. We were working for the chief of defence staff, deputy minister and the minister of National Defence. It was treated like a staff [position]. And there was a recognition that, given the growing importance of intelligence to the operations that we’re doing, that intelligence would be better served by making it an actual Level I command. This gives Intelligence Command the authority to manage its own resources, and be a distinct entity on par with other commands across the Canadian Forces — Army, Navy, Air Force, Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC), [Canadian] Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) and Military Personnel Command, and now we’ve got CF Intelligence Command.

Esprit de Corps: How would you describe the role of the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command?

RAdm Bishop: We have a lot people across the forces working in intelligence, so it’s not just the folks in CF Intelligence Command. Each one of the services — Army, Navy and Air Force — has an entity in their organization focused on intelligence. Joint Operations Command and Special Operations Forces Command also have an integral intelligence function. In CF Intelligence Command, we’re at the strategic level. So, we’re providing some support to Canadian Forces operations — working with CJOC and Special Forces Command — but we’re also servicing the decision-making needs of the chief of defence staff, the minister and the deputy minister.

Esprit de Corps: How is the group organized?

CFINTCOM provides credible, timely and integrated defence intelligence capabilities, products and services to support Canada’s national security objectives. Using satellite technologies, the Map and Charting Establishment, one of CFINTCOM’s five groups, provides timely and accurate mapping and charting support to DND, CAF and other government departments. (cpl francis gingras, dnd)

RAdm Bishop: It’s a military-civilian command. So, right now, it’s about 35 per cent civilian, 65 per cent military. We’re all working together on the intelligence problem. We have most of our civilians doing analysis work — taking various bits of intelligence that has been collected, fusing it together and providing information to decision-makers. On the military side, the majority of our folks are working in the Canadian Forces Intelligence Group, which is essentially providing those intelligence products that the analysts are using: imagery, mapping and charting, meteorology, human intelligence.

Esprit de Corps: What resources does the group possess in terms of offices and staff to carry out its mandate?

RAdm Bishop: In CF Intelligence Command it’s about a thousand people, working not just in National Defence Headquarters, but we have other people in buildings around Ottawa. We have people in Kingston — we have a couple of units there — and we have folks across Canada in small units. And we have a budget of a little over $80-million for running our normal business through the year. So it’s a pretty sizeable group, but compared to the other commands, it’s pretty small. [If] we compare ourselves to the Army, the Air Force, or Military Personnel Command, Intelligence Command is pretty small. Of all the Level I commands, as we call them, CF Intelligence Command is the smallest.

Esprit de Corps: What about the relationship with the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) and Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS)?

RAdm Bishop: We do a lot of cooperation with our partners in Canada, in terms of talking to each other about what we’re doing. Obviously, each one of those intelligence enterprises in Canada has its own mandate, and those mandates are highly respected. The one thing I would state: While interacting with our other partners in the Canadian government like CSIS or Communications Security Establishment or the Intelligence Assessment Secretary at the Privy Council Office, we don’t have the mandate to collect [intelligence] against Canadians. We’re strictly focused on defence intelligence issues, generally in support of operations, or looking at the defence landscape and providing assessments to decision-makers about how we see the world.

Esprit de Corps: Thank you Rear Admiral Bishop. Before concluding the interview, we have a few “rapid fire” questions.

What was your first pet?  A dog. I had a golden retriever, and my wife had a black lab when we met.

What was your first car?  Chevy Impala, which consumed more oil than gas.

What was your nickname growing up?  Bill, like Billy Bishop.

What is your favourite sport?  Ice hockey for sure

What is your favourite team?  Montreal Canadiens

Do you prefer reading books or watching movies?  I prefer books. I seldom watch movies.

What was your first job?  Working at McDonald’s when I was 14. I got to work in the first McDonald’s in Canada.

What is your favourite book? Guns, Germs and Steel [by Jared Diamond].

What is your favourite TV show?  I have a lot which my wife considers to be in poor taste. I like comedy shows, some of the animated ones I watch a lot.

Disaster Relief

Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicles patrol flooded streets in Saint-Barthélemy, Québec during Operation LENTUS, May 12, 2017. But is door-to-door searching of neighbourhoods the best use of the military during flooding? Author Eva Cohen believes using the Canadian Armed Forces for these types of events is not the most efficient or cost-effective use of the military and its resources.
(Sgt Marc-André Gaudreault, Valcartier Imaging Services)

(Volume 24-06)

Eva Cohen 

What we need is a real alternative for “too little, too late!”

In this first of a two-part feature on disaster relief, author Eva Cohen explains why Canada should change the way it deals with impending natural disasters and rely on the military only as a last resort.

Large-scale emergency events are increasing in frequency and cost. Yet, the 2017 spring flooding in Eastern Ontario and Quebec was just the latest example of how we tend to be complacent until something bad happens. Then we are surprised and shocked, which creates chaos in what should be a well-prepared and planned exercise where procedures kick in automatically.

During these events, we rise to the occasion and try to deal with the situation. Everybody gives their absolute best, and more. The various levels of government repeat endlessly that they are there to help and support, and they make every asset available in trying their best to cope with the emergency. But inevitably, first response capabilities (fire, police, emergency medical services) and other available resources become overwhelmed. Canadians react; many as ‘spontaneous volunteers.’ As Canadians, it is our nature to offer a helping hand.

We are all doing our very best … but too often we are forced to ask ourselves why our best doesn’t seem to be good enough.

Everybody knows that most natural disasters are not preventable and no government or politician is to blame for them. Yet, when questions are directed at the federal minister of Public Safety and provincial, territorial and local authorities, there is certainly a lot of blame thrown around, coupled with questions and bickering around costs. The stock answer from government is: Everything is being done the way it should be; this is how the system is meant to work.

 Author Eva Cohen (right) walks through a flooded neighbourhood in County Renfrew, west of Ottawa, in May 2017. A volunteer expert in urban search and rescue with the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), Cohen believes Canada should have a volunteer-based emergency preparedness organization to proactively respond when a natural disaster looms.

And THAT is exactly what our problem is. Our system is responsive and reactive … and in urgent need of a shift to proactive modern preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery.

From reactive to proactive

Our current system divides us into two camps: those affected by the disaster and those whom we hold responsible for dealing with it. This can result in a bitter chasm between the two, full of recriminations at a time when everyone involved should be working hand-in-hand. If we think about it, we must realize that it is not possible for Canada to keep us safe … we have to keep Canada safe. We all have a role to play, and it is essential that we have a system in place that invites us and allows us to play a meaningful and active part.

In trying to figure out what real “resilience” looks like and how we can achieve a “whole of society approach,” we should not reinvent the wheel. Many of our friends and allies, especially those with a higher population density than ours, have practiced effective disaster relief for many years. There are valuable lessons to be learned from international best practices.

Let us first look at our own experience. During the recent flooding, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Ralph Goodale’s answer was: “The federal government supports the efforts of the provinces, and now that they have asked for federal assistance, we will deploy the Canadian Armed Forces. They are experts in what they do; they have structure, coordination, logistics.”

He is absolutely right. What is needed in an emergency situation is structure, coordination, capacity and expertise, but to be effective and efficient it has to be in place locally before the disaster occurs.

Currently, our system requires that an emergency worsens to the point that local resources are overwhelmed and then, after the damage is done and mitigation efforts come too late, we bring in our asset of last resort, the military, and trust that they will somehow rescue the situation.

It seems unfair that when the Canadian Armed Forces arrive to show federal support and to boost morale, they are criticized for being “too little, too late!” Sadly, there is often some truth in these complaints. In addition, as in the recent floods, one cannot but wonder if using expensive armoured vehicles to go from house to house to check on residents after an entire neighbourhood is inundated is really the best use of taxpayer money.

There is the common misperception that in peacetime our soldiers are not very busy and, as they are being paid anyway, we should make use of them and their equipment. This is far from reality. As well, in most cases the Canadian Armed Forces is not a local asset. Members of the CAF do not deploy when their added benefit is needed most — to identify vulnerabilities before a disaster strikes and to help mitigate its effects with quick and efficient expertise as well as specialty equipment. The earlier you want the CAF to deploy, the more the mission will cost. And provinces, territories and municipalities themselves could be liable for these expenses. As a result, the armed forces are always our asset of last resort and they often arrive too late to mitigate the worst of the disaster. And after a disaster, they are not legally able, nor are they generally available, to assist in the long, and often painful, recovery efforts.

Mitigating emergency situations

Soldiers of the Canadian Army help to fill sandbags during Operation LENTUS, the CAF’s response to forest fires, floods, and natural disasters in Canada. On May 12, 2017, the CAF’s emergency response to support the Province of Quebec reached peak strength with approximately 2,600 personnel from the Army, RCAF and RCN. (cpl djalma vuong-de ramos)

So we tend to ignore our vulnerabilities until something nasty happens. Then we realize that we are unprepared and that we lack local capacity to mitigate the impact of any emergency situation (earthquake, storms, wildfires, power outages, etc.). For example, in the case of a flood, instead of building solid sandbag dikes and deploying high-capacity pumps at strategic locations, we watch whole neighbourhoods flood and see people build sandbag walls around individual homes. Unfortunately, lack of know-how often means that this protection is not being properly built and residents, and the volunteers who help them, often see their hard labour done in vain.

Once the worst of the disaster is over, because we don’t have a local, trained infrastructure repair capacity to help with the recovery phase, we have to rely on community volunteers to help clean up the mess and start the long process of recovery. Municipalities are reluctant to decide on their spending as they are unsure if and how much funding will be available. In this phase, as in the actual response phase, ad hoc volunteers are the only surge capacity available and municipalities have no choice but to make best use of them despite their lack of training and experience, and despite serious insurance and liability challenges.

There will always be a role for the Canadian Armed Forces. But their numbers are limited and emergency response is not their primary focus. If we picture some serious non-peacetime scenarios, it becomes more obvious why it truly should only be our asset of last resort.

Investing in emergency preparedness

What is needed is a system that allows the federal government to best support the provinces and municipalities in their efforts to create and maintain local capacity, logistics, coordination, structure and oversight before an emergency situation escalates into a disaster or catastrophe. Rather than spending taxpayers’ money solely on costly after-the-fact damage repair, it should be invested in a sustainable capacity guaranteeing foresight and future preparedness.

The most cost-effective way to do this would also close the disconnect between citizens and the government. The German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), widely recognized as international best practice, confirms that under a federal system similar to ours, a national operational government organization should be based on local citizen volunteers that are trained, certified and equipped to be reliable technical experts in civil protection. Furthermore, this type of federal system creates a functional whole-of-society approach.

Under this system, the government shows leadership and foresight, while the private sector makes use of its corporate social responsibility and supports the employees in their efforts to volunteer. In return, it gains tremendously from the expertise the volunteer experts bring back into the private sector in regards to preparedness and business continuity planning. Citizens make the effort affordable by volunteering to do their share as part of the team. Through an active youth component, volunteers often start as teenagers and remain part of the organization long after they retire from their professional lives.

This kind of technical civil protection agency offers a fascinating escape from the routine of everyday life. The interesting training covers a long list of skills and tasks: logistics, communication, command and control, illumination, bridge building, water purification and drinking water supply, debris clearance, urban search and rescue, wildfire fighting, combating oil pollution, emergency power supply, infrastructure repair, water rescue … just to name a few.

A Canadian version of this operational model would create a structure and standards that guarantee regional, provincial and national scalability as well as making best use of all of our already existing capabilities. It would fill the identified gap of a technical, local SECOND response and infrastructure repair asset, and like Germany’s THW, it could also become a Canadian civilian disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization for international deployment.

As part of an international network (including at the youth level) of such civil protection organizations, and volunteer experts would come together regularly for joint training and sharing of best practices and lessons learned, thereby increasing the value for all.

Now that Canada is back, we want to be part of this!

Next month: A look at how a civil protection organization would work in Canada and internationally to help in times of crises.

LIBERAL DEFENCE POLICY REVIEW

Weapons technician, Cpl Chad Doley-Bourget indicates a thumbs up for the CF-188 Hornet to return to the hangar in Keflavik, Iceland during Operation REASSURANCE, May 19, 2017. According to the Liberal’s Defence Review, “Canada will procure a fighter capability of 88 jets to replace the aging CF-18 fleet” in order to meet NATO and NORAD commitments. (Cpl Gary Calvé, ATF Iceland)

(VOUME 24-6)

By David Pugliese

The Liberal government rolled out its long-awaited defence policy review on June 7, promising large-scale spending increases over a decade-long period.

Over the next 10 years, defence spending will increase from $18.9-billion in 2016–17 to $32.7-billion in 2026–27, according to Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.

Most of the spending increases are projected after the next federal election or near the end of that decade-long period.

More troublesome is that Sajjan continually avoided answering questions from journalists on where the new money would come from. Instead, he repeatedly stated that the Liberal government was committed to providing the funding the Canadian Armed Forces needed in the future.

The policy review contained a list of key equipment programs. Many of them would be recognizable to defence observers and industry officials since they have either been on the military’s requirement lists for years or have been featured in the Defence Acquisition Guide.

In some cases, such as the program to replace the CF-18 fighter jet fleet, the Liberals have provided new details. They say they will buy 88 advanced fighter jets to replace the CF-18s. This number of aircraft will be required to fully meet Canada’s North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and NATO obligations simultaneously, the Liberal government noted.

Released on June 7, 2017, the Liberal government’s defence policy review has devised a plan that is based on people — “The women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces and the families that support them” — and has a vision for the future — “a Canada that is strong at home, secure in North America, and engaged in the world.”  Following the release of the document, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan (above) travelled to bases across the country to answer questions from CAF members. (dnd)

Department of National Defence spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier said the 88 aircraft would be the full fleet replacement. As the aircraft are delivered, Canada would remove the CF-18s as well as any interim fighter jets from the flight line, he added.

The purchase of those aircraft would cost between $15-billion and $19-billion. Details were not provided, however, on what long-term maintenance costs the Royal Canadian Air Force would face once the planes are acquired.

