New RCAF Spy Planes to cost upwards of $300 Million

By: David Pugliese, Post Media 

The cost of three small surveillance aircraft Canada is buying from the U.S. could be $140 million more than the Canadian military had originally estimated.

The three Beechcraft King Air planes, to be based at CFB Trenton in Ontario, will be outfitted with sensors and equipment to intercept cell phone and other electronic transmissions. Canadian special forces and, potentially, other government departments will use them for missions overseas and in Canada.

On Oct. 1 the Canadian Forces told Postmedia the three outfitted planes and initial in-service support would cost between $100 million and $249 million, as outlined in the Liberal government’s defence policy documents.

However, on Oct. 4 the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency revealed the final tally, informing Congress that the deal was underway with an estimated cost of US $300 million — around $389 million.

Canadian companies had wanted to provide the aircraft and on-board equipment, and several have formed alliances with U.S. firms who supply the Pentagon with the same or similar aircraft.


We will work to more clearly define our interests and requirements for the purchase, and negotiate an acceptable price with the U.S.


But the Canadian military decided it needed the planes more quickly than they believed Canadian companies could deliver, and that U.S. security regulations governing the on-board sensor equipment might cause delays. As a result, it determined the U.S. government was the only supplier capable of providing the planes.

The Canadian Forces says it hopes to get a better deal. The cost the U.S. government agency presented to Congress is not the final tally and the “final cost is anticipated to be much lower,” the Canadian Forces claimed in an email. “Over the coming months, we will work to more clearly define our interests and requirements for the purchase, and negotiate an acceptable price with the U.S.,” the email said.

A Beechcraft Super King Air 200 sits in the Air Transportation Services hangar at the City Centre Airport in Edmonton on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2012. EDMONTON SUN/QMI AGENCY

Department of National Defence spokeswoman Ashley Lemire said in an email to Postmedia that the delivery of the first plane would take place sometime between 2020 and 2021. The final delivery of the three aircraft would be wrapped up by 2022.

The main contractor is Beechcraft in Wichita, Kan.

The Canadian government will run a separate program to allow companies to compete to provide in-service support for the planes. The government expects to ask for bids for that 20-year contract sometime in the spring of 2019, said Lemire. DND declined to provide an estimate of what that long-term support would cost taxpayers.

Industry representatives have complained over the years that the Canadian Forces cut domestic firms out of the project and reduced the role they could play. Lemire rejected that claim, saying Canadian firms would have a role in servicing the planes.

It is unclear at this point whether the aircraft will be under the command of the Royal Canadian Air Force or special forces. “The Manned Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance project will deliver a rapidly deployable, airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability to Canadian Special Operations Forces Command to support domestic and overseas operations,” Lemire said in her email. “The command and control arrangement of this capability has yet to be finalized.”

RCAF pilots will fly the aircraft but special forces personnel will operate the specialized equipment in the planes.

The planes will be outfitted with electro-optical sensors that would allow the aircraft to track the movement of individuals and vehicles on the ground. Canadian special forces had access to similar aircraft in Afghanistan to track and target insurgents.

Canada Needs to Boost Aurora Fleet Now & Beginning New Fleet Plan

Originally Published to Defence Watch

What is printed below is an executive summary of the document, “Preserve Canada’s Strategic Surveillance Capability” which was forwarded to the Defence Policy Review Committee by the Maritime Air Veterans Association (MAVA). It was provided to Defence Watch by the authors, retired Brig.-Gen. Duane Daly, President of the Maritime Air Veterans Association and retired Col. E.S.C. Cable, Strategic Studies Coordinator of the same organization. 

Here is what they wrote in their document:

By: Brig.-Gen. Duane Daly (Ret.) & Col. E.S.C. Cable (Ret.)

Canada’s geography has insulated our nation from conflicts on our soil; however, our geography also presents a massive three-ocean frontier consisting of the world’s longest coastline and a massive Arctic archipelago to defend. For the past 65 years, Canada has maintained a credible maritime surveillance capability, which has significantly extended our awareness of domestic and military activities beyond our shores and has safeguarded our sovereignty.

