16 Nov – Op Unifier Combat Service Support members prepare to demonstrate maintenance, supply and transport capacities to Ukrainian trainers at the Int'l Peacekeeping and Security Center.
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IN THE NEWS
Dec 01
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan is “very happy” with the progress of the RCAF's plan for a new generation of fighter aircraft. Also confident about as the overall future of the defence budget and Canada’s multilateral relationships, he shared his thoughts with a U.S. online publication after the latest Halifax International Security Forum.
Dec 01
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the alliance is face with a dilemma about its future in Afghanistan as the U.S. begins a troop drawdown. He says one choice is “to leave, and risk that Afghanistan becomes once again a safe haven for international terrorists.” The other is to “stay and risk a longer mission with renewed violence.”
Dec 01
The RCN’s new surface combatants will have the first installations of a new Lockheed Martin radar system. The decision to go with the AN/SPY-7 technology, which can be upgraded to a ballistic missile defence system, has been the focus of an intense debate within the defence procurement sector.
Dec 01
Some 650 RCN and RCAF personnel are involved in Exercise Trident Fury 20, a two-week joint operation with U.S. ships and aircraft off southern Vancouver Island. Essentially designed to improve coordination and to provide tactical training on how to deal with offshore threats, the exercise also provides pre-deployment training for the crew of HMCS Calgary before an overseas counter-terrorism deployment.
Nov 30
Promising that the federal government will do “whatever it takes”, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland closed out November with an economic statement which includes a short-term stimulus package valued at up to $100 million. “Spending