Sajjan also committed to acquiring a specific number of Canadian Surface Combatants (CSCs). The Royal Canadian Navy originally wanted 15 CSCs, but the Conservative government’s $26-billion budget would not have paid for that number of vessels.

“This plan fully funds for the first time the Royal Canadian Navy’s full complement of 15 Canadian Surface Combatant ships necessary to replace the existing frigates and retired destroyers,” Sajjan said during the June 7 news conference. “Fifteen, not up to 15 and not 12, and definitely not six, which is a number the previous government’s plan would have paid for as the Parliamentary Budget Officer reported last week.”

The Liberal defence policy would set aside between $50-billion and $60-billion for the CSC program.

In addition, the Royal Canadian Navy’s Victoria-class submarines would undergo incremental modernization in the mid-2020s, which will ensure their continued effectiveness to the 2040s. That program is estimated to cost between $1.5-billion and $3-billion.

The size of the Canadian Forces would increase to around 71,000 (and it would include a boost for Canada’s special forces with an additional 605 personnel).

In addition, the Canadian Forces would increase the number of women in the ranks. Females will make up 25 per cent of the military by 2026, according to the policy.

The defence policy also provides for an income tax break on salaries earned while overseas. “In order to ensure that Canadian Armed Forces members are treated equally on deployment, all troops deployed on any named international operations will be exempted from paying federal income tax on their salary to the level of lieutenant-colonel,” the defence policy noted. “This is in addition to the allowances awarded to compensate for hardship and risk.”

The chief of the defence staff is the authority to designate those “named operations,” according to the policy. The initiative is retroactive to January 2017.

Canada will also grow and enhance its cyber capabilities by creating a new Canadian Armed Forces Cyber Operator occupation.

The RCN’s 12 Halifax-class frigates are to be replaced by a “full complement of 15 Canadian Surface Combatant ships” according to the new defence policy review. (master seaman peter reed, formation imaging services halifax)

The new occupation will compliment the capability Canada already has in cyber space, according to Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance.

“Canada has the ability to conduct active and offensive cyber operations and those operations will be undertaken consistent with the rule of law, consistent with the law of armed conflict in a very disciplined targeting cycle that can achieve the effects within the theatre of operations,” Vance said.

The reserves would increase to 30,000 — a boost of 1,500 personnel. Reserves will be assigned new roles including light urban search and rescue; chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence; combat capabilities such as direct fire, mortar and pioneer platoons and other roles such as cyber operators; intelligence operators; naval security teams; and linguists.

Canada also committed to NORAD modernization, but that is to take place at a later date. Sajjan suggested that new surveillance systems could be added to expand the amount of information that NORAD will collect.

“We will enter discussions with our U.S. counterparts on NORAD modernization that will include replacing the North Warning System with new technology and it will include an all-perils approach to protecting against the full range of threats including air, maritime and underwater threats,” Sajjan said.

The defence policy also calls for the following new equipment or initiatives:

Purchase of new multi-mission aircraft to replace the CP-140 Aurora fleet in the 2030s.

Replacement of the CC-150 Polaris with next generation strategic air-to-air tanker transport.

Replacement of the CC-138 Twin Otter with utility transport aircraft.

Acquisition of a medium altitude remotely piloted system (drones).

Modernization of short-range air-to-air missiles (fighter aircraft armament).

Upgrade of avionics on CH-149 Cormorant.

Upgrade of the C-130Js with new software and hardware.

Limited upgrade of the Griffon helicopters.

Upgrade of the lightweight torpedoes currently used by the RCN and the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Acquisition of 20,000 new assault rifles with upgraded sights and barrels.

Purchase of ground-based air defence systems and associated munitions capable of protecting all land-based force elements from enemy airborne weapons.

Modernization of improvised explosive device (IED) detection and defeat capabilities.

The defence policy review calls for an increase in the total number of Canadian Armed Forces members — from 68,000 to 71,500 over the next 10 years — and a target of 25 per cent of women in the Forces by 2026 (an increase of 10 per cent).

Equipping of Canadian Army light forces with utility terrain vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, trailers, lightweight generators and tents, radio rebroadcast kits, long-range communications equipment, special insertion/extraction equipment, and aerial delivery kits to enable deployment and operations in complex terrain and challenging operating environments.

Upgrade of the light armoured vehicle (LAV) fleet to improve mobility and survivability.

Modernization of logistics vehicles, heavy engineer equipment and light utility vehicles. Also replace obsolete material handling equipment such as bulldozers and cranes for domestic and expeditionary operations.

Modernization of land-based command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems.

Acquisition of all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles and larger tracked semi-amphibious utility vehicles optimized for use in the Arctic environment.

Acquisition of a new multipurpose anti-armour, anti-structure weapon system.

Upgrade of air navigation, management, and control systems.

Acquisition of aircrew training systems. This would involve the delivery of a new and cohesive training program that replaces the current Pilot, Air Combat Systems Officer and Airborne Electronic Sensor Operator training systems. This capability will improve the RCAF’s ability to train sufficient numbers of aircrew for various roles.

Acquisition of airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms for Canadian special forces.

Purchase of new commercial pattern SUV-type armoured vehicles for special forces.

Modernization and enhancement of Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM), control and communications information systems, and computer defence networks.

Purchase of next generation Special Operations Forces integrated soldier system equipment, land mobility, and maritime mobility platforms and fighting vehicle platforms.

Improvement of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) detection and response capabilities.

Highlighting Arctic Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (JISR) as a defence research and development priority.

Replacement of the current RADARSAT system to improve the identification and tracking of threats and improve situational awareness of routine traffic in and through Canadian territory.

Acquisition of new armoured combat support vehicles. This project will replace aging armoured command vehicles, ambulances, and mobile repair teams with a modern, well-protected fleet.

Modernization of the Army’s bridge and gap crossing capabilities. This is needed since existing systems cannot support the weight of many current Canadian Army vehicle types.

Acquisition of a tactical narrowband satellite system. This would provide narrowband near-global communications between 65 degrees South and 65 degrees North latitudes to provide assured, secure, and reliable communications in support of Canadian and international operations.

The Struggle To Transition

For many who served in Afghanistan, the stress of combat and being in dangerous situations led to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other non-visible wounds. But help is available, through Veterans Affairs programs, counselling services, and outside agencies such as the Veterans Transition Network. (Cpl Simon Duchesne, Combat Camera)

(Volume 24-5)

By Tyler Hooper

For Canadian Armed Forces members facing release, the reality of finding a new job, a new home, applying for benefits, adjusting to life out of uniform can present several challenges. For those dealing with mental and health issues, it can be even more daunting.

The transition to civilian life for former Canadian Army medic Sergeant Elizabeth Newman has been anything but easy. In 2010, while working with the military at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Newman became very sick. She developed Legionnaires’ disease, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and sepsis, a serious blood infection that is often fatal. With her heart, kidneys, and brain starting to fail, Newman’s survival looked dire. 

“I know now I probably had a 70 per cent chance of dying,” Newman told Esprit de Corps.

Ultimately, she was in a coma for almost four weeks before her body began to recover. Approximately almost a month into her recovery she was back at work, a decision that would create an entirely different battle. 

Prior to falling ill, Newman had served two tours in Afghanistan, her second and final one being in 2008. Newman deployed with the 1st Canadian Field Ambulance Unit during the Taliban resurgence. From 2006 until 2009 the Canadian military in Afghanistan would experience some of the most intense firefights in recent memory.

 Sergeant Elizabeth Newman did two tours of duty in Afghanistan as a medic with the 1st Canadian Field Ambulance Unit at the height of the heaviest fighting. But transitioning to civilian life after a
20-year career in the Canadian Armed Forces and suffering from PTSD has not been easy for her. (courtesy elizabeth newman)

“That was a really bad tour,” Newman recalled. “I made a conscious decision on the first day that this wasn’t real life.”

With her fellow soldiers suffering serious injuries and wounds — and others being killed — Newman began to compartmentalize the trauma to push on with the job. Like many soldiers do, Newman used humour to cope, while thinking, “I’m going to pay for that one later.” When Newman came back from her last tour she threw herself into work, trying to compartmentalize her experiences in Afghanistan.

“Inevitably, people throw themselves into work, they lose their relationships, they lose their families … and then it gets harder and harder to ignore the subconscious,” Newman said.

After her recovery from her coma, Newman was put in charge of a reserve course exercise near Williams Lake, B.C. However, being in such a remote region, with a lack of proper health resources, caused her undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to manifest. “[I] started to spiral downhill really quickly,” Newman recalled.

The illness and subsequent coma Newman fell into caused brain damage, and although she cannot directly correlate the brain damage to the triggering of her trauma and PTSD, it seems likely that the brain damage played a part in her “downhill” spiral.

Not long after, her 20-year career in the military ended, something she had an incredibly hard time accepting. To make matters worse, she says her transition to the civilian world was made difficult by certain units and people in the military who, she says, did a poor job of helping her manage her retirement and transition back to civilian life.

Apart from the struggle to treat her PTSD, battling the stigma associated with PTSD, and trying to put her life together, she says that the military, particularly the treatment she received from the Joint Personnel Support Unit (JPSU) in Esquimalt, was beyond unsatisfactory. She claims they were “unhelpful” and not overly empathetic in supporting her. She even says she received the wrong retirement package from the military.

When asked about Newman’s experience with JPSU Esquimalt, CAF spokesperson Lt(N) Kelly Boyden told Esprit de Corps in an e-mail, “If a member has any concerns regarding their care and support, they are strongly encouraged to raise these concerns with their Joint Personnel Support Unit staff. Bringing their concerns forward will allow staff to address them and hopefully resolve any issues at the lowest level. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure the best possible care and support for the member.”

In a separate comment, Veteran Affairs Canada spokesperson, Marc Lescoutre, admitted in an e-mail to Esprit de Corps, that “more work needs to be done … this means harmonized services, clear guidance, timely access to benefits and services, and coordinated case management between both departments during transition.” However, Lescoutre ultimately said, “The goal [of VAC] is to help transitioning members find their new normal and to help them through this process, however long it might take, with the dignity, respect and support they so fully deserve.”

Part of the challenge for VAC and the military is that not every soldier or veteran has the same problems transitioning back to the civilian world. Oliver Thorne, who is the National Operations Director of the Veteran Transition Network (VTN), says that lifestyle and career adjustments are two of the biggest and broadest issues. VTN was founded to help veterans share their stories with fellow soldiers, and offers programs to help veterans transition back to civilian life.

Veterans gather to discuss issues facing them in a group setting. The staff and volunteers of the VTN assist vets to find balance in their new life. (vtn)

Thorne said that an integral part of the VTN program is for veterans to identify the barriers to overcoming a difficult transition, and to recognize these barriers early in their transition. Thorne added that if these barriers are not recognized early, the likely hood of a veteran developing negative coping mechanisms, such as substance abuse or isolation, becomes greater.

Currently, there’s a four-year pilot Veteran Family Program taking place at the Esquimalt Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC) based in Victoria, B.C. The Veteran Family Program provides services for medically released CAF members for a two-year period after their release. Jon Chabun, Communication and Marketing Coordinator for the MFRC, said that medically released soldiers were chosen as “that was the group that most [needed] assistance.” According to Chabun, the MFRC Veteran Family Program offers short-term services such as counselling, social work, help with finding community resources and navigating civilian health care as well as emergency services.

But for Elizabeth Newman, her transition was not only painful, she also says it stalled the progress she had made treating her brain injuries and PTSD.

“We have to have a focus on how we return citizens back to our community … we’re doing a terrible job,” Newman stated. She added that she doesn’t see it as the military’s job to help soldiers transition. Ultimately, she says that an outside organization should be a part of helping veterans transitioning, an organization, that unlike the military, is not always focused on “pushing forward.”

FEATURE: Land Projects On Review

Canadian Army soldiers participated in Exercise COMMON GROUND II 2016 at 5th Canadian Division Support Group Gagetown, November 15, 2016. In a May 3 presentation, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan stated that the Liberals have “a plan to allocate realistic funding to those ‘bread and butter’ projects that will keep our military running efficiently and effectively for years to come.” Among the projects mentioned were engineering and logistical vehicles for the army. (Cpl Peter Ford, Tactics School, Gagetown)

(Volume 24-4)

By David Pugliese

The Canadian Army is in the midst of a re-equipment phase with upcoming delivery of everything from new trucks to armoured personnel carriers.

The latest technology from companies specializing in land warfare, and who hope to supply the Army in the future, will be on display at CANSEC 2017. Other firms already have contracts in place and long-term relationships with Canada’s land forces.

CANSEC, the country’s largest defence trade show, will be held this year on May 31 and June 1 at its usual location at the EY Centre, near Ottawa’s international airport.

The timing is opportune.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan focused on a number of Army programs during a presentation on May 3 in the lead-up to the Liberal government’s new defence policy.

A number of those Army projects were highlighted by Sajjan as key equipment purchases for the government in the future. This includes a program that could provide companies up to $500-million in work as well as a needed system for land forces. “Investments in ground-based air and munitions defence systems are required to guarantee the safety of our deployed troops,” Sajjan told the crowd of retired military personnel and defence industry executives on May 3.

The purpose of the ground-based air and munitions defence system is to protect deployed forces from a variety of air threats. The Army says it will likely include an integrated radar feed, a networked command, control and communications system, as well as munitions and launcher systems.

Another project Sajjan talked about was the acquisition of a fleet of heavy support equipment, such as forklifts, dozers, loaders, and excavators. He also pointed out that the Army needs new logistics support vehicles.

Members of the Quebec Immediate Reaction Unit (IRU) prepare to take part in Operation LENTUS 1703 at CFB Valcartier in Courcelette, Quebec on May 6, 2017. OP LENTUS is the CAF’s response to forest fires, floods, and natural disasters in Canada. As of May 12, 2017 a total of approximately 2,600 CAF personnel — with vehicles, boats, and air assets such as helicopters — had been deployed to support Quebec citizens in four affected regions: Montérégie, Outaouais, Mauricie and Montréal. (sgt marc-andré gaudreault, valcartier imaging section, dnd)

Those attending CANSEC 2017 can also expect to see the military’s new Standard Military Pattern (SMP) truck.

