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Monday, January 29, 2018

CAF to Train Battalion-sized Unit for first time in Ukraine

DND Press Release

As part of Canada’s ongoing commitment to support Ukraine, the Canadian Armed Forces will temporarily increase the number of trainers in the country in order to assist in the training of a Battalion Tactical Group of Ukrainian troops.

Today, Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members are arriving at the International Peacekeeping and Security Centre in Starychi, Ukraine.

This represents the largest Canadian contingent since the start of Operation Unifier to help train and mentor the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Under Operation Unifier, the CAF is working with our US allies in providing military training and capacity building to the Armed Forces of Ukraine personnel to support Ukraine in its efforts to maintain sovereignty, security, and stability.

“This increase of CAF trainers demonstrates Canada’s enduring commitment to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. This training assistance builds on previous support by our Government and will bolster Ukraine’s efforts to maintain its sovereignty, security, and stability,” said The Honourable Harjit Sajjan, Minister of National Defence.

The training provided by the CAF, in coordination with our allies, contributes to enhancing the Armed Forces of Ukraine self-sufficiency in training delivery and their ability to conduct military operations across the full spectrum of conflict.

By participating in this training mission, the CAF is helping to develop the professionalism and modernization of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, supporting Ukrainian aspirations to achieve military compatibility with NATO by 2020.

Since August 2015, the CAF has deployed approximately 200 CAF personnel on a rotating basis to Ukraine and will continue to do so until the end of March 2019. More than 5 000 Armed Forces of Ukraine candidates have participated in the training.

The surge team comprises a total of 48 CAF members from infantry, artillery, armored and logistical corps, increasing Canada’s presence to approximately 240 personnel for the duration of the temporary increase.

The duration of the temporary increase to the training team is approximately 60 days.

The International Peacekeeping and Security Centre is located in Starychi in western Ukraine close to the Polish border.

RCAF to Fly CF-18s until 2032

By: David Puglise, The National Post 

Canada will squeeze even more flying time out of its aging CF-18s, keeping the jets operating for another 15 years.

There had been plans to take the jets out of service shortly after 2025.

But representatives from companies who took part in a Jan. 22 industry day outlining the Liberal government’s program to buy new fighter planes were told the RCAF will now keep the CF-18s operating until 2032.

The jets, first received in 1982, will be retired after 50 years of service.

Some aerospace industry sources, however, question whether the 2032 retirement is set in stone since any delays in the purchase of new jets could alter that schedule.

The first replacement aircraft for the CF-18s will arrive in 2025 but the deliveries of the 88 planes would not be completed until 2030, according to the federal government documents distributed to industry representatives at the Jan. 22 meeting in Ottawa.
A CF-188 Hornet from the Canadian Air Task Force Lithuania perform manoeuvres over Lithuania on September 15, 2014 for the NATO Baltic Air Policing Block 36 during Operation Reassurance. Cpl Gabrielle DesRochers
The CF-18s have been upgraded over the years. In 2001 a modernization project was launched to allow the planes to continue operating until 2017-2020.

Structural improvements to maintain the fleet have also been ongoing and another upgrade program is in the works, with the aim to keep the planes flying until 2025, according to the RCAF.

That will provide the planes with various systems to allow them to operate with allied air forces as well as meet new rules to fly in domestic and international airspace. There could also be upgrades to weapons, the RCAF says.

It is unclear if yet another upgrade would be needed beyond that to keep the planes flying from 2025 to 2032.

Canada is in also in discussions with Australia to purchase 18 used F-18 aircraft to augment the existing fleet of CF-18s. While the exact cost of that deal won’t be made public until the contract is signed, the Liberal government has set aside $500 million for the project.

In November 2016, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan acknowledged that the CF-18s might have to keep flying longer than planned, suggesting they could even continue until 2030 or perhaps beyond. The briefing to industry representatives was the first official government confirmation that the RCAF would stretch out the life of the aircraft until 2032.
Seen from the window of a Canadian Forces CC-150 Polaris tanker, a CF-18 Hornet fighter jet refuels in the air over Vancouver during Operation Podium on Feb. 18, 2010. Master Corporal Andrew Collins, 14 Wing Imaging
The Liberals have committed to buying 88 new fighter jets in a program that could cost as much as $19 billion. That price-tag does not include long-term maintenance.

Troy Crosby, director general of defence major projects at Public Services and Procurement Canada, said in an interview with Postmedia that a request for proposals from companies for the new fighter jets is expected to be issued in spring 2019. A contract would be signed in late 2021 or early 2022.