Canada acquired a fleet of 33 Argus maritime surveillance aircraft in the late 1950s to conduct anti-submarine (ASW) patrols over the Atlantic and Pacific with periodic sovereignty forays to the Arctic. Designed and built in Canada by Canadair (now Bombardier) the Argus was the most capable ASW aircraft of its era. In the early 1980s the obsolete Argus fleet was replaced by 18 CP-140 Aurora ASW patrol aircraft and three CP-140A Arcturus Arctic and Maritime Surveillance Aircraft. However, Canada’s surveillance capability has now been reduced to an alarming level. Canada has already disposed of two Arcturus and turned the third into a permanent maintenance trainer; and is in the process of updating and extending the life of only 14 of the 18 Auroras with the intention to operate only ten aircraft in a rotatable pool of 14 to achieve a life expectancy to 2030 at a reduced pace of operations. Four Auroras are to be scrapped.

During RIMPAC 2015, a multi-national exercise in the Pacific, the U.S. Navy publically stated that the systems in the updated Aurora are performing at level they hope to attain with their newly acquired P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft in ten years. During the current Operation Impact in Syria and Iraq the updated Aurora is acknowledged as one of the most successful and capable ASW and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft in the world.

An RCAF CP-140 in Kuwait

The Need

Fleet sizing studies for the Aurora procurement indicated that 24 aircraft were required to deal with the two-ocean sub-surface threat posed by the Warsaw Pact nations and their satellites. The government unilaterally reduced the number of aircraft to 18 Auroras without a commensurate reduction in tasking. The current fleet size of 14 updated and life extended Auroras to produce ten Auroras for operations is insufficient to fulfill the surveillance requirements for a country with the world’s longest coastline and largest Arctic Archipelago. In addition to the two-ocean commitment, global warming has expanded the requirement for Arctic ISR to monitor shipping activity, search and rescue, communications relay and ASW. There is also a growing need to provide ISR support for international expeditionary missions such as Libya, Syria and Iraq. Despite this increased demand for overland and maritime surveillance, the RCAF is being forced to scrap the remaining four Auroras because of budget and associated manning constraints.

Operations in Libya, Syria and Iraq have demonstrated the requirement for persistent surveillance with a stand-off weapons capability. The RCAF and Canadian industry have the capability to modify and equip the Auroras to carry any weapon currently certified on the U.S. Navy’s P-3C aircraft, including air-to-ground stand-off weapons. An Aurora stand-off, ground attack weapon capability would provide an alternative to the contentious use of armed unmanned air vehicles (UAV) against fleeting targets for the foreseeable future. Moreover, with the increasing use of surveillance UAVs, the Aurora’s communication and data management systems can be readily configured as an airborne UAV controller to provide line-of-sight, operator control of UAVs in theatre.

The Opportunity

There is an urgent requirement to allocate incremental funding to the RCAF to take advantage of the narrowing window of opportunity to update and life extend the four Auroras currently to be scrapped. This will restore the Aurora fleet to its original size of 18 aircraft. A decision is urgent because Lockheed-Martin will likely close the wing and horizontal tail production line necessary to life-extend the four remaining Auroras if there are no follow-on orders. Also, restoring the fleet to 18 aircraft will require additional RCAF manning and funding to operate the last four Auroras.

As an alternative to acquiring armed UAVs, a modification program, already implemented by the U.S. Navy, should be considered to provide the Aurora a stand-off ground attack capability. Also, any future program to acquire surveillance UAVs should include the modification to the Aurora software to provide line-of-sight control of in-theatre UAVs.

The enhanced life expectancy of the updated Aurora will enable operations to at least 2030 when the Aurora will require replacement. The Boeing P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft would be a viable replacement candidate. However, liaison with industry is recommended to assess if a maritime version of the Bombardier C-Series airliner could be a home-grown option in much the same manner as Canadair developed the Argus from the Bristol Britannia airliner.

Conclusion

The Government of Canada is rightly concerned about the opening up of the Arctic due to global warming. A full fleet of 18 updated and life-extended Auroras would provide an extensive capability to meet that requirement in the near term with minimal investment. It would also provide a viable counter to the ever growing submarine threat in the Atlantic and Pacific.