Mack Defense, LLC, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, had been awarded two contracts to provide SMP trucks and related equipment for the Canadian Armed Forces. The vehicles will be mainly used by the Army.

The first delivery of the SMP truck is scheduled for the fall, Department of National Defence spokeswoman Ashley Lemire told Esprit de Corps. The deliveries will be completed by 2019, she added.

Assembly is taking place in a Sainte-Claire, Quebec, plant operated by Prevost, one of the firms partnered with Mack. With the ability to carry 9.5 tonnes, the Standard Military Pattern vehicles are the backbone of the Canadian military’s truck fleet.

More than 1,500 8x8 trucks will be delivered and the firm will also provide an initial five years of in-service support (ISS). Mack Defense will also provide 300 trailers and 150 armour protection systems as part of the purchase.

No CANSEC would be complete without the large exhibit from General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada of London, Ontario.

The firm is currently delivering upgraded LAV IIIs — or LAV 6.0 — for the Canadian Army. (For LAV terminology, the program is LAV UP or Upgrade Program, which converts the vehicle from LAV III to LAV 6.0. So the program is LAV UP, and output / vehicle is LAV 6.0, according to GDLS–Canada.)

A total of 550 LAV IIIs will be upgraded to the LAV 6.0, DND spokeswoman Lemire said. These vehicles come from two separate LAV III base variants. Of the first LAV III variant, General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada has delivered 409 LAV 6.0s to the Canadian Armed Forces, she added.

The second LAV III variant is called the LAV Operational Requirements Integration Task (LORIT). In February 2017 the Canadian government announced an amended contract award to complete the upgrades of those 141 LORIT vehicles in what it is calling the LAV Operational Requirements Integration Task Mobility Upgrade.

Those vehicles will be upgraded to the LAV 6.0 starting in June 2017 with a final delivery anticipated for fall 2019, Lemire said.

 At CANSEC 2016, the Honourable Harjit Sajjan, Minister of National Defence, after presenting at CANSEC, revealed in a scrum with journalists — including Esprit de Corps’ David Pugliese (far right) — the Liberal’s proposal to purchase the Super Hornet fighter jets as the CF-18’s interim replacement. This year, CANSEC attendees will no doubt be discussing what will be contained in the Liberal’s defence review, which had yet to be released at time of press. (cadsi)

General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada was awarded a $404 million order to work on the 141 LAV Operational Requirements Integration Task (LORIT) vehicles.

During the Canadian Forces deployment to Afghanistan, the 141 LORIT vehicles received additional armour, blast-absorbing seats, and other minor upgrades to increase survivability against improvised explosive devices (IEDs). These changes added extra weight to the vehicle’s platform. The additional weight resulted in increased wear and tear, and affected the vehicle’s full mobility potential. The full upgrades announced in February will address these issues.

“This will result in all LAV III upgraded vehicles having the same configuration and performance as outlined in the LAV III Upgrade Project,” said Evan Koronewski, a DND spokesman.

At its CANSEC 2017 booth, GDLS-Canada will be displaying two variants of the LAV Combat Support Vehicle (CSV) — a maintenance and recovery vehicle (similar to a vehicle displayed last year, but on a LAV 6.0 baseline chassis) and an ambulance. “CANSEC will highlight how we are ready to deliver more LAV 6.0 capability with the development of more combat support variants,” Doug Wilson-Hodge, Manager – Corporate Affairs of GDLS-Canada, told Esprit de Corps.

Other CANSEC exhibitors are interested in providing equipment for the Land Vehicle Crew Training System or LVCTS. The Army appears once again to be ready to move ahead on that after a number of delays.

Now Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) has issued a request for price and availability for such a system. Responses are expected early next year and a contract hopefully in place in 2019.

The project is designed to improve individual and collective vehicle crew skills through the use of high, medium and low fidelity simulators. The Land Vehicle Crew Training System will provide simulation for the upgraded Light Armoured Vehicle fleet as well as for the Leopard 2 fleet of main battle tanks, according to the Canadian Army.

The LVCTS will consist of new simulators, connected by a network as well as simulation facilities to allow crews of armoured vehicles to train realistically without their actual vehicles. All of it will be done at their home garrison locations, according to Public Services and Procurement Canada.

“The project will deliver a virtual training system that will provide the CA (Canadian Army) with the capability to enhance various types of armoured vehicle crew training from individual training for drivers and gunners up to collective training for subsection and full combat team,” the department has told industry in its solicitation for price and equipment availability.

Five simulation centres would be built to train drivers, gunners and crew commanders at the following Canadian Forces Bases: Gagetown, Valcartier, Petawawa, Shilo, and Edmonton. Each centre will be designed so it could be expanded.

The simulators would include systems for the LAV 6.0 and Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicles (TAPVs) and various crew stations for the Leopard 2 main battle tank. In addition, it would include capabilities from DND’s Land Command Support System (LCSS): Intercom, Command Net Radio, and Battle Management System, according to information provided to industry.

Through the synthetic environment, the Army’s trainees will be able to access variants of the LAV 6.0, Leopard 2, and TAPV.

The Canadian government wants deliveries of such systems finished by 2024. The Defence Acquisition Guide (DAG) lists the cost at between $250-million and $499-million. A variety of firms can offer solutions for the Army’s training and simulation needs.

For instance, Meggitt has noted it produces a full range of Armoured Fighting Vehicle (AFV) Trainers. Meggitt’s AFV Trainers support both individual collective levels of gunnery and tactical training, allowing soldiers the opportunity to practice scenarios they normally face in combat situations, the firm added. Meggitt also offers all levels of fidelity.

In August 2015, the Canadian government awarded Meggitt Training Systems (Quebec) Inc. a $25-million, three-year contract to provide in-service support to the Canadian Armed Forces for Meggitt’s Small Arms Trainer (SAT) and Indirect Fire Trainer (IFT).

The contract included operator and maintenance support for related training activities, incorporating on-site support for health, usage and equipment monitoring at major bases across Canada, according to the company.

Other CANSEC 2017 exhibitors also received recent contracts for Army equipment. They can also be counted to promote their various systems at the show.

Textron has its new Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle, now being delivered to the Canadian Army. The TAPV replaces the Army’s existing fleet of RG-31 Nyala mine-protected vehicles and the Coyote wheeled light armoured vehicles.

Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicles patrol flooded streets in Saint-Barthélemy, Québec during Operation LENTUS, May 12, 2017. The TAPV, which replaces the RG-31 Nyala, is now being delivered to the Canadian Army. Under the Defence Acquisition Guide (DAG), the Army will also receive simulators for the LAV 6.0, Leopard 2 main battle tank and TAPV. (sgt marc-andré gaudreault, valcartier imaging services)

Deliveries started in August 2016. The Canadian Army has said it expects to declare full operational capability by mid-2020 on the TAPVs, following training of all operators, and completion of user trials and exercises confirming operational readiness.

Of the deal for 500 TAPVs, 307 units will be general utility variants and the remaining 193 vehicles will be reconnaissance variants, according to the Army.

Rheinmetall Canada Inc. of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec is another company exhibiting at CANSEC 2017 with Army programs on the go. In 2015 it was selected by the Canadian government to provide equipment for two programs: the Integrated Soldier System Project (ISSP) and the Medium Range Radar System.

ISSP will provide the high-tech gear which will not only allow troops to track each other as they move throughout the battlefield, but feed communications and targeting information into their helmets or the data devices they carry. Once the Canadian military declares the Rheinmetall system fully acceptable, it may exercise options under the deal to buy up to 4,144 of the systems.

The Medium Range Radar System will provide the Canadian military with 10 radar systems that can be transported into an operation by truck, the government has pointed out. This equipment will give Canadian soldiers the ability to detect the point of origin of indirect weapons fire, such as mortars, artillery or rockets. The radars will also allow soldiers to track multiple airplanes, helicopters or other airborne threats in and around where troops are operating.

The first contract is to procure 10 Medium Range Radar Systems; a second contract is for related in-service support.

An Army project to acquire bridging capabilities could also attract interest from CANSEC exhibitors, including Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall.

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann has also been promoting the Leguan, its bridge laying system. The firm points out the armoured system can handle bridge laying in five minutes under combat conditions with a crew of two. It can lay one 26-metre or two 14-metre bridges, depending on the length of the obstacle to overcome.

The Army’s bridging capabilities project will deliver a suite of light, medium and heavy bridging capabilities to replace in-service systems. Potential deliverables are: infantry foot bridges, light support bridges, medium support bridges, heavy support bridges, heavy assault bridges, line of communication bridges, floating bridges and rafts.

The program could cost up to $249-million, according to the Department of National Defence. Options analysis is to begin next year, with a request for proposals and contract award set for 2023.

AVIATION PROJECTS ON REVIEW

Presenting CF188734, the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 2017 season
CF-188 Demonstration Jet in celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary of confederation. The Hornet was flown over northern Alberta by Captain Matthew “Glib” Kutryk, the 2017 Demonstration Jet pilot from 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron, Bagotville, Quebecon April 6, 2017 over 4 Wing, Cold Lake, Alberta. (Cpl Manuela Berger, 4 Wing Imaging)

(Volume 24-04)

David Pugliese reviews some of the projects that will be vying for the Royal Canadian Air Force’s attention at CANSEC 2017. Among this year’s hot topics of discussion are the controversial issue of replacing the fleet of CF-18s, the recent FWSAR contract announcement, communications satellites, trainers and radar systems.

If there is one topic that is destined to dominate the area of Royal Canadian Air Force requirements at CANSEC 2017 it would have to be the controversial issue of the replacement of the CF-18 fighter jets.

Just months before the start of CANSEC 2017, the Liberal government announced its timetable on both the purchase of interim Super Hornet fighter jets from Boeing and the permanent replacement for the CF-18 fleet.

 Two CF-188 Hornet aircraft from 433 Tactical Fighter Squadron conduct air-to-air refueling during Exercise TIPIC SAUVAGE in Florida on February 7, 2017. (cpl jean-roch chabot, 3 wing bagotville, dnd)

The Liberal government plans to request bids for a new fleet of fighter jets as early as 2019, which would coincide with the next federal election.

Public Services and Procurement Canada also noted the Canadian government expects a deal in place by the end of 2017 or early 2018 to acquire the 18 Boeing Super Hornets as an interim stopgap measure.

Expect to see both programs front and centre at CANSEC 2017, which will be held on May 31 and June 1 at its usual location at the EY Centre, near Ottawa’s international airport.

The Liberals have reversed their position, somewhat, on the F-35 fighter jet. They now say they will hold an open competition for the permanent fleet of fighter jets and that Lockheed Martin is welcome to bid the F-35.

Lockheed Martin Canada has highlighted the F-35 at previous CANSECs and this year’s event is expected to be no different. The aircraft’s supporters point out that things have been looking up lately for the stealth fighter; the cost of the plane has been dropping and the aircraft has been deployed, such as during a recent exercise by the U.S. Marines in South Korea. In addition, the U.S. is now considering sales of the aircraft to Taiwan.

Boeing has also conducted a marketing push on its Super Hornets, which it is also expected to offer for the Royal Canadian Air Force’s permanent fighter jet fleet.

Boeing has successfully brushed aside criticism from 13 retired RCAF generals who raised concerns about the interim Super Hornet deal. The officers, some with connections to Boeing’s rivals, want the Liberal government to scuttle the Super Hornet purchase. But that won’t be happening as the procurement continues to proceed on schedule.

It addition to its fighter jet, Boeing also has the success of the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellite system to promote at CANSEC. One of these U.S. military satellites, partially funded by Canada, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on March 18. Representatives from the RCAF and Department of National Defence were on hand at Cape Canaveral to watch the launch of the ninth WGS satellite.

Canada contributed $340-million to the development of the satellite, the largest financial contribution of the five project partner nations, according to the DND. The spacecraft will aid in meeting Canadian military strategic satellite communications requirements, according to the DND.

Rico Attanasio, executive director, Boeing Department of Defense/Civil Satellite Programs, called the system a “unique international collaboration (which) increases military interoperability and expands affordable high-data-rate communications for U.S. and allied partners around the globe.”

WGS-9 launched on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket. Boeing is on contract for 10 WGS satellites, the last of which is tentatively scheduled for launch in 2018.

The Fixed-Wing Search and Rescue (FWSAR) Project will also be another highlight at CANSEC. The Liberal government announced December 8, 2016 that it had selected the Airbus C295W aircraft as its new FWSAR plane. Between 2019 and 2022 all 16 C295Ws will be delivered as replacements for the RCAF’s current SAR fleet, which consists of six CC-115 Buffalos and 13 CC-130H Hercules.

The contract worth $2.4-billion (with a potential increase of $2.3-billion should the government option further support contracts) also includes in-service support (ISS) for the life of the program, which will be provided by AirPro, a joint venture between Airbus Defence and Space and PAL Aerospace of St. John’s, Newfoundland.

The C295W features substantial Canadian content, Airbus has pointed out. Every C295 is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127G turboprop engines driving a pair of Hamilton Standard 586-F six-bladed propellers. Pilots and technicians will be trained at a new facility developed by CAE in Comox, B.C. L3 WESCAM of Burlington, Ontario, will provide the electro-optical systems for the aircraft.

The federal government noted that additional industry partners will contribute to maintain the FWSAR capability and include Heroux-Devtek to repair landing gear; Hope Aero to repair propellers; Sonovision for technical publications; CLS Lexi-Tech for translation of publications; and Precision Aero to repair component parts on the aircraft.

But the program also brings intrigue to CANSEC 2017 as Airbus rival, Leonardo, has gone to federal court in an attempt to overturn the contract decision. Leonardo’s Team Spartan is alleging that the selected airplane is “unfit to safely perform certain key search and rescue tasks and missions required by Canada and should have been, therefore, disqualified.”

Airbus denies that and states that its C295W aircraft meets all the Canadian requirements.