AndrĂ© Fillion, chief of staff in the materiel branch at the Department of National Defence, said the Jan. 22 meeting provided a way to brief industry on how the purchase will unfold. “This was an opportunity for us to start talking to industry about the context for the fleet in terms of its operation, sustainment and acquisition,” he explained in an interview with Postmedia. Fillion said attendees were given “a bit of an appreciation of where we are headed so they can start thinking about their solution.”

Further details of the purchase will emerge over the next year.

Canada is compiling a suppliers list which will include aircraft manufacturers and the foreign governments or defence agencies associated with those planes. The deadline for submissions to that list is Feb. 9.

The Canadian government will then evaluate the responses and a formal list will be drawn up by March. Only suppliers on the list at that time will be invited to take part in the competition and to submit proposals.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

2nd Hand Ice-Breakers Available...if GoC Wants Them


By Colonel (Retired) Pierre Leblanc 
The Maritime Executive 

I recently attended the Maritime and Arctic Security & Safety Conference in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, where I learned of an interesting unforeseen opportunity for the Canadian Government to acquire a number of modern icebreakers at deeply discounted prices.

On January 30, 2017 I raised my concerns with the aging of the Canadian Coast Guard fleet of icebreakers. The ships in that fleet are coming to the end of their technical designs. The average age of the fleet is 36 years. The CCGS Louis St-Laurent is 48 years old.

Although there can be life extending programs in place there is still a need to replace those ships with modern ones. There is only one vessel that I can clearly identify in the Ship Building Strategy. At the moment, the replacement for the Louis-St-Laurent is planned to enter service in 2028 at which point the Louis St-Laurent will be 59 years old.

Building a new fleet will provide an opportunity to introduce more environmentally friendly propulsion systems to reduce the pollution of black carbon and nitrous oxide in the Arctic since the momentum to ban heavy fuel oil from the Arctic is increasing.

Two related elements are creating stress on the Canadian icebreaker fleet: global warming and demand for services. I believe that most Canadians are by now aware that global warming is taking place and that the arctic ice is disappearing. What might not be realized is that the breaking up of the ice means that the winds and currents will move the ice, especially thick and hard multi-year ice, in unexpected places and at unexpected times. One day the ice may be gone from the shore of a community but the next day it may block the departure of the supply ship requiring the support of an icebreaker. The opposite may happen with a supply ship not being able to reach the community because the wind will have pushed a barrier of ice against the coast line. All of the communities of Nunavut are resupplied by ship; it is therefore essential that icebreaker services be readily available.

The other element of stress is that the level of human activity in the Arctic is on the increase, allowed by the easier access caused by the disappearance of the ice. There is more activity requiring icebreaker support. A cruise ship in distress may divert the support of an icebreaker from community resupply. This will more than likely continue to increase which will in turn likely call for more icebreaker support.

When I commanded Joint Task Force North, my Coast Guard colleagues used to tell me that “if there is more ice you need more icebreakers, and if there is less ice you still need more icebreakers.” Although counter-intuitive, the need for more icebreaker when there is less ice is because the Arctic ice starts moving around early and throughout the shipping season causing largely unpredictable ice dams. This is already reported by the Coast Guard and the marine companies resupplying the Canadian Arctic communities.

The oil and gas company Shell is reported to have spent in excess of $9 billion dollars exploring and developing a capability to drill for oil in the Arctic. For several reasons forming a “perfect storm,” in September of 2015 they canceled their Arctic project. To support their Arctic operations they had secured a number of icebreakers that are now surplus.

The m/v Aiviq is a Polar Class 3 icebreaker built by North American Shipbuilders in 2012. It is reported to be the world’s most powerful icebreaker privately owned. In addition, m/v Tor Viking IIm/v Vidar Viking  and m/v Balder Viking are three Norwegian built Polar Class 4 icebreakers that were destined to support Shell’s arctic operations. All these vessels are now available to be secured by Canada and more specifically the Canadian Coast Guard.

Image result for m/v Vidar Viking
The M/V Vidar Viking 
Given the state of the Canadian icebreaker fleet and the increasing demand for icebreaker support in both the Arctic and in support of the Saint-Lawrence Seaway, Canada might be wise to consider the offer of those icebreakers.