Canadian defence industry innovation and partnership with the Government of Canada has delivered a state-of-the art alternative to the more expensive Boeing P-8. The Aurora update solution is sufficiently scalable and flexible to garner the attention of foreign governments, particularly with the Canadian capability to life-extend hundreds of foreign P-3C aircraft as part of a systems upgrade. This represents an immediate export opportunity, which could create and maintain high paying jobs in Canada.

Modifying the Auroras to carry air-to-ground stand-off weapons and to provide direct, line-of-sight control of UAVs in-theatre could provide a near-term solution to the debate over the acquisition and use of weapon-capable UAVs.

USN P-8 Poseidon 

Recommendations

It is recommended that update and life extension modifications be completed on all 18 Aurora aircraft before the window of opportunity closes.

It is recommended that RCAF manpower and associated funding be increased to restore the Aurora fleet to its full 18 aircraft capability.

It is recommended that planning be initiated now to replace the 18 aircraft Aurora fleet by 2030 with a fully ASW/ISR capable aircraft with sufficient range and endurance to meet Canadian strategic (sub-surface and overland) surveillance requirements. Such planning should consider the possible development of a maritime version of the Bombardier C-Series airliner in the same manner that Canadair developed the Argus from the Bristol Britannia airliner.

Russia Conducting Aerial Surveillance of CAF Bases via Post-Cold War Treaty

By: Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press 

OTTAWA – Russia is using a post-Cold War agreement to conduct an aerial surveillance mission over Canadian military facilities this week, even as relations between the two countries remain frosty.

The five-day mission started Tuesday and involves an unarmed Russian aircraft flying to different parts of the country to take photos of Canadian Forces bases and other military installations.

It is being conducted under the terms of the Treaty on Open Skies, which Canada, Russia and 32 other countries signed in 1992 to encourage trust and openness about each country’s military capabilities and activities.

National Defence spokesman Patricia Brunelle said in an email that the Canadian military will escort the Russians across the country to ensure they don’t stray beyond what is allowed in the treaty.

Canadian personnel will be aboard the plane during actual observation flights to, in part, “monitor imaging equipment, ensure adherence to the agreed flight route and profile, and provide oversight, guidance and assistance.”

National Defence would not say exactly which bases or installations the Russians would be flying over for security reasons, referring questions to the Russian Embassy in Ottawa.

READ MORE: Russia navy activity in Europe exceeds Cold War levels, says U.S. admiral

The embassy did not immediately return requests for comment.

Such flights aren’t uncommon, with Canada having conducted its own monitoring mission over Russia this past November.

But this mission comes at a time when relations between Moscow and the West, including Canada, have reached what U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently called “a low point.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called out the Kremlin earlier this month for supporting the Syrian government, which has been blamed for a chemical attack that killed more than 80 people on April 7.

WATCH: Canada sends strong message to Russia by extending Ukraine mission

More than 450 Canadian troops are also preparing to head to Latvia in the next few weeks, where they will lead a NATO force intended to check Russian aggression in eastern Europe.

And Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland remains on a list of individuals banned from visiting Russia, after Canada slapped the country with sanctions for annexing Crimea in 2014.

Brunelle said signatories are legally obligated to allow surveillance flights under the terms of the treaty, meaning the Russians don’t have to ask permission to undertake such a mission.

“The treaty is designed to enhance mutual understanding and confidence by providing all participants with the legal mechanism and technical means of acquiring, through direct observation, information about military forces and activities of concern to them,” Brunelle said.

“This is done as part of the confidence and security-building measures that are designed as a mechanism to reduce hostilities and tensions between nations.”

A number of agreements between Russia and the U.S. have been broken in recent months or are in danger of being broken, including a ban on cruise missiles in Europe and one treaty on nuclear disarmament.

“So the fact that we are still buying into these overflights is a good thing,” said Steve Saideman, a political scientist at Carleton University`s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs.

“And given our relations with the Russians today, we should be trying to support all the opportunities you can to address the lack of confidence and trust between the two sides.”