Other companies are also going into CANSEC 2017 with new federal contracts.

Magellan Aerospace announced February 3 that it had received a contract award from Public Services and Procurement Canada for engine repair and overhaul and fleet management services on the F404 engine, which powers Canada’s current fleet of CF-18 Hornet aircraft. The contract commenced in January 2017 and work will be carried out until the terms expire at the end of March 2021.

A preliminary funding amount of $45-million has been approved to launch the multi-year agreement, the firm noted. The contract includes options to extend the duration of the agreement beyond 2021, based on performance.

Magellan will service the F404 engines at its facility in Mississauga, Ontario and at Royal Canadian Air Force bases located in Bagotville, Quebec and Cold Lake, Alberta.

Under the terms of the contract, Magellan will provide repair and overhaul (R&O) services, engineering and field support services, technical and publication management services, and supply chain management services for the F404-GE-400 engines and CF-18A/B secondary power systems, the company pointed out in a news release.

“Magellan Aerospace is an approved source for F404 and J85 engine repair and has been the RCAF’s choice for F404 engine R&O service for 35 years,” Phil Underwood, president and CEO of Magellan Aerospace, said in a statement. “We are pleased to continue this relationship with Canada’s air force, which demonstrates confidence in Magellan’s world-class technical experience and value in terms of competitive pricing.”

Another aviation contract that will soon be announced is for the $1.5-billion Contracted Airborne Training Services (CATS) Project. The winning bidder was supposed to be selected in December 2016, but that has been delayed somewhat. Will the winner be announced at CANSEC 2017? If that were the case, it would be a good public relations move for the Liberal government, and some much-needed good news in the area of defence procurement.

Discovery Air Defence from Montreal has been providing such services for the Canadian military since 2005. It has also expanded in operations internationally and was recently hired to provide similar services to Germany.

Discovery is up against CAE, which has allied itself with Draken, a U.S. firm. Both firms promoted their CATS solutions at last year’s CANSEC and are expected to do the same this year.

In the period leading up to the CATS selection, Discovery Air Defence has made a number of announcements of wins in the training world or new teaming arrangements for international competitions. It has joined forces with Inzpire Ltd. to bid for the UK Ministry of Defence’s Air Support to Defence Operational Training (ASDOT) Program. The two companies will combine their capabilities in the live air training environment to deliver what they hope is a winning solution.

“The combined strengths of our two companies are uniquely suited to meet the ASDOT requirements and to serve the British Armed Forces’ evolving live-fly, tactical training needs well into the mid-2030s,” Paul Bouchard, president of Discovery Air Defence, said in a recent statement.

On November 22, 2016 Chief of the Defence Staff General Jonathan Vance, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Judy Foote, and Minister of Innovation and Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains held a press conference in Ottawa to announce the plan to replace the fighter jet fleet. Despite investing in ongoing modernization that will keep the CF-188s “viable into the middle of the next decade,” according to the RCAF website, the Liberal government has stated that a stop-gap purchase of additional fighter jets is required. (cpl mark schombs, combat camera)

Inzpire already provides an independent exercise management team to the RAF’s Air Battlespace Training Centre, as well as supplying expertise within the RAF’s Air Warfare Centre through the management of large-scale live training exercises. Inzpire’s qualified helicopter flying instructors instruct the British Army Apache attack helicopter and Wildcat helicopter conversion-to-type and conversion-to-role courses, according to the company.

In March, Discovery Air Defence also announced it had been awarded a two-year trial contract by the Royal Australian Air Force to provide Red Air and fighter support to the Australian Defence Force. The “Jet Air Support – Fast Jet Trial” consists of three highly advanced Alpha Jets based at RAAF Base Williamtown, the firm noted. These upgraded jets feature dual touch screens, new radios and GPS receivers for enhanced precision and safety. Air Affairs Australia will be working closely with Discovery Air Defence for the Fast Jet Trial.

Discovery Air Defence will provide Red Air and fighter support to the RAAF as well as Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) training to the Australian Army, and anti-surface training for the Royal Australian Navy. The trial will begin in the third quarter of this year.

In the area of NATO Flight Training in Canada (NFTC), Field Aviation has been awarded a contract by CAE to upgrade the Harvard trainer aircraft used in the program. Twenty-two CF-156 Harvards will be upgraded. A Traffic Advisory System (TAS) and an Automatic Dependent Surveillance — Broadcast (ADS–B) transponder system will be installed on the planes.

TAS improves pilot situational awareness of other nearby aircraft by providing traffic detection and alerting appropriate for military flight training operations, according to Field Aviation. A Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) GPS receiver will also be installed with the ADS–B transponder system, allowing the aircraft to accurately determine and broadcast its position information to air traffic control.

Various other firms will also highlight at CANSEC 2017 their solutions for other future RCAF or international programs.

L3 Mission Integration recently unveiled its reconfigurable multi-mission aircraft (MMA). Built on Bombardier’s Q400 platform, the MMA has the speed, power, range and endurance for various missions, according to the company. L3 Mission Integration worked closely with Cascade to come up with the solution to a maritime MMA with a low operating cost.

Work began in early 2013 to convert a standard commercial Bombardier Q400 to a multi-mission aircraft. The conversion consisted of an auxiliary fuel tank system for extended range, interior reconfiguration to provide the foundation of the integration of mission systems and equipment, and a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) increase for the aircraft, the firms noted.

In addition, the modifications are compliant with International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) regulations, giving the companies more flexibility in the international marketplace. All prototype integration work has been completed at Cascade’s facilities in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

The RCAF will also be on the hunt for a new Tactical Control Radar System. The federal government recently issued a letter of interest for the purchase of three transportable 3D Long-Range Air Defence Tactical Control Radar systems. The deal will also include infrastructure design, spare parts, training, and in-service support. The closing date on the letter of interest was April 25 and a request for proposals is expected in late August. Equipment demonstration would take place in mid-March 2018 and a contact awarded in October 2018.

LEADING CULTURE CHANGE FOR THE CAF

An Interview with Rear-Admiral Jennifer Bennett, Director General of the Canadian Armed Forces Strategic Response Team on Sexual Misconduct

(Volume 24-3)

By David Pugliese

Rear-Admiral Jennifer Bennett enrolled in the Naval Reserve in 1975 and, following a stellar career, she was appointed as the first female Chief for Reserves and Cadets in 2011. In response to former Supreme Court Justice Marie Deschamps’s 2015 external review into sexual misconduct and sexual harassment in the Canadian Armed Forces, a strategic response team was stood up and RAdm Bennett assumed responsibility for this from LGen Christine Whitecross is September 2015.

In August 2015, the Canadian Armed Forces’ response to sexual misconduct expanded to a more comprehensive institution-wide effort under Operation HONOUR, the CAF mission to eliminate harmful and inappropriate sexual behaviour.

RAdm Bennett met with Esprit de Corps at her Ottawa office on March 13 to discuss the CAF Strategic Response Team on Sexual Misconduct (CSRT-SM), its success, challenges, and where it’s headed next. (This interview has been edited for clarity and length.)

Esprit de Corps:  How has the CSRT-SM evolved?

RAdm Jennifer Bennett:  The CSRT-SM was stood up in February 2015, under the leadership of LGen Christine Whitecross (then Major-General), in response to the external review conducted by retired Chief Justice Madame Marie Deschamps. Their mandate was to review the Deschamps Report and develop an action plan to implement the 10 recommendations. That was the case until July of 2015, when General Jonathan Vance took over as Chief of the Defence Staff.

Vance changed the mandate and made this a much broader, all-encompassing response to not simply address what was in the Deschamps report and her recommendations, but also the elimination of harmful and inappropriate sexual behaviour institution-wide. It now involves other agencies and CAF organizations and leaders across the entire institution. So, instead of being a small team with a narrow focus, this is a much, much broader CAF-wide response.

Esprit de Corps interviews Rear-Admiral Jennifer Bennett on the progress made to date in the Canadian Armed Forces Strategic Response Team on Sexual Misconduct (CSRT-SM), and what is planned for the future. (esprit de corps)

Even the composition of the team and our mandate has evolved quite a lot. We are now responsible for implementing and leading Operation HONOUR on behalf of the Chief of the Defence Staff as well as the External Review Authority (ERA) recommendations and links to other numerous related initiatives across the institution. We have a much different role in facilitating and being a catalyst for larger cultural change than just dealing with the Deschamps Report.

Esprit de Corps:  Is this an interim solution, or do you see the CSRT-SM becoming a permanent fixture of the CAF?

RAdm Jennifer Bennett:  Originally the strategic response team had a three year mandate to accept the Deschamps Report and implement those recommendations. However, we now know that this requires major culture change that won’t occur within a three-year period. It requires broad, sweeping institutional change. You can’t simply focus on just one type of behaviour or one type of harassment. While we are addressing harmful and inappropriate sexual behaviour and sexual misconduct, you can’t just fix sexual harassment without having an impact on the larger workplace culture.

It will be a longer mandate and one of my responsibilities is to look at what this should become, where it should reside within the institution, and whether this needs to be more all-encompassing about social programs and other aspects of workplace culture. And again, this isn’t necessarily a personnel issue. Should we be a separate institution, agency, or organization? Should we have a direct reporting relationship to the CDS? That’s what we’ll be developing now.

Esprit de Corps:  Can you give me an example of some of the changes or programs you’ve implemented or reviewed so far?

RAdm Jennifer Bennett:  We’ve done a great deal of work and have communicated this in two progress reports to date and we’re about to release our third report that will focus primarily on the substantial work we have done on training and education as well as our response to the Statistics Canada (StatCan) survey results.

We initially concentrated on awareness and understanding of harmful and inappropriate sexual behaviour including the scope and spectrum of sexual misconduct and the impact on members and operational effectiveness. We immediately stood up the Sexual Misconduct Response Centre and provided victim support that we’d never had in the past. We implemented new investigation procedures and training for our military police and changes were made by the Director of Military Prosecutions for cases for sexually based offences. We’ve done Bystander Intervention Training and we’re introducing a new workplace program called “Respect in the CAF.”

We also completed a survey with StatCan between April and June of 2016, so that we could better understand the prevalence and nature of sexual misconduct and have a baseline from which to measure our performance and progress. We’ve changed policies and introduced new programs. There are other related DND/CAF initiatives including a new agency on Bases and Wings that is integrating complaints and conflict resolution including sexual harassment. We had to first lay the groundwork and engage the institution and our members to increase understanding and awareness and then initiate our response with victim support being paramount to that.

Esprit de Corps:  Were you shocked at the Statistics Canada survey results?

RAdm Jennifer Bennett:  We worked with StatCan to design the survey and create the questions. We didn’t ask questions about how many happy days people had at work. We really wanted to know, so we asked tough questions.

I was really disappointed that we still have the extent of the problem that we do. I joined in the 1970s so I am one of the women who was a trailblazer and went through integration. I had a different experience, mind you, in the Reserve Force. The Navy is quite different than the Air Force or Army. Each of us have different environmental perspectives. It was really revealing to us that the greatest prevalence was still people doing dumb things: the inappropriate jokes, the inappropriate touching without consent. We’ve been trying to tackle that for years.

But there were some positives in it as well. Even in the short time that we’ve been implementing Operation Honour and working on things like victim support and trying to regain the trust and confidence, we are making a difference. The number of folks who said they would trust their chain of command to take action if they made a report increased quite dramatically over what we’ve heard in the past.

 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Rear-Admiral Jennifer Bennett attended a breakfast meeting with senior women of the Department of National Defence, CAF and RCMP in December 2016. In January 2013, Bennett was appointed as the National Champion for Women in Defence. In this role, she provides a voice for the female workforce and promotes diversity and equality throughout DND and the CAF. (photo courtesy radm jennifer bennett)

More than anything, it provided us with a great baseline. I think the next survey that we’ll do in 2018 will be more revealing because it will show us what we’ve done, and the impact we’ve had. It will be disappointing and shocking if we haven’t made a difference. From my perspective, being a woman who’s been in the Forces as long as I have, I was just truly, really disappointed we still had some of the same issues that we have been trying to tackle and address.

Esprit de Corps:  Do you have a mix of men and women on your team?

RAdm Jennifer Bennett:  I do, but it was more important to have a mixture of background and areas of expertise. I have a core team of 22 plus special advisors. As I say, it’s a core team. We also have an enabling team that represents all the agencies and the organizations that we work with. There’s an additional 30 people there.

While I have a small team of three people working on training and education, they’re connected to a much larger network of training authorities and agencies. What expertise we don’t have in our team, we access, both external to the Canadian Forces and internally as well. Because we aren’t experts in the Canadian Armed Forces, we are consulting with civilian experts and people who are doing this in other agencies and other organizations. We are also working very closely with the Sexual Misconduct Response Centre.

Esprit de Corps:  Will this team change or expand in the future?

RAdm Jennifer Bennett:  It will. It has changed completely from the original group, which was brought in with that very specific and narrow mandate to respond to the Deschamps report. The team will change and morph as we now look into a more stable organization and as the needs change. I may not need the same expertise long term. We are working very closely with the Sexual Misconduct Response Centre and we will both continue to change and evolve.

We’ve tapped into a lot of resources and expertise beyond what we had on our original team. We needed to define the requirements and develop the plan then build the team accordingly.

Esprit de Corps:  Are there challenges you’ve overcome or are still working on?

RAdm Jennifer Bennett:  Culture change: it doesn’t happen quickly. And the second challenge is measuring outcomes. It’s easy to demonstrate intent and to demonstrate action, but it’s the “so what?” factor we need to address. Everybody wants you to measure that. It’s a challenge in this because if the number of reports increases that’s a good thing because you’ve facilitated reporting, but people could say, now you’ve got more people who have come forward, so the perception is of a bigger problem.

For us, what we see as a success is that we have increased the confidence and trust in the system and people are now coming forward to make reports. We have a lot of victims with historic cases who did not come forward, and for the first time [they] feel that they will be heard. These are both former and serving Canadian Armed Forces members. We see that as a real positive step.