The ships will likely need some modifications to meet the Coast Guard requirements, but those should be relatively easy to complete in a short period of time compared to building a ship from the ground up. The U.S. has also identified a need for icebreakers to replace and augment the two that are in operation today. They may also be interested in acquiring the ones that were once destined to support the Shell Arctic operations that have been canceled.
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Colonel (Retired) Pierre Leblanc is a former Commander of the Canadian Forces in the Canadian Arctic. www.arcticsecurity.ca

Forbes: Why We Are Buying Canadian Warships

By: Gordon Forbes, The Ottawa Citizen - Opinions 

It is so simple, according to some: Just go out to your foreign new warship dealer and buy the warship of your dreams for billions less than you can build it is Canada. Take the savings and pay ex-shipyard workers Employment Insurance for 10 years.

This would, of course, close every shipyard capable of building large ships in Canada – all three of them. Why did nobody think of it before?

Well, they have, and for decades the idea has been rejected by every type of government. Because it is not just the shipyards that would lose business, but hundreds of small, medium and large businesses across the country. Businesses that not only provide such things as steel and copper but that produce products ranging from anchors to the integration of combat systems. Does anyone remember the hundreds of businesses that suffered when the Avro Arrow was canceled in 1959?
Canada can take a lesson from the fate of the Avro Arrow fighter program. COPY PHOTO BY IAN ROBERTSON, SUN
But the most important loss would be the loss of intellectual property (IP) that would go along with such an idea.

Intellectual property belongs to those who design the millions of things that go into a modern warship. This IP would belong to those offshore companies who designed the ship and it systems. We have already seen an inkling of this problem with the current attempt to buy offshore designs for the Navy’s Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC). Several countries and their shipyards have balked at the requirement for Canada to have access to the IP of their proposed designs.

But why is this IP important? It is primarily because it limits the amount of maintenance and modification that Canada can carry out. Without the IP, you cannot fix anything, you cannot modify anything and you cannot sell your technology to other countries. It would mean that we would have to send the ships back to their parent shipyards for dockings and other essential work. It would mean that maintenance of any ship systems, from main engines to combat systems, could only be done by the holders of the IP. It would mean little or no work for Canadian workers on any of these systems.

Image result for Canadian Surface Combatant Fleet
Artists Renditions of the Future Vessels of the RCN
But surely we could buy the IP from the selling shipyard? Well, that would also mean buying it from every IP holder who has equipment on the ship. And it would cost us billions, many of those billions we might also have to put toward payment of ex-employees. This is a sellers’ market and Canada would have very little leverage to acquire IP for minimal cost.

To those who argue the point: It is just not that simple to buy all our warships offshore.
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Gordon Forbes, LCDR (ret’d), has been involved in the naval procurement business for the most part of 38 years, both in the Navy and in the defence industry. He lives in OrlĂ©ans.

Boeing Skips Industry Day in CF-18 Replacement


SOURCE: FLIGHTGLOBAL.COM
BY: STEPHEN TRIMBLE
WASHINGTON DC

Boeing has yet to decide whether to compete for a contract worth $12-14.5 billion to replace Canada’s tactical fighter fleet. The airframer once had the deal in its pocket before Ottawa terminated plans to buy the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet after Boeing filed a trade complaint against Bombardier last May.

In a possible sign that the company could forego submitting a bid, Boeing chose to skip a one-day information session for potential bidders on 22 January that was hosted by Canadian agency managing the Future Fighter Capability acquisition programme.

Boeing confirmed the absence and says it remains convinced that the Super Hornet is the best option for the Royal Canadian Air Force, although the airframer has not decided whether to offer the aircraft yet.

“We continue to believe that the Super Hornet is the low-risk, low-cost approach that has all the advanced capabilities the Royal Canadian Air Force needs now and well into the future,” Boeing says.

“We will evaluate our participation in Canada’s Future Fighter Capability Project (FFCP) after the Government of Canada outlines the FFCP procurement approach, requirements and evaluation criteria,” Boeing adds.

US government officials attended the information session hosted by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), the Canadian government’s acquisition arm, Boeing says.

Boeing may face a deadline in two weeks to make a decision. Attendance at the information session was not mandatory, but PSPC has requested that all potential bidders respond by 9 February to an invitation to join a Suppliers List. Only companies that respond to the invitation will be informed and allowed to participate in all future steps of the FFCP acquisition process, the PSPC says.

The indecision by Boeing reflects a staggering turn-around in the company’s fortunes in Ottawa since last year. In his victorious 2015 election campaign, now-prime minister Justin Trudeau promised to cancel the previous government’s plans to buy the Lockheed Martin F-35A without first staging a competition. A year later, the Trudeau government announced plans to acquire 24 new F/A-18E/Fs as an interim replacement for the CF-18, until a competition selected a permanent solution after 2020.