The other is that we have some very positive messages and findings in the way we’ve established the Sexual Misconduct Response Centre, with a single military police liaison officer, so that victims only have to tell their story once. That’s made a huge difference. Establishing a rapport with a counselor or one military police officer has meant that, sometimes, it will take 17 phone calls or emails, but that person will eventually come forward, and we’ve found that’s a success.

There is a continued need for communication and engagement and we’re working on new ways to do that. Our greatest challenge remains how to measure success? It’s not something you can do a customer satisfaction survey for very easily. But the StatCan survey that we will conduct in a couple of years will do that.

NAVAL PROJECTS ON REVIEW

(Volume 24-03)

By David Pugliese

Maritime systems and naval equipment will be front and centre at CANSEC 2017 as the Canadian government’s massive military shipbuilding program continues to dominate defence procurement.

CANSEC 2017 will be held this year on May 31 and June 1 at its usual location at the EY Centre, near Ottawa’s international airport.

Some of the top maritime equipment providers and shipbuilders — from Saab to DCNS to Atlas Elektronik — will be highlighted at the trade exhibit.

Fuelling much of the interest will be the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) program.

The project to purchase new future warships for the Royal Canadian Navy is in a critical year. Requests for proposals will be submitted this year from a series of pre-approved firms. The 12 pre-approved bidders are:

• Alion-JJMA Corp.
• Atlas Elektronik GmbH
• BAE Systems Surface Ships Limited
• DCNS SA
• Fincantieri S.p.A. Naval Vessels Business Unit
• Lockheed Martin Canada
• Navantia SA
• Odense Maritime Technology
• Saab Australia Pty Ltd.
• Selex ES S.p.A.
• Thales Nederland B.V.
• ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems GmbH

The submission of bids for the Canadian Surface Combatant project will be delayed somewhat, coming shortly after CANSEC 2017 wraps up. Companies were to submit their bids on the CSC by April 27 but a third of the firms approved by the Liberal government to submit proposals had requested extensions. Bids are now due June 22, according to Public Services and Procurement Canada.

MP Darrell Sampson, Parliamentary Secretary for National Defense John MacKay, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Judy Foote, Halifax Mayor Mike Savage are given a tour of the Halifax Shipyard by Kevin McCoy, president Irving Shipbuilding. A number of companies have warned the Canadian government that the CSC project is poorly structured. (irving shipbuilding)

The reason for the extension is to allow companies the time to go over the technical requirements and line up Canadian firms as partners for the CSC project, which is expected to cost more than $26-billion.

A winner is expected to be announced sometime in the fall of this year. Construction of the vessels is expected to start in the early 2020s.

A number of companies have warned the Canadian government about the structure of the project. Fincantieri, the Italian shipbuilder, had told procurement Minister Judy Foote last fall that the project was so poorly structured it had doubts whether it could bid unless significant changes were made. Lucas Maglieri, a consultant for Fincantieri, however has pointed that the company “remains interested in doing business in Canada and in the CSC project — we continue to assess our options for the Canadian marketplace.”

What could emerge at CANSEC 2017 are details about which companies will not proceed with a bid on CSC as well as various announcements on the long-awaited teaming arrangements with Canadian firms. The trade exhibit would be one way to gain publicity for those teams.

Federal Fleet Services will have a number of programs to highlight at CANSEC 2017.

Its Project Resolve, the program to provide an interim refuelling and supply vessel for the Royal Canadian Navy, is on track and on schedule.

The ALMACO Group was recently awarded the contact for the delivery of the superstructure/accommodation unit for Project Resolve. The vessel’s accommodation will soon be delivered by ALMACO as a single structure to be integrated at the Davie shipyard.

ALMACO’s scope of work includes the full EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contract for the accommodation including cabins, public areas, galley, provision stores, wheelhouse and technical spaces, the firms noted. Combining cruise-ship standard accommodation with military requirements will ensure a safe yet highly comfortable experience for the crew, according to the companies.

“We are proud to be part of this project where ALMACO and Davie will combine Finnish accommodation production expertise with Canadian shipbuilding capabilities to the great benefit of the vessel’s end users and to meet the timeline for the delivery of the superstructure,” Vilhelm Roberts, ALMACO Group’s President and CEO, stated.

Jared Newcombe, CEO of Chantier Davie, also pointed out that ALMACO has consistently delivered on Project Resolve.

The companies plan to highlight ALMACO’s concept of fabricating accommodation solutions for the international market, an advantage for future projects carried out at Davie’s shipyard premises, which will strengthen the cooperation between the companies even further.

“ALMACO will establish a more permanent presence in Canada by supporting projects at Davie, with the aim of fabricating modular cabins in Québec,” Mikael Liljeström, President of ALMACO’s offshore division, pointed out.

For its part, rival shipyard Seaspan comes to CANSEC 2017 armed with a new contract for the Queenston-class Joint Support Ship (JSS) project. In February the Liberal government announced it had awarded the JSS Design & Production Engineering (D&PE) contract to Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd. The latest contract is worth about $230-million.

Seaspan was selected to build the JSS for the Royal Canadian Navy. The entire project has an estimated budget of $2.3-billion. Under the non-combat vessel component of the National Shipbuilding Strategy, the RCN will receive two Joint Support Ships with the option for a third. The first JSS is scheduled for delivery in 2021; the second ship is expected to be delivered in 2022.

Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards is completing the initial design review of the off-the-shelf ship design from ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems Canada. In December 2015, Vancouver Shipyards was awarded the long lead items contract to engage suppliers and select the equipment, including the propulsion systems and generators, needed to finalize the design and to build the JSS.

  Although the captain still overseas the bridge, ships in the 21st century rely more and more on complex integrated computer networks and automated systems. L3 Technologies is known around the world for its system integration.

It will remain to be seen if French defence giant Thales uses CANSEC 2017 to finally acknowledge it was selected by the Canadian government to provide the long-term in-service support (ISS) for the Joint Support Ships and the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS). Neither the Canadian government nor Thales has yet acknowledged that Thales was selected for the contract worth around $5-billion.

But Public Services and Procurement Canada spokesman Nicolas Boucher confirmed to Esprit de Corps that the negotiations over the in-service support deal are finished and that the actual contract is expected to be awarded in the fall of 2017.

The awarding of the contract to Thales is controversial. CANSEC 2017 exhibitor Irving Shipbuilding, which is building the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships, has publicly questioned the deal, suggesting it doesn’t make sense to award Thales the lucrative contract.

The Department of National Defence’s various unions have also vowed to fight the contract to Thales.

The unions, representing 24,000 civilian employees at DND, including those involved in the purchase of military equipment, ship maintenance as well as other work in the federal government dockyards serving the Royal Canadian Navy, are lobbying to have the Liberal government change course and keep the work among federal employees.

Irving Shipbuilding and Lockheed Martin will have a few projects to promote at CANSEC 2017, in particular the successful completion of the Halifax-class Modernization/Frigate Life Extension project. HMCS Toronto, based on the East Coast, has completed the refit portion of its modernization by Irving. This means all 12 frigates, five on the West Coast and seven on the East Coast, have completed the refit portion of their modernization, according to the Royal Canadian Navy. The Halifax-Class Modernization/Frigate Life Extension project included a new combat management system purchased from Lockheed Martin Canada, as well as new radar capability, a new electronic warfare system, and upgraded communications technologies and missiles.

Irving should be able to use CANSEC 2017 to improve its public relations situation on the shipbuilding program. The company faced negative publicity in February and March when the Chronicle Herald newspaper in Halifax broke a number of stories about Irving Shipbuilding hiring outside of Canada for various jobs related to the construction of the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships. Irving was trying to recruit workers from Poland and a subcontract was put in place with the Spanish firm Gabadi LC, which involves Spanish carpenters being brought in to work on the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships in Halifax.

Irving pointed out that Canada has not had a new-build naval program in place for almost 25 years so some specific shipbuilding expertise does not exist in the country. The firm also says it has tried to recruit Canadians for certain positions but has not found the skilled personnel it needed.

Union officials, however, say they find it difficult to believe that no one in Canada could fill any of these positions.

Irving is also hoping to convince the Liberal government to provide it with additional shipbuilding work that would deal with the expected gap between the time when the building of AOPS ends and the construction of the CSC begins. Irving says without the extra work it is looking at significant staff layoffs during that gap period.

Last year, Irving pitched the idea at CANSEC of a $300-million support ship for humanitarian missions. But the controversy swirling around the use of foreign labour at its Halifax yards could conceivably harm those chances for additional government shipbuilding contacts to deal with the gap period.

Firms providing equipment for warships will also be able to use CANSEC 2017 to highlight their systems.

The Canadian Surface Combatant has the RCN looking for a new drone. It requires a tactical unmanned aircraft system (UAS) that can provide what it is calling a cost-effective and sustainable shipborne, persistent, near real-time, over the horizon intelligence-gathering capability. The RCN is expecting initial approval for the project in 2018 and a request for proposals to be issued in 2019. Contract award is set for 2020. The cost estimate for the project is between $100-million and $240-million.

Industry was recently provided with more details by the federal government on the naval drone program. It’s currently seeking a minimum flight time of six hours, minimum range should be just less than 100 kilometres, and the system can be either vertical takeoff or rotary wing. The RCN does not want a launch or recovery system.

 The Mk 46 torpedo, first introduced in 1965, is a surface ship and aircraft-launched anti-submarine weapon. It is presently identified as the NATO standard and has been acquired by more than 25 countries, including Canada. Various modifications, including improved acoustics, guidance and control upgrades, and countermeasure-detection capability have been introduced into the weapon. (seaforces.org)

The RCN is also looking for an upgrade for the Canadian MK 46 Mod 5A (shallow water) lightweight torpedo. It wants to improve fleet survivability against evolving near and medium-term underwater threats. Project cost is estimated to be between $250-million and $499-million. The issuing of a request for proposals is scheduled for 2020 with a contract award the same year.

The RCN’s Torpedo Countermeasure Hard Kill project is also another program that is attracting interest from exhibitors at CANSEC 2017. It is estimated that the project could cost up to $249-million.

The Torpedo Countermeasure Hard Kill project is to acquire a system to provide Royal Canadian Navy frigates, support ships and submarines with an effective defensive capability against the full range of modern and emerging threat torpedoes.

How will it do that? By adding a hard kill anti-torpedo weapon to compliment shipboard soft-kill torpedo countermeasure systems, the RCN pointed out.

The system will be fielded until the end of life of the Halifax-class frigates, Victoria-class submarines, the Queenston-class Joint Support Ships, and may be also used on the Canadian Surface Combatants. A request for proposals is expected to be issued in 2021, with a contract awarded the following year.

Atlas Elektronik Canada of Victoria, BC is using CANSEC 2017 to highlight its SeaSpider, among other equipment.

The company points out that SeaSpider, which can operate in both deep and shallow water, is the world’s first dedicated anti-torpedo-torpedo (ATT) and is capable of being used to counter threats against submarines or ships. Atlas Elektronik also points out that the weapon system is deliberately designed to be affordable for navies in procurement and operation. To achieve a low unit cost, a solid propellant rocket motor was chosen as SeaSpider’s propulsion element, which provides affordable compact high-energy performance, notes the company.

The operational concept for SeaSpider also allows for a “torpedo alarm” configuration with a very low false alarm rate that, in turn, reduces expenditure, the company noted. The maintenance-free SeaSpider canistered round reduces maintenance effort and simplifies handling.

Who Supported The Canadian Armed Forces More: Stephen Harper VS Pierre Trudeau

(Volume 20-11)

By Robert Smol

IF THERE IS ONE PERCEPTION of Canada’s military that both the left and right can agree on, it would be that our military is bigger, better equipped and more operationally active under Harper. Whether it’s to dote on or denigrate our current prime minister, we all seem to accept Harper’s exuberant public affairs love-in with everything military as proof that our military has indeed grown stronger under our current Conservative government.

RECENT LIBERAL LEADERS, on the other hand, are widely perceived as lacklustre at best when it comes to supporting our men and women in uniform. And nowhere does that “enemy of the military” legacy strike stronger than in our collective memory than with Pierre Trudeau.

Released in May 2008, the Canada First Defence Strategy is the Harper government’s comprehensive plan to ensure the Canadian Armed Forces will have the people, equipment, and support they need to meet the nation’s long-term domestic and international security challenges. (jason ransom, government of canada)

If you served, as I did, while Trudeau was in power you just accepted that Trudeau was the “enemy of the military.” Was it not Trudeau who was responsible for starving the Canadian military of funds and equipment and reducing the size of our Armed Forces to unaccepted levels? Was it not Trudeau who maintained unacceptably low levels of troops deployed overseas? Was it not Trudeau who did not procure sufficient material to support out troops?

But dare we dispense with perception and, instead, look at historical facts, a very different perception of the military under Trudeau emerges. In spite of the occasional military cuts he was so derisively credited with, Trudeau actually exceeded Harper’s current record in terms of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) defence spending, military size, procurement, deployments overseas, casualty rate, and nuclear defence.

Let’s begin with who was actually ready to take a bullet for Canada.

RELUCTANTLY STANDING ON GUARD FOR CANADA?

Steven Harper, in spite of his incessant rhetoric in support of the military, never served a day in uniform. Pierre Trudeau, as a young healthy man in the 1940s, was conscripted into the Canadian Army Reserve under the National Resources Mobilization Act. Though Trudeau’s brief, rudimentary and part-time service was as far from heroic as one might have imagined, it was military service nonetheless and would have made Trudeau a military veteran today. Harper never has — and never will — earn this right.

ARE WE REALLY COMMITTING MORE OF OUR FINANCIAL RESOURCES TO THE MILITARY?

Liberal dynasty in the making: Pierre Elliott Trudeau, John Turner, Jean Chrétien and Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson together following Cabinet changes in April 1967. Each of these men would leave their mark in Canadian history. (duncan cameron, library and archives canada, pa-117107) 

In the 1970s and 1980s, we were consistently told that our military was being financially starved by Trudeau’s government. Back then, the point of reference for Trudeau’s critics always seemed to be his government’s GDP spending on defence, which seldom exceeded 2 per cent. Granted, during Trudeau’s first two terms in office GDP spending on defence declined from 2.5 per cent in 1968 to what we thought was an “all-time low” of 1.6 per cent in 1979, rising again in the 1980s to just under 2 per cent in 1984.

But, looking objectively at the data, if the Trudeau government of the 1970s and 1980s was “uncommitted” to providing financial support to the Canadian Armed Forces, then Prime Minister Harper is a true financial deadbeat. Since Harper took office in 2006, GDP spending on defence has never exceeded 1.4 per cent, which is actually lower than even the alleged “all-time low” under Trudeau. Based on data provided by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, GDP spending on Canada’s military in 2012 stood at around 1.14 per cent of the country’s GDP.

WHO HAD THE BIGGER MILITARY WITH A BIGGER FOOTPRINT IN THE WORLD ?

Today, the size of our combined regular force stands at 68,250 members. But, like the bone-thin anorexic who thinks they are still fat, the common perception today is that we have a “big military.” Perhaps some might argue that having a military less than half the population of Kingston, Ontario, is more than enough to defend the second-largest country in the world. So be it. But how does the size of today’s regular military, which under Harper varied from 62,703 (in 2006) to 68,703 (in 2011) compare to that under Trudeau?

A group of children gather in front of Montreal’s Quebec Provincial Police headquarters to see armed soldiers and an Iroquois helicopter policing the area against terrorists during the 1970 October Crisis after the War Measures Act was instated. The suspension of civil liberties in Quebec was politically controversial. When the crisis was over, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pledged to refine and limit the application of the Act in internal crises, but by the time of the defeat of the final Trudeau government in 1984, the Act had not been modified. Not until 1988 was the War Measures Act repealed and replaced by the Emergencies Act, which created more limited and specific powers for the government to deal with security emergencies. (lac/pa-129838) 

When Trudeau came to power in 1968 the Canadian Forces stood at 101,600, declining to what was then perceived as a “pathetically low” 77,000 in 1976. But what Conservatives and the military community then considered a savage suppression of Canada’s military strength, was actually 8,297 more men and women in uniform than the “peak” size of the Canadian Forces under Harper’s Conservatives. Furthermore, as with defence spending, the size of Canada’s military gradually grew during Trudeau’s last term in the early 1980s to just under 83,000 or 14,750 more than our Canadian Armed Forces of today.

Perhaps now it should not come as a surprise that, under Trudeau, the Canadian Armed Forces had a much more sub­stantial military presence in the world — both within NATO and on peacekeeping missions.

In terms of our commitment to NATO, the worst our numeric presence ever got under Trudeau was in 1972, when we had 2,800 troops committed to NATO postings overseas (not including air force personnel deployed to Europe). Of course, when the period of détente died and the Cold War got hotter, that number increased and, by the time Trudeau left office, we had 6,700 military personnel committed to NATO.

Compare this to Harper, whose efforts to bolster NATO with Canadian Armed Forces personnel peaked in 2011 when 3,214 personnel were deployed overseas. In 2012, our commitment to NATO reached a low of 886 troops — or 1,914 troops less than the alleged darkest days under Trudeau.

Also, consider the fact that while Trudeau frequently had more combat troops and air squadrons committed to NATO, he also had far more Canadian soldiers deployed on peacekeeping missions, primarily in the Middle East. Under Harper we have never seen more than 274 troops deployed in any one year on peacekeeping missions. Trudeau’s commitment to peacekeeping varied from 467 in 1972 to a high of 1,963 peacekeeping troops deployed overseas in 1979.

TRUDEAU’S ARMY: A VERY DEADLY PLACE TO SERVE

If there is one area of defence where Harper has received unfair negative publicity, it is in the area of military casualties. During the war in Afghanistan, both the media and the public became sensitized to the fact that Canadian military personnel were getting killed, leaving the impression that military fatalities were somehow a new reality for today’s military.

But as those of us who served in the Canadian Armed Forces in the 1970s and 1980s know full well, the military under Trudeau was anything but a casualty-free zone.

It may come as a total surprise to many, but while the alleged peace-loving Trudeau was in power a total of 328 Canadian military personnel were killed in the line of duty. That is 135 more than the total number of casualties under Harper’s Conservatives.

Back then our troops were getting killed in Cyprus, Egypt, Syria, Africa, Europe and while training here in Canada. Indeed, it was on August 9, 1974, under Pierre Trudeau’s watch, that the Canadian Forces experienced its largest single day loss when nine Canadian military peacekeepers were killed by the Syrian army.

In fact, last year marked another “low” for Harper’s military legacy, one we can all celebrate. In 2012 the Canadian Armed Forces, for the first time ever, lost only one person. Granted, that is still one too many! But the fact remains that the Harper government has managed to bring our military casualty rate down

to a level that the patron saint of the Liberal party could never remotely achieve while in power.

WHO WAS READY TO FIRE NUKES IN DEFENCE OF CANADA?

This spoof ad on the aging Sea King and the many mishaps it had suffered first ran in the December 2002 issue of Esprit de Corps (Volume 10 Issue 2). Other than having two more faces to add to the tableau (Paul Martin and Stephen Harper), not much has changed. Although the CH-148 Cyclone has been purchased as the Sea King’s highly anticipated replacement — delivery of all 28 helicopters was supposed to be completed by early 2011 — Sikorsky has yet to turn over a single helicopter to Canada and the $5-billion project has been saddled with various problems. According to reports, Sikorsky is offering to provide Canada with what the firm is calling interim helicopters; aircraft not fully outfitted with all of the necessary equipment. It would then deliver fully-compliant aircraft starting in 2015. 

Largely erased from our collective historical memory today is the fact that during the Pearson/Trudeau dynasty from 1963 to 1984 Canada had a restricted tactical nuclear weapons capability. Although actual custody and control of the nuclear warheads remained in the hands of U.S, military, the Liberal governments of Pearson and Trudeau had units of the Canadian military deployed to fire nuclear weapons should a threat to Canadian air space arise. These included two CIM-10 BOMARC surface-to-air interceptor missile sites in Ontario and Quebec, with each carrying a 1.5 kiloton W25 nuclear warhead, as well as one army surface-to-surface missile battery that could fire W35 nuclear weapons.

And while Trudeau had the above units dismantled in 1972 (mainly because their counterparts in the U.S. were set to be dismantled as well), he did allow the Air Force to hold onto the AR-2 Genie air-to-air rockets, which also had the 1.5 kt W-25 nuclear warhead. This weapon remained in service here in Canada until 1984 — the year Trudeau left office. So it was only under Trudeau’s successors, namely Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, that Canada could honestly say it had ridded itself of nuclear weapons.

In spite of Harper’s bellicose military rhetoric on the idea of Canada’s military ever carrying nuclear weapons again, on loan from the U.S. or otherwise, as we once did under the Pearson/ Trudeau governments is so far removed from our shrunken military-capability mindset that it is not even considered for debate.

PROCUREMENT PERCEPTION AND REALITY

We also love to scoff at Trudeau for his alleged lack of commitment in providing new equipment for the navy and air force.

Admittedly, on the air force side, the Harper government has made some progress with the acquisition of 15 CH-147 Chinooks, 17 CC-130 Super Hercules and 4 C-117 Globemaster III aircraft for Canada’s Royal Canadian Air Force. As recently reported, there is talk of scaling back the planned yet long-delayed purchase of 28 C-148 Cyclone helicopters for the RCAF.

But just how impressive is this track record when compared to Trudeau, whose government procured 138 then top-of-the-line CF-18 fighter aircraft in the early 1980s? This is more than double the number of fighter jets that the Harper government tried, and failed, to purchase with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter debacle. But it does not stop there.

A decade before the CF-18 order was executed, the Liberals also procured 135 CF-116 light attack strike and reconnaissance fighters, which were in operation from the late 1960s to 1995. The Trudeau Liberals can also be credited with the design and building of the 18 CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft that became operational in 1980 and which are still in use.

Today, Canada’s entire blue water fleet of 12 frigates and three destroyers were either launched while Trudeau was in power, or had their budget and building program approved by Trudeau. But as the navy Trudeau built now rapidly ages, just how much of an improvement has Harper made?

After six years in office, the only new naval shipbuilding projects Harper’s government has been able to finally launch includes a much-delayed contract for three joint support ships (JSS) as well as a contract for seven Arctic offshore patrol vessels (AOP). To date, there is no firm contract to build replacements for the frigates and destroyers that were launched or were designed and contracted under Trudeau’s watch. In addition, Canada’s existing fleet of 12 minesweepers are being retired under Harper.

So, almost 30 years after Trudeau’s retirement from politics, and 13 years after his passing, the Royal Canadian Navy con­tinues to sail primarily with ships from the Trudeau era.

PERCEPTION IS EVERYTHING

So why is it important that we continue to make comparisons like

this today? The reason is that politics is about perception — and the perception that Harper’s Conservatives have so successfully managed to create is that they are the only true and understanding “friend” of the military. This mistaken perception has been tacitly enabled by this country’s centre and left, who often refuse to realize that a viable defence posture can and should be part of their political platform.

If we blindly accept the mistaken belief that, under the Conservatives, we have supported and developed a stronger military, Canadians on all sides of the political spectrum will be far more accepting of any proposed defence cuts, believing that there actually is fat to cut.

There isn’t.

Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who never felt he needed to pander to the military to make himself look strong, may not be turning in his grave. But surely his legacy might well start screaming for a reality check.

DELIVERING THE GOODS, IN ALL CONDITIONS

(Volume 24-2)

By David Pugliese

The Royal Canadian Air Force and the Department of National Defence have created new working groups to prepare for the arrival of the Airbus C295W fixed-wing search and rescue planes (FWSAR).

Procurement Minister Judy Foote and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced December 8 that the government had selected the Airbus C295W aircraft for its new FWSAR aircraft. The RCAF will receive 16 C295Ws. The contract will also include in-service support, provided through a joint venture between Airbus Defence and Space and PAL Aerospace.

DND spokesman Evan Koronewski told Esprit de Corps that the working groups include those to look at operational requirements and infrastructure. Based on their recommendations, a plan will be produced and implemented to ensure the RCAF is prepared for the delivery of the C295 fleet, he added.

“The first aircraft will be delivered in 2019 in Comox, B.C., three years after contract award and is expected to meet its initial operational capability by 2021,” Koronewski explained.

 With the announcement on December 8, 2016 that Airbus’ C295W has been selected as Canada’s next fixed-wing search and rescue platform, the RCAF has begun preparing to receive its first aircraft in 2019 in Comox, BC. The sixteenth and final aircraft is expected to be delivered in 2022. (airbus)

The existing CC-115 Buffalo and CC-130H Hercules will continue operating until the new fixed-wing platform has reached its full operational capability, at the four main operating bases of Comox, Winnipeg (Manitoba), Trenton (Ontario), and Greenwood (Nova Scotia), he added.

Nicolas Boucher, a spokesman for Public Services and Procurement Canada, told Esprit de Corps that the final aircraft of the 16-strong fleet is expected to be delivered in 2022.

He said training of aircrew will have started by the arrival of the first plane in 2019.

The 2022 arrival of the final aircraft will also mark the beginning of the long-term maintenance and support services for the aircraft, Boucher said.

The contract between Airbus and Canada covers the following:

delivery of 16 C295W aircraft;

infrastructure and set-up activities, such as training and engineering services;

construction of a new simulator-equipped training centre in Comox, British Columbia;

maintenance and support services.

Also included are tools and test equipment, spare parts and access to the necessary technical data for military personnel, the government noted.

The contract for the initial period of 11 years is valued at $2.4-billion and includes delivery, set-up of support systems (training centre, initial spare parts, tools, support and test equipment, electronic information environment, etc.) and the first five years of maintenance and support of the aircraft, according to Public Services and Procurement Canada.

It also includes the opportunity for Airbus to earn contract extensions for the operation and maintenance of the aircraft in increments of one to three years, for up to a possible additional 15 years. This could potentially extend the maintenance and support services until 2043, for a total value of $4.7-billion, according to the Public Services and Procurement Canada.

As part of the government’s evaluation process, a computer model was created to measure response time to reach the search area, time on station and recovery time, with each aircraft in the competition being assessed on these criteria in relation to the more than 7,000 SAR incidents the RCAF responded to in the past five years. The area of responsibility for the RCAF’s FWSAR and CH-149 Cormorant helicopter fleets, augmented by the Canadian Coast Guard’s vessels, covers Canada’s 18-million square kilometres. (airbus)

The Canadian government said it expects Airbus Defence and Space will continue to develop strategic relationships with Canada’s aerospace and defence firms and will undertake business activities in Canada equal to the contract value. Such business activities include manufacturing major systems on the FWSAR aircraft, such as engines, radars and sensors, as well as researching and developing new product lines in Canada. This will open up opportunities for these firms to enter new markets in partnership with PAL Aerospace, the federal government pointed out.

The C295W features substantial Canadian content. Simon Jacques, head of Airbus Defence and Space in Canada, said about 20 per cent of the aircraft is already made up of Canadian-made systems. Every C295 is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127G turboprop engines driving a pair of Hamilton Standard 586-F six-bladed propellers.

In addition, pilots and technicians will be trained at a new facility developed by CAE in Comox, B.C. The electro-optical systems for the aircraft will be provided by L-3 WESCAM of Burlington, Ontario. AirPro, a joint venture between Airbus Defence and Space and PAL Aerospace of St John’s, Newfoundland, will provide in-service support for the life of the program.

The federal government noted additional industry partners that will contribute to maintain the FWSAR capability include Heroux-Devtek to repair landing gear; Hope Aero to repair propellers; Sonovision for technical publications; CLS Lexi-Tech for translation of publications; and Precision Aero to repair component parts on the aircraft.  

CSC SAILING INTO STORMY WATERS

(Volume 24-02)

By David Pugliese

The Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) will be the backbone of the Royal Canadian Navy’s future fleet, yet the program — one of the largest defence procurements Canada has undertaken in modern times — is sailing into stormy waters.