But those plans changed last May after Boeing filed an anti-dumping and countervailing duty complaint against Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier over an April 16 sale to Delta Air Lines of 75 CS100s. The US Commerce Department agreed with Boeing’s position and set a nearly 300% tariff on CSeries imports to the USA. The final outcome of the case now depends on a vote by the US International Trade Commission on 25 January, which will decide whether the Delta order caused financial harm to Boeing and, if so, ratify the tariff.

Meanwhile, the Trudeau government scrapped the plan to buy Super Hornets last summer. The RCAF instead plans to buy retired F/A-18s from the Royal Australian Air Force as an interim CF-18 replacement.

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

GoC Holds Industry Day for CF-18 Replacement

By: David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen 

The federal government held an industry day on Monday in Ottawa for those firms interested in the new fighter jet acquisition.

The objective of the event is to present foreign governments and industry with the information required for them to make an informed decision about participating in the procurement, according to the federal government. In addition, the event will provide an opportunity for Canadian industry to network with foreign governments and fighter aircraft manufacturers, it added.

The Liberal government has committed to buying 88 new fighter jets to replace the CF-18 fleet.

The acquisition will include associated equipment, weapons, and sustainment set-up and services, according to the government.

According to the government, the basic parameters for a new jet include:
  • capable of performing missions from existing Canadian and allied bases.
  • capable of being interoperable within the context of NORAD and allied
  • capable of being deployable, operable, and sustainable worldwide in known threat environments into the 2060s, and be able to meet Canada’s military airworthiness regulations.
  • capable of having the potential to grow and evolve to maintain an operational advantage throughout its service life.
  • capable of including a comprehensive sustainment program that assures operational readiness and maintains mission effectiveness of the capability throughout its service life.
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According to several industry sources, more than 400 suppliers and industry representatives were present yesterday in Ottawa. 

New U.S. Warship trapped in Montreal by heavy ice


The Canadian Press

MONTREAL -- A newly commissioned Navy warship will be wintering in Montreal after its journey to Florida was interrupted by cold and ice.
Image result for USS Little Rock
The USS Little Rock moored in Montreal Harbor, December 2017. 
A Navy spokeswoman says the USS Little Rock was commissioned in Buffalo on Dec. 16 and was expected to make its way to its home port in Mayport, Fla.

Instead, the 118-metre Freedom-variant vessel has been moored in Montreal since Christmas Eve due to unusually heavy ice conditions.

Lt. Cmdr. Courtney Hillson says the Navy has now decided to leave the ship in place until the winter weather improves.

While there's no departure date scheduled, she says the St. Lawrence Seaway is generally navigable by mid-March.

Hillson says the crew are doing well and will focus on training and readiness while they wait to travel to warmer waters. The USS Little Rock is a Freedom-class littoral combat ship (LCS) of the United States Navy. The LCS designed for service in warmer climates. The USS Little Rock was to serve in Florida and the Gulf of Mexico for the duration of its career. 

Friday, January 19, 2018

GoC Awards Disposal Contract for HMCS Athabaskan

DND Press Release

Public Services and Procurement Canada has awarded a contract valued at $5,737,350 to Marine Recycling Corporation from Port Colborne, Ontario, for the disposal of the Royal Canadian Navy’s former Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Athabaskan.

Image result for hmcs athabaskan
Feb 2006 HMCS Athabaskan Photoex: Aerial Imagery of Standing NATO Maritime Group 1. Photographer: MCpl Charles Barber, Staff Photographer SNMG1 (NATO)
The contract includes towing to the contractor’s facility located in Sydney, Nova Scotia, demilitarization of equipment, remediation of hazardous waste and recycling of any remaining materials.

“The former HMCS Athabaskan served Canadians and protected our waters with distinction for more than 44 years. I am grateful to all Royal Canadian Navy members and veterans who have served with honour and dignity aboard this ship throughout its long and storied history,” said The Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of National Defence.

“This announcement is good news for Marine Recycling Corporation and the Canadian marine industry as a whole. This contract also benefits our local economy, as we are expecting to sustain approximately 30 jobs in the region,” said The Honourable Mark Eyking, MP, Sydney-Victoria (Nova Scotia).

“Marine Recycling Corporation has an excellent well-earned reputation, providing retirement for ships which have served Canadians throughout the years. The MRC team can take pride in being a positive influence through the continued support of community organizations in Port Colborne and across the Niagara region,” said The Honourable Vance Badawey, MP, Niagara Centre.

HMCS Athabaskan is currently docked at Canadian Forces Base Halifax, and is the last of the four Iroquois-class destroyers. These ships were a made-in-Canada solution to the defence and security challenges of the Cold War and post-Cold War era of the late 20th century.