The Liberal government announced October 27, 2016 that Irving Shipbuilding Inc. of Halifax had issued a request for proposals to companies on the design of the new warships. Firms are required to provide those bids, which must not only include the design but details of teaming arrangements with Canadian firms.

    But allowing only six months to compile bids for one of the largest procurements in Canadian history doesn’t make sense, say representatives of some of the companies. The extent of the technical data and other information the Canadian government requires is overwhelming, they add. Four companies requested that the bidding period be extended and on February 16 the Liberal government agreed. Instead of submitting bids on April 27, the proposals will now be due on June 22.

But there are other issues looming as well. Some firms are questioning whether it will be worthwhile to bid on the project, estimated to be valued at more than $26-billion.

On October 24, 2016 Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri sent Public Services and Procurement Minister Judy Foote a detailed outline of why the acquisition process was in trouble, warning that “Canada is exposed to unnecessary cost uncertainty.”

 The Honourable Judy Foote, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, gives her speech at CANSEC 2016. In it, she detailed the Liberal’s plans on procurement matters while also touting the government’s desire for transparency. But in February 2017, Foote seemed unconcerned about one bidder’s concerns about the current process and worry of bias in the competition. (richard lawrence)

Preparing a bid for the Canadian Surface Combatant project will cost companies between $10-million and $20-million, industry representatives say. If they don’t see that there is a chance of winning the contract because of various issues, then firms might decide not to bid, further narrowing the choices for the Liberals on a new fleet for the Royal Canadian Navy.

In its letter to Foote, Fincantieri pointed out that the current structure of the procurement limits the role of the warship designers to simply providing engineering and design services to Irving, which will then build the vessels.

In return for that small role, the companies are being asked to provide valuable intellectual property to their designs, access to their established supply chains, and transfer technology to Irving and Canada.

In addition, the warship designers have to provide a warranty on the integration of technology into their designs, even though they are not responsible for buying that equipment.

The project as it is structured now leaves little incentive for warship designers and builders such as Fincantieri, which has designed and constructed ships for the navies of Italy, India, Iraq, Malaysia, Malta and the United Arab Emirates.

“If the current proposed procurement approach is retained, then it will be very difficult for Fincantieri to obtain approval to bid from its board,” the company warned Foote.

The company instead proposed to Foote that a fixed-price competition be held, with the wining shipyard building the first three warships, complete with Canadian systems, and deliver those to Irving. The ships would then be run through evaluations and after any technical issues were worked out, Irving would begin to build the remaining 12 vessels.

That way work on the new ships could get underway faster, the vessels will be fully tested, and the risk to the Canadian taxpayer significantly reduced. The “winning team can be held accountable for the overall performance of the finished ship,” Fincantieri added.

“Companies are also given incentive to make long-term investment in Canada because they can expect to get a fair return from the greater value of their work responsibility,” Foote was told.

The minister responded by suggesting Fincantieri approach Irving with their concerns.

But that response further worried the Italian shipbuilder as they had believed the Canadian government and its ministers were ultimately responsible for the program and the spending of billions of tax dollars.

Foote’s comments to journalists on February 7 will also not likely go down well with the Italian firm. She said she wasn’t concerned about Fincantieri’s warning that the current process was putting Canada at risk of unnecessary costs.

“That certainly is not our opinion on this,” Foote explained. “We’ve worked with industry. We did extensive consultations with industry to get to where we are. We will always consult with industry, and that is why we were successful in terms of the CSC. The fact that some people are questioning it is something we’ll look at, but in reality, of the 12 primes, eight have not expressed any issue with respect to the deadline.”

Irving spokesman Sean Lewis said the contract for CSC design would be awarded to an existing warship design that best fits the requirements of the Royal Canadian Navy. “I can assure you that the procurement process is being conducted in a way that ensures that all bidders are treated equally, with no unfair advantage given to any individual bidder, and under observation of an independent fairness monitor,” he added.

The other issue that has emerged on CSC are questions about whether there is a bias on the part of Canada for a specific design.

There is a strong belief in some industry circles that the federal government is favouring the design from the British firm BAE, which is offering the RCN the Type 26 warship.

An artist’s rendering released by BAE Systems of the expected form of the Global Combat Ship, a United Kingdom program to replace the Royal Navy’s Type 22 and Type 23 frigates through the Future Surface Combatant program, which has yet to start construction. Originally, the Liberal government said only proven warship designs would be considered for the CSC, but it reneged on that point just a few months later. (bae systems)

Much of that belief is fuelled by the unusual change in the CSC procurement process in mid-2016.

In the summer of 2016 Foote said only proven warship designs would be considered, a strategy that she insisted would cut down on risk and speed up construction.

But just months later the Liberal government retreated on that and instead indicated it would accept a Type 26 bid, even though that type of vessel has not been built yet. Construction of the first Type 26 ship for Britain will start sometime this year.

“You want to make sure that what you get on offer reflects not only what’s tried and tested in the market but also what’s coming on the market,” Lisa Campbell, assistant deputy minister of acquisitions at Public Services and Procurement Canada, explained to journalists.

In an earlier statement, BAE official Anne Healey said the company looks forward to bidding in an open and fair competition.

Other industry representatives point to the close ties between Irving and BAE as a reason for concern on the CSC. The two firms had joined forces to bid on the long-term maintenance contract for the Royal Canadian Navy’s Arctic patrol ships and the Joint Support Ships. They lost that contract to Thales.

But rival companies are still worried about whether BAE has an inside track on CSC.

Irving’s spokesman Sean Lewis said there is no need for concern. “The CSC procurement is being conducted in a way that ensures that all bidders are treated equally, with no unfair advantage given to any individual bidder,” he noted in an email. “We will continue to actively monitor the effectiveness of measures taken to avoid any conflict of interest.”

Meanwhile, Irving has raised its own issues about CSC. Irving president Kevin McCoy said the firm is concerned about the gap between when it finishes work on the new Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessels (AOPS) and the start of the CSC building.

The work Irving is doing on AOPS will provide its employees with the experience and expertise required to construct the surface combatants starting in the early 2020s.

But McCoy told Esprit de Corps that he is worried that if there is a gap where there is a slowdown or lack of work then those skilled employees will leave for other jobs. That, in turn, could impact the CSC program.

McCoy had an even blunter warning in early February when he told the House of Commons defence committee that the gap or any delays on the surface combatant program could mean “significant layoffs” for employees.

“It is imperative that we work at a steady pace and minimize delays,” he warned.  “Starting in fall 2019, production work on AOPS starts to wind down. If we don’t put our skilled shipbuilders to work on CSC we face significant layoffs. If there is a production gap between the two shipbuilding programs, the cost to reconstitute this workforce and their experience will be borne by the CSC program.”

McCoy also warned that “the impact of inflation is very real on a shipbuilding program such as CSC. With shipbuilding inflation running three to five per cent annually, on a 15-ship program you lose the buying power equivalent of 45 to 75 per cent of one ship for every year of delay. Delays have a serious impact on a program such as CSC.”

BRINGING RELIEF TO VETERANS

A few capsules, each containing approximately 0.1 grams of MDMA crystals, more commonly referred to as ecstasy. Although MDMA is generally illegal in most countries, researchers are investigating whether a few low doses of MDMA may assist in treating severe, treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder. In November 2016, phase 3 clinical trials for PTSD were approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to assess effectiveness and safety. (wikipedia)

(Volume 24-01)

By Tyler Hooper

 A clinical study, which saw psychotherapy used in conjunction with the drug methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) to treat psychological and emotional trauma, wrapped up in Vancouver last November, and the results appear to be hopeful.

The study was led by several Vancouver-based psychotherapists who administered MDMA to six patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to assist with psychotherapy sessions. Several of the patients are military veterans suffering from PTSD.

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, PTSD “often involves exposure to trauma from single events that involve death or the threat of death or serious injury.” PTSD, through certain triggers such as sound or smell, often causes those who have witnessed trauma to relive the event. Those who suffer from PTSD often suffer from flashbacks, nightmares, have trouble sleeping and may become anxious, depressed and/or detached from their surroundings.

MDMA, commonly referred to as ecstasy (E), is labelled a psychoactive drug whose effects include increased sensations of empathy, euphoria and trust. The therapists who administered the drug to the clinical trial patients hoped the drug would allow the patients to open up more about their thoughts and feelings. Ultimately, the therapist ends up having a conversation with the person’s unconscious mind, which can be quite different from a regular conversation.

According to the therapists who administered the study, the drug increases the release of chemicals like serotonin, dopamine and hormones that, in theory, can relax patients, thereby allowing them to speak more freely about their thoughts and experiences.

Metro News reported that the patients were given 125mg of MDMA with eight hours of therapy. The patients also slept at the clinic and received additional counselling the following day; months later, they were given half the dose and more therapy.

The study was funded by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and a good portion of the funding for the study came from online donations from the MAPS website. It took Health Canada almost six years and $200,000 to approve the trial.

Mark Haden, chair on MAPS Canada’s Board of Directors and an adjunct professor at the UBC School of Population and Public Health, said that veterans often tend to be resistant to psychotherapy or talking in a group setting. Haden added that, “When you tell them that they don’t need to talk very much … that is quite attractive to veterans.”

Haden told Esprit de Corps, “To be honest with you, I was surprised of the level of welcome we got from the Canadian military. I sort of braced myself going into the military to talk about it … I really thought I would be challenged.” Haden added that while presenting to the Canadian military there seemed to be genuine interest shown towards the study.

The two diagrams above show the results of the recent study, in terms of treatment (left) and severity of symptoms (right). Published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, the study reveals that 83 per cent of the subjects receiving MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in a pilot study no longer met the criteria for PTSD, and every patient who received a placebo and then went on to receive MDMA-assisted psychotherapy experienced significant and lasting improvements. (mithoefer et al, 2010)

A long-term follow-up of patients in this program who received MDMA-assisted psychotherapy revealed that overall benefits were maintained an average of 3.8 years later. According to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), these results indicate a promising future for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD and lay the groundwork for continued research into the safest and most effective ways to administer the treatment. (mithoefer et al., 2012)

In April of 2016, a psychiatrist from the Canadian Armed Forces told Global News that the military was not ruling out these sorts of alternative treatment, but the studies would need to published and proven to be safe.

MAPS is careful to suggest that laboratory-produced MDMA is not the same as street ecstasy, or “molly” as it is also known, because the street drugs are often laced with other chemicals and/or dangerous adulterants. “Pure MDMA has been proven sufficiently safe for human consumption when taken a limited number of times in moderate doses,” states the MAPS website.

There will be another phase of research this spring with the hope getting the trial authorized as a legal prescription. Metro News reported that after the trial, 56 per cent of subjects no longer met criteria for PTSD. Followed up 12 months later, these same individuals now accounted for 66 per cent who no longer met the definition for PTSD. Two other recent trial studies, also involving the treatment of PTSD with MDMA in Charleston, South Carolina, also saw a 56 per cent decrease in the severity of PTSD symptoms.

According to the non-profit research and educational organization’s website, “MAPS is undertaking a roughly $25-million plan to make MDMA into a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved prescription medicine by 2021.”

Since 2014, at least 54 Canadian veterans have committed suicide; however, the number could be higher due to lack of public reporting. Since the beginning of 2017, at least two Canadian military veterans have killed themselves, and both were thought to be suffering from PTSD.

Mark Haden said that during the study it was evident the veterans were in suffering due to trauma. “We know that it can be treated, and to watch this process happen in our society with the amount of suffering, and to know that this is available, is a source of great distress for us.”

Next month we’ll look at the study in more detail, and discuss alternative forms of treatment for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

SPACE: DEFINING THE FUTURE BATTLEFIELD

(Volume 24-01)

By David Pugliese

As modern combat forces rely increasingly on space-based technology, the Canadian Armed Forces is committing more resources to satellites. BGen Blaise Frawley discusses some of these programs.

 Brigadier-General Blaise Frawley was the Combined Forces Air Component Commander at Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2016. In the Forces since 1985, BGen Blaise Frawley was appointed Director General Space on June 9, 2016. (rcaf)

In the last decade, space has begun to play a greater role for the Canadian Armed Forces.  Space-based systems have already had a significant place in the lives of the Canadian public, which relies on such assets for everything from banking transactions to daily reports about the weather.

In the military realm, Canadian soldiers now regularly use space-based assets to operate effectively on the battlefield. Such systems do everything from allowing long-range communications to guiding weapons to their targets. The Department of National Defence employs space systems to monitor the maritime approaches of the nation and conduct surveillance on locations around the world.

And with potentially billions of dollars of new projects planned for the future, space operations are on the way to becoming even more central to the effectiveness of the Canadian military. “For us in the Canadian Armed Forces, space is critical,” Brigadier-General Blaise Frawley, Director General of Space, explained in an interview with Esprit de Corps. “The effects that we provide now (because of space assets) support all of the joint players within the Canadian Armed Forces, both domestically and deployed overseas.

Frawley, whose appointment was announced on June 9, 2016, noted that the Royal Canadian Air Force has now taken responsibility for the military’s space programs. It is a natural fit, he added.

The service had a lot of experience with space, starting in the 1960s. “The way we look at this is that space is now delivered by the RCAF but for the joint warrior — so the Army, Navy, Air Force and SOF (special operations forces) warriors,” he said.

Collaboration with allies, industry and other government departments is key to moving forward, Frawley added.

He wants to stay the course for now and deliver the same professional capabilities that have been offered over the years.

But Frawley said he also wants the RCAF to start understanding how it can “grow” the space capability. “We do have a mandate to do that,” Frawley explained. “We’re looking at that and creating a vision for the RCAF commander so we can really understand where we are going to be 10 or 20 years from now.”

After that vision is developed, the RCAF can set about planning how to achieve that end-goal.

Frawley outlined for Esprit de Corps a number of key space programs. They include:

The Wideband Global SATCOM Satellite system is considered “the backbone of the U.S. military’s global satellite communications,” according to the U.S. Air Force. General Dynamics was awarded a $59-million contract to build three anchor stations in Canada, like the one pictured. The anchor stations will allow communication with the WGS constellation and link it to existing Canadian Armed Forces communications infrastructure.

MERCURY GLOBAL

Canada announced in late 2011 that it was joining the U.S. Wideband Global Satellite (WGS) program, contributing $337-million for construction of a ninth satellite as well as operational support costs. Canada is investing as part of a consortium that includes four other countries — Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and New Zealand — all of which will gain access to the system in proportion to their individual contributions. In exchange for its financial contribution, the Canadian Armed Forces will have access to the Wideband Global Satellite system until 2031.

“Wideband is quite critical to support our joint warriors, both domestically and deployed,” Frawley said.

The Canadian military has already been using the WGS network through interim satellite ground terminals or through allied systems. That use began in May 2012.

In addition, the CAF is spending another $59-million to construct three anchor stations in Canada for the WGS system. In 2014, General Dynamics Canada Ltd. of Ottawa was awarded the contract to build those anchor stations, which will allow communication with the Wideband Global Satellite constellation and link that to the existing CAF communications infrastructure.

The Canadian military will also buy portable satellite communications terminals to allow its commanders on overseas missions to make use of the U.S. Air Force’s WGS network. It wants to buy three types of strategic deployable terminals.

One type would be capable of being operated by an individual and would be small enough to be able to be transported as carry-on luggage on an aircraft. A second type would be the size of check-in luggage, and have an increased ability to transmit information to the digital battlefield.

The third type, called the Heavy Strategic Deployable Terminal, would be able to provide a deployable very high data throughput capability and would be operated by a small team at headquarters level.

The terminals will allow the Canadian Armed Forces to deliver voice, image and data between deployed headquarters and commanders back in Canada.

Artist rendition of the Department of National Defence’s Sapphire satellite, developed by MDA. Sapphire was launched on February 25, 2013, and is DND’s first dedicated operational military satellite. The satellite tracks man-made space objects in Earth’s orbit between 6,000 and 40,000 km in altitude, as part of Canada’s continued support of Space Situational Awareness. Data from the Sapphire satellite is contributed to the U.S. Space Surveillance Network, enhancing the ability of both countries to detect and avoid the collision of critical space platforms with other satellites or pieces of debris. (macdonald, dettwiler and associates ltd.)

Bids were submitted December 8. The Canadian military has set aside up to $20-million for the project to acquire the deployable terminals.

The strategic deployable terminals to be purchased would provide seamless interoperability via the Wideband Global Satellites system to the anchor stations as well as allied WGS-certified stations.

But why take part in WGS? The Canadian military was spending approximately $25-million per year on satellite communications capacity acquired from commercial operators. The cost to maintain that status quo was expected to increase significantly during the next 20 years, according to military officers.

The Canadian government has said it decided to take part in WGS because its military needed assured access to satellite communications instead of relying on commercial capacity. In addition, participation in WGS is cheaper than using commercial services, government officials added.

MEOSAR

In 2015, Canada decided to proceed with a project to provide search and rescue (SAR) repeaters for the U.S. Air Force’s next generation of global positioning system (GPS) satellites.

The repeaters provided by Canada’s Medium Earth Orbit Search and Rescue (MEOSAR) satellite project will significantly cut down on the time it takes to locate a distress signal, Canadian military officers say.

The plan would see the installation of the search-and-rescue repeaters on the USAF’s GPS 3 satellites.

Frawley calls MEOSAR “a great capability.” “We are in implementation right now,” he said. “We’re in the process of fitting one of our SAR receivers within one of the satellites.”

The MEOSAR satellite project, which will also include the construction of three ground stations, is expected to cost Canada between $100-million and $249-million, according to the defence acquisition strategy document.

Once in orbit 22,000 kilometres above the Earth, a MEOSAR repeater will be able to detect signals from emergency beacons and retransmit the signals to receiver stations on the ground. The emergency messages can then be sent to appropriate authorities so that people in danger can be quickly located and rescued.

MEOSAR will provide a more capable system to COSPAS–SARSAT (Cosmicheskaya Sistyema Poiska Avariynich Sudov – Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking), according to Canadian military officers.

COSPAS–SARSAT is an international satellite-based search and rescue distress alert detection system established by Canada, France, the former Soviet Union, and the U.S. in 1979. It is credited with saving more than 33,000 lives since its inception.

Surveillance of Space: SAPPHIRE

With the 2013 launch of the Sapphire satellite, the Canadian military received, for the first time, its own spacecraft.

Sapphire is Canada’s first-ever dedicated military operational satellite.

The Sapphire satellite, with its electro-optical sensor, tracks space objects in high Earth orbit as part of Canada’s contribution to space situational awareness. Data from Sapphire also contributes to the U.S. Space Surveillance Network, Frawley noted.

Responsible for protecting North America from aerospace threats, NORAD, which is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, receives its information from that network.

The sensor also provides information to the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces about the location of foreign satellites as well as on the whereabouts of orbiting debris, which could pose a hazard to satellites and other spacecraft. In addition, it also allows Canada to gather data about objects, such as space junk, re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere.

Canada’s military has contributed to the surveillance of space mission previously using ground-based telescopes.

But space-based sensors such as Sapphire have a major advantage as ground-based systems can only be used at night. In addition, their performance can be limited by weather or excessive clouds.

RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) will consist of a constellation of three identical satellites flying in a low-earth orbit (altitude from 586 km to 615 km above the Earth). This graphic illustrates the national ground station locations — at Aldergrove, Inuvik, Prince Albert, Gatineau and Masstown in Canada — and their coverage areas on a map of North America. (csa)

Sapphire has a five-year mission life, according to the satellite’s prime contractor MDA Corp., of Richmond, British Columbia.

MDA was award the $66-million contract to build Sapphire in October 2007. The Sapphire contractor team also included Terma A/S of Herlev, Denmark; COM DEV International of Cambridge, Ont.; and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. of Surrey, England.

MDA also operates the satellite from its Richmond facilities for the Department of National Defence.

SURVEILLANCE OF SPACE 2

The Canadian military is looking now for a follow-on program for Sapphire. Called Surveillance of Space 2, the solution would allow Canada to continue providing information to the U.S. space surveillance network beyond 2021.

“Our thoughts right now are space-based, but our job is to look at all the options,” Frawley said.

Options could include a single satellite combined with a ground optical sensor or a constellation of electro-optical satellites. The system would track man-made objects in Earth’s orbits having altitudes of 6,000 kilometres or greater.

The Canadian military wants the new system to be able to detect dimmer objects — the focus will be on operational satellites, just a bit smaller than targeted currently. The number of observations the satellite could do per day to feed the Space Surveillance Network would also grow.

The preliminary cost estimate for the project ranges from $100-million to $249-million in Canadian dollars. The wide price range reflects the scope of options that might be considered.

Previously, there was talk about a 2021 launch date. But that is highly unlikely.

Sources say a contract could be signed in 2021 with the system going into orbit by 2025 or 2026.

“We’re fairly nascent in the program,” said Frawley. “It takes time to put things into space, but it’s an important mission for sure.”

Surveillance of Space 2 illustrates one of the big challenges with procurement of space assets, Frawley explained. Unlike an aircraft, ship or tank, the lifespan of a spacecraft is relatively short. “When you have a satellite that lasts between five and 10 years, it changes our mindset when it comes to how we procure these capabilities,” he said.

POLAR COMMUNICATIONS

At one point the Canadian government was looking at putting into orbit a constellation of satellites to provide communications for the Arctic as well as to gather weather data from the region. The launch date was tentatively scheduled for 2016 but the project, called the Polar Communications and Weather (PCW) Mission, has been scuttled.

“What we do have now is two separate projects,” Frawley explained. “One is called Tactical Narrowband Satellite Communication (TNS) Project. And there is a project that is still fairly nascent that we’re trying to move forward and it’s very important to us because of our focus on the Arctic. It’s called the Enhanced Satcom Program – Polar. That will give us the ability to do both narrowband and wideband over the North Pole specifically.”

Frawley said the military is hoping a draft solicitation for that project will be put out sometime in 2017.

“Obviously it will open for competition,” he said. “At the end of the day a company will propose a solution and we’ll go through the normal process on that. But the orbital mechanics say the only way you can cover off on the Arctic effectively would be probably multiple satellites given that you can’t use the geosynchronous orbit. You’ve got to have multiple satellites.”

RADARSAT CONSTELLATION MISSION

The RADARSAT Constellation Mission, or RCM, will be a follow-on program to the existing and highly successful RADARSAT-2 spacecraft. RCM, however, will provide more capability. Instead of a single satellite, RCM will use three radar-imaging satellites to conduct maritime and Arctic surveillance.

In January 2013, MDA Corp. was awarded a $706-million contract by the Canadian government that would see the Richmond company build, launch and provide initial operations for the RADARSAT Constellation Mission.

The first spacecraft is expected to be launched in the fall of 2018, Frawley noted.

He says the information to be gathered by the spacecraft will be critical for Canada’s warfighters. The Canadian military expects to use about 80 per cent of the data that RCM provides while the rest will go to other government departments, Frawley added.

FWSAR REPLACEMENT WINNER ANNOUNCED!

By Scott Taylor

(Volume 23-12)

On December 1, 2016 the Canadian government finally announced the awarding of a $2.4-billion contract to acquire 16 Airbus C295W aircraft. The new C295W will replace the Royal Canadian Air Force’s remaining six 50-year-old CC-115 Buffalo aircraft along with a dozen of the older CC-130E/H Hercules planes which have been carrying out Canada’s search and rescue (SAR) missions.

The contract value includes the construction, delivery and transition phase which is to be complete by 2023, as well as an additional five years worth of in-service support (ISS). For Airbus Defence and Space, and all the other competitors for this contract, the procurement process was a gruelling marathon, which was originally intended to be a short, sole-source sprint.

Planning for replacing the RCAF’s FWSAR fleet actually began back in 2002. At that time, RCAF officials were bemoaning the advanced age of the Buffalo planes, and the fact that older CC-130 Hercules — some aircraft had entered service in 1960, others in 1996 — had to be pressed into service to sustain SAR operations.

Their complaints did not fall on deaf ears. Then Prime Minister Jean Chrétien hastily declared the FWSAR replacement project to be a top priority in 2003. True to Chrétien’s word, the March 2004 federal budget included $1.3-billion in funding for the Air Force to purchase 15 FWSAR aircraft, with an original first delivery date of 2006.

The RCAF had their eyes set firmly on the Alenia C-27J Spartan. This twin-engine military cargo plane was well suited to a SAR role, and with its long range and large payload, the Spartan could easily operate from southern Canadian SAR airfields and still service the Arctic. A bonus was the fact that the Spartan was actually designed to be compatible with Lockheed Martin’s C-130 Hercules, so RCAF officials saw the C-27J giving them additional tactical transport capabilities.

Then along came the European firm EADS, which offered up its C-295 aircraft to the Canadian government. In 2005, EADS Canada first began challenging the original Statement of Operational Requirements (SOR) for the FWSAR replacements, as company officials felt the SOR had been purposefully drafted to make only Alenia’s Spartan a qualified contender.

The EADS Canada team admitted that their aircraft was slower and did not have the range to patrol the Arctic from the current SAR bases CFB Trenton, CFB Greenwood and CFB Comox. However, the EADS team also argued that alternate bases, located further north, should be considered.

For five long years EADS Canada pleaded its case and finally, in 2010, the Harper Conservative government ordered the National Research Council (NRC) to undertake a thorough review of DND’s original FWSAR Statement of Operational Requirements. First off, the NRC report recommended that DND seek an Alternate Service Delivery (ASD) option; in other words, to engage a private contractor to fulfill Canada’s SAR role. The NRC also supported the idea that alternate bases be considered.

There was no way in hell that the RCAF was going to let their SAR role go to a private company. As Peter MacKay was then both the minister of National Defence and the director of the National Search and Rescue Secretariat, the ASD option was quickly squashed.

However, with the NRC report came renewed interest from other aircraft manufacturers. What had been a two-man race between Alenia and EADS now became a field of six. In addition to the C-27J Spartan and the EADS Canada C-295, Viking Air was offering up a fully modernized version of the Buffalo; Bell-Boeing tossed in its vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) hybrid helicopter-plane, the V-22 Osprey; Lockheed Martin proposed an additional purchase of its latest C-130J model Hercules; and the Brazilian company Embraer was shopping its embryonic new KC-390.

In December 2011, DND wiped the dust off the desks and re-opened the FWSAR Project Management Office. The March 2012 federal budget once again approved the necessary funding. However, it was still a full three years later before the request for proposal (RFP) was formally posted.

When the bidding closed on January 11, 2016, only three contenders chose to actually submit offers. Of these three, long-shot Embraer was declared non-compliant by March. This left just Leonardo (formerly Alenia) with its C-27J Spartan and Airbus Defence and Space (formerly EADS) with its C295W, in the hunt.

The evaluation of the bids was completed by the end of June, but as with all major military procurement announcements, politics plays a role. Good-news stories regarding defence procurements are few and far between these days, and thus the FWSAR contract awarding was something of a PR silver bullet for the Liberal government.

A fair and transparent competition had been held to replace an aging fleet of search and rescue planes — who could take exception to equipping the RCAF to save lives?

Thus, it was while the Trudeau government was in the midst of a controversy surrounding their recent announcement to sole-source a purchase for 18 Super Hornet fighter jets as an interim measure to fully replacing the RCAF’s legacy CF-18 fleet that they finally announced Airbus’s C295W as the FWSAR winner.

Nearly 15 years have passed since this ‘urgent requirement’ was first flagged for replacement. Names changed, bidders came and went and, in the end, the C295W finally eclipsed the C-27J Spartan. Persistence paid off in this instance, but it is also true that Airbus compiled a strong Canadian team of partners, which includes Pratt & Whitney Canada and its PW127G engine, Provincial Aerospace for the in-service support, and CAE with the simulation and training package.

Let’s hope that, with the contract now in place, this project moves from the ‘mess’ category to a ‘success story!’