The retirement of HMCS Athabaskan had been anticipated for some time. As part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy, the process of renewing and modernizing fleets for the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Coast Guard over the next 30 years has begun, with construction of vessels on Canada’s east and west coasts underway.

The Iroquois-class destroyers will be replaced by up to 15 Canadian Surface Combatants. The delivery of the first vessel is expected in the mid-2020s.

The modernized Halifax-class frigates, along with Kingston-class Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels and Victoria-class submarines, will allow the Royal Canadian Navy to continue to deliver on its core mission until the arrival of the new ships.

The dismantling of HMCS Athabaskan is expected to be completed by July 2019.

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Canadian Army Keeps Options open to Purchase More TAPVs

By: David Pugliese, Defence Watch

Several days ago I had an update on the Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV) project. Deliveries are continuing to Canadian Army units and a number of TAPVs will be set aside for reserve force training.

The TAPV project, announced in July 2009, will procure 500 vehicles to fulfill a variety of roles on the battlefield. An option for up to an additional 100 vehicles is included in the contract.

There were some suggestions that option was completely off the table because of tight funding. But not so, says the Canadian Army.

“The Department of National Defence has not yet made a decision to exercise that option, but the option can be exercised at any time until three years following the delivery of the last vehicle, which is anticipated for summer 2018,” Maja Graham, Senior Communications Advisor, Directorate Army Public Affairs, told Defence Watch.

Navy Supply Ships Delayed...Again

By: David Pugliese, The National Post 

Construction of the navy’s supply ships won’t start until 2019, the federal government says, yet another delay in outfitting the maritime service with a critical capability.

Work on the first Joint Support Ship at Seaspan shipyards in Vancouver was supposed to begin this year, but federal officials recently refused to outline to parliamentarians the building and delivery schedule for those vessels.

However, in the newly released update on the progress on the government’s shipbuilding strategy, the Liberals report that construction will begin in 2019.

The update, which covers progress made throughout 2016, is a mix of old and new information and includes an introduction by Procurement Minister Carla Qualtrough. Design work is continuing on a number of vessels, including the supply ships, writes Qualtrough, who took over the portfolio from Judy Foote in August.

Yet another delay for the Joint Support Ships cements the need for the leased supply ship, MV Asterix, which was acquired as a stop-gap measure so Canadian warships could be refuelled and resupplied at sea, navy officers privately say.

The Asterix, a commercial ship converted by Davie shipyards to perform a military supply role, is at the heart of the federal government’s case against Vice Admiral Mark Norman.

Norman has been accused by the RCMP of warning Davie that Liberal cabinet ministers wanted to derail the Asterix project.
Man overboard: Inside the fall of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman
Supply ship project delay means DND postpones $20-million payment
Two years after Liberals were accused of trying to scuttle it, new supply ship arrives in Halifax for navy training

That development leaked out to the news media and the resulting embarrassment forced the Liberal government to back down on its plans and Asterix proceeded. Royal Canadian Navy sailors are currently training on the ship on the East Coast and Asterix will be available in the coming months to resupply the navy’s vessels.

Norman, who was suspended from his job by Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jon Vance more than a year ago, has denied any wrongdoing. No charges have been laid against Norman and the claims made against him by the RCMP are so far unproven.

Norman had at times warned parliamentarians about the need to deal with the gap in supply ships because of his concerns that construction of the Joint Support Ships had fallen behind schedule.

The navy had hoped to get the first ship in 2021 and the second in 2022. The update issued by Qualtrough and posted to her department’s website on Dec. 17 still uses those dates. Industry officials, however, have said that those delivery dates are highly unlikely.

Last week Postmedia reported the Department of National Defence was holding off on spending $20 million on the Joint Support Ships because of ongoing delays but the department did not issue details about the timeframe. In an email, the DND noted the money would not be spent this year “due to delays in project approvals and contract awards, delay in construction of ships.”

Taxpayers will eventually spend $2.3 billion on the ships once the project is fully underway.

In late November, the federal government told MPs it can’t provide them with a schedule for the delivery of the new ships or the coast guard’s Polar-class icebreaker because it deems such information secret.

The refusal to provide such basic details to MPs on shipbuilding programs that are costing billions of dollars was a warning construction of the vessels had fallen further behind schedule, said industry representatives and Conservative MP Todd Doherty.

Qualtrough’s press secretary, Ashley Michnowski, noted the Liberal government has made a commitment to be transparent in communicating the progress on the national shipbuilding program. “Pulling together data and information for this first annual report was complex as it involved input from multiple departments and companies,” she noted. “We are now in a better position to provide more timely reporting moving forward.”

The update contains details of maintenance contracts for the Victoria-class submarines.

It also highlighted the work to convert Asterix, noting that 700 people are employed at Davie by the program.

But neither the submarines nor Asterix is part of the national shipbuilding program. In addition, Davie has laid off many of those workers since the Liberal government has refused to proceed with the conversion of a second supply ship and has rejected other ship proposals from the company.

Friday, January 12, 2018

Canadian JTAC Training Jordanian Military

By: Rupert Pengelley - Jane's International Defence Review
A Canadian-led team has trained the first cohort of Jordanian joint terminal attack controllers
The Jordan Armed Forces is setting up its own training capabilities

The air-land integration capabilities of the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF) have received a boost from a Canadian-led multinational mobile training team (MTT). Follow-on plans are being developed for a Jordanian national joint terminal attack controller (JTAC) instructional capability.
A Canadian JTAC instructor in discussion with JAF JTAC trainees undergoing training at an air-ground weapons range in the Jordanian desert in early 2017. (Canadian Armed Forces)
Assembly of the MTT began in late 2016 under the auspices of the Canadian JTAC school at Gagetown. The latter was responding to a Jordanian request initially lodged with the US-led Joint Fire Support Executive Steering Committee for the in-country provision of a US JTAC memorandum of agreement (MOA)-accredited course for JTACs.

Speaking at the 2017 Omega Close Air Support conference in Bristol, in the United Kingdom, Warrant Officer Ken Power, a Gagetown-based JTAC Standards and Evaluation (STANEVAL) examiner, said the task had filtered down to his organisation only two months before the MTT was required to be on the ground.

The team core was provided by three Canadian JTAC instructors (JTAC-Is), supplemented by others from Australia, France, Poland, and the United States.

As lead country, Canada was responsible for undertaking an initial reconnaissance of the in-country facilities and ranges, plus assuring availability of airspace, air support, maps, and safety support. All basic course material was supplied by Canada, along with a mobile simulator.

Power noted that the latter was supplanted only a few days into the course by a VBS2-based Deployable Virtual Training Environment (DVTE) simulator loaned by the US Marine Corps (USMC). The MTT was able to derive considerable additional support in theatre from the USMC, which had an Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO) detachment deployed in Jordan at the time.

The standard Canadian Forces JTAC course is spread over 10 weeks and, according to Power, is “heavy on homework”.

iAOR Asterix Loses Power before Massive Storm

By: Tom Ayers, The Chronicle Herald 

A new naval supply ship lost power in Halifax Harbour last week just ahead of a winter storm that packed nearly 80 kilometre-per-hour winds at the dockyard and gusts that exceeded 100 km/h elsewhere in the province.

The MV Asterix, a large former commercial container ship that has been converted into an interim auxiliary naval replenishment vessel, arrived in Halifax late last month and will be leased to the Royal Canadian Navy once it passes sea trials.

With the storm coming and the Asterix tied up at the pier next to the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market, the harbour authority asked the ship’s owners to move its berth up the harbour, said Spencer Fraser, CEO of Federal Fleet Services, the company that refurbished the vessel.

The ship was accompanied by tugboats, as usual, he said, and after the power went out, an extra tug was called in just as a precaution.

“The reason we moved berths was I guess it was too exposed and they don’t want to suffer damage to the jetty with the ship knocking in, so the ship was in fact moved before the storm approached,” Fraser told The Herald.

“There was a power blackout ... a sensor on the lube-oil system failed on the power generation, but the emergency power generation kicked in as required, and the extra tug was kept there just because of the pending storm and sorting out the sensor problem, which has been solved.

“We did that and we’ve subsequently done more harbour moves in the harbour. We’re now tied up at the navy dockyard at jetty November Bravo.

“So all systems worked. There was a failure of a sensor and then the backup systems worked as engineered. There was no damage to the ship, no storm damage, no cost to us other than standard repair.”

Fraser declined to discuss financial issues, but said there was no extra cost because the large ship always requires tugboats to manoeuvre around the harbour.

“It’s a new ship and it’s new to the Halifax Port Authority so everyone’s being extra cautious and professionalism came through,” he said.

Ken Hansen, a retired navy commander and defence consultant, said finding a faulty sensor is a common aspect of sea trials before a ship goes into service.

And lubricating oil is a critical component of a ship’s mechanical operations, so running drills related to the lube-oil would be expected, he said.

“Lube-oil failures are a very common thing to practise and the engineering staff have to take action so that they can determine whether or not it’s a faulty sensor or quickly shut down,” Hansen said.

“Lubricating oil is vital. It’s one of those real, honest-to-God emergencies that happen in a ship, because if the engine or the transmission runs dry, you can very quickly end up with a catastrophic failure.”

However, he said, the incident with the Asterix sounds like it was fixed right away and was not serious.

“It’s like cars,” Hansen said. “Cars are the same. In fact, I’ve got a faulty engine light in my car right now, and I know it’s a sensor, because all the other indications — running temperature, fuel efficiency, power response, all that stuff — is normal, so we don’t pay any attention.”

As an auxiliary naval replenishment vessel, the Asterix will provide the navy with fuel, cargo, ammunition, a floating hospital, a platform for two helicopters and quarters for humanitarian and rescue operations.

It will be leased to the federal government for five years at a cost of about $700 million, with an option to renew for an additional five years, while another firm builds new replacement ships for the navy.

The Asterix is currently crewed with a mix of 36 civilian and 114 Canadian Forces personnel and is set to run through sea trials this month.

Fraser said he expects the navy will put the ship into service in February.

Canadian Special Forces Looking to Recruit more Women

By: Murray Brewster, CBC News 

Canada's special forces hope to recruit more than just a few good women in the coming years, says the commander of the elite force.

Maj-Gen. Mike Rouleau said the special forces, the highly trained military units that hunt terrorists and conduct covert operations, are considering how they can recruit more women.

More than just a nod toward society's growing demand for gender balance, having more women in the unit would make it more effective, he said.
'This is the future, and it is a bit of James Bond, but if you want to defeat a [terrorist] cellular-based network, you need to be in front of that cell'- Steve Day, former commander of counterterrorism unit

"Having female operators would allow us to be more flexible in the battlespace," Rouleau said in a recent interview. "It would allow us to be more under the radar in certain cases."

In certain countries, two men walking down the street might draw attention, but having a man and woman conduct the same mission might be less noticeable, Rouleau suggested.

A former commander of the country's elite counterterrorism unit, JTF-2, which is part of the special forces command, said the need for such mixed gender teams is something Canada's allies have already recognized.

The more special forces are called on to fight terrorists, the more they will have to act and fight like intelligence agents, rather "door-kicking" commandos, said retired colonel Steve Day, who is now president of Reticle Security.

"Our closest allies routinely deploy male and female alongside each other to do the softer, intelligence-gathering, sensor-type operations," he said.

"This is the future, and it is a bit of James Bond, but if you want to defeat a [terrorist] cellular-based network, you need to be in front of that cell, and at the moment, we're not there."
Clear criteria

Up to 14 per cent of the more than 2,200 Canadian special forces personnel are women, a percentage Rouleau said he wants to increase to 25 per cent.

That figure would be in line with the overall direction of the Canadian military, which has set the same goal.

"We're an equal opportunity employer," said Rouleau. "We'd love to have more women in the force."

It is, however, easier said than done.

Rouleau noted a handful of women currently serve in both the special forces command and the unit that responds to chemical, biological and radioactive incidents.

A few have even tried out for JTF-2, but none have gone on to take the training course, because they failed to qualify, he said.

In order to be successful, Day said, a cultural change is needed within the special forces that recognizes not only the value of women in the field, but the fact that the elite troops are capable of doing more than assaulting a target.

The very first introduction of women into the special forces ranks in 2003-2004 "didn't go over that well because organizationally we were quite immature when it came to understanding what the selection process would be," said Day.

"There was a lot of pushback and no end of short-term grief."

The problem is not simply gender bias, he added.

The selection process of an "assaulter" — a soldier well-suited to combat — is well documented, he said, but the criteria for choosing the best people for more intelligence-based operations is not as well defined. That needs to change, Day said.

Rouleau acknowledged his organization can do more to get out the message that "female operators are not only welcome, but in many cases, they would make us operationally more successful."
Army under strain

The Liberal government's defence policy, released last spring, mandated the expansion of special forces by up to 605 personnel, presenting all sorts of challenges beyond the gender issue.

At the moment, troops can only join the elite unit through the regular forces, and up to 94 per cent of those transfers come from the army.

The wider military is having its own problems.

The army currently sits at 47,000, which includes regular and reserve soldiers, as well as Canadian Rangers, who patrol the Arctic. But the regular force is short up to 1,500 troops from its allotted strength of 23,100, according to Department of Defence statistics.
Members of Canadian Forces Special Operations JTF-2 unit storm a ship during a training mission off the shores of Churchill, Man. in 2012. The nature of operations for special forces is changing to include more intelligence gathering. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
Senior defence officials insist they're hitting recruiting targets, but retention of highly skilled members is a problem.

Drawing from an army that is struggling to keep qualified soldiers "is a concern," said Rouleau, who acknowledged he and his staff are looking for a direct-entry model similar to a program introduced by the U.S. Army, known as 18-Xray.

"You can't come from the street to be a special forces operator," said Rouleau. "But that doesn't mean in the future we won't have a model that you can come from the street.

"I'm not saying that's where we're going. I'm saying we're looking at alternate options to today's model to make sure that we're both capturing the talent that's out there, but also try, if we can, to alleviate some of the pressure from the services."

The American system gives recruits the opportunity to "try out" for special forces right away.

U.S.officials say it does not guarantee a recruit will be accepted, only that they will be given the opportunity to demonstrate they have "the right stuff."

RCN Revising Policy on Wi-Fi

By: Murray Brewster, CBC News 

For the navy's most senior enlisted man it was a seminal moment.

It was — in today's terms — the most ordinary of scenes, but the fact it was taking place in a mess aboard the frigate HMCS Charlottetown was extraordinary.

Chief Petty Officer 1st Class Michel Vigneault was amazed to see a sailor having a Facetime conversation with family back home on a smartphone.

The moment neatly captured the conundrum he and the top brass have faced in making the navy, which has for a decade been perpetually short of sailors, an appealing place to work.

The moment encapsulated two issues: the longstanding prohibition on Wi-Fi coverage aboard warships and the amount of time sailors are away from home.

Both have become central to the retention and recruiting makeover that is underway as part of the Liberal government's recently introduced defence strategy.

The ban on Wi-Fi was an obvious irritant.

"I realized then how important it is. Maybe not for my generation, because we didn't grow up with that, but for younger sailors, being connected is very, very important," Vigneault told CBC News is a recent interview. "Everything we can do to enable that for the benefit of the sailor and his or her family is very, very important."
Infrequent chats

The navy has dropped what its top sailor called the "draconian" policy on the technology and has embarked on a program to install Wi-Fi on each of its warships.

"There are other navies that operate with NATO that have Wi-Fi in far more spaces than we do." said Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd, commander of the Royal Canadian Navy. "And we're saying 'No you can't have it aboard' — period? That's crazy."

The U.S. navy began installing 4G LTE networks aboard its ships in 2012, while Canadians sailors have over the same period of time been forced to stow their cellphones while at sea — particularly when in secured areas — and rely on the occasional satellite phone conversation with family at home.

Those infrequent chats conducted through "morale phones" were largely dependant on the warship's jammed-up operational network.

Lloyd said last summer the crew of HMCS Toronto bought a Wi-Fi kit and installed it for use in non-secure locations aboard the ship, demonstrating it could be done expeditiously.

The coastal patrol ship HMCS Summerside had done the same, according to a navy publication.

The Wi-Fi works while a warship is in port — home or otherwise — and Lloyd said they are working on creating access while the ship is at sea, in much the same manner airlines now offer connectivity for passengers in the air.

Aside from obvious security issues, which the navy insists it has a handle on, the introduction of Wi-Fi brings with it questions about privacy, social media addiction and, potentially, policing of content. Many of those issues are covered by the military's overall social media policy, but until recently they were not matters individual ship commanders had to routinely consider.

The navy is examining how much time sailors spend at sea as part of a strategy to be more family friendly. (Private Dan Bard/Canadian Forces Combat Camera)

Getting the quality of work-life balance right has also forced the navy to revisit and revise long-standing deployment policies.

The shortage of sailors has meant an increase in what is known as "attached postings," which has seen crew members do back-to-back deployments at sea for months on end.

Lloyd says they are now measuring, down to the sailor, how many attached postings there are.

"There is nothing worse than going from ship to ship," he said.

A flag officer — namely a fleet admiral or task force commander — will now have to sign off on deploying a sailor for more than 180 days per year.

And ideally, Lloyd said, the navy is trying to avoid sending someone to sea for that length of time years in a row.

It is a sea change for an institution that, for decades, gauged its effectiveness not by how long individual sailors were away but by the numbers of days its individual ships spent on the ocean.

Just how far out of step the navy has been with the rest of society was underlined when senior brass met recently with pollsters to discuss, among other things, getting millennials interested in a career at sea.

Lloyd said the research found the navy was — in some instances — going in precisely the opposite direction to the expectations of the next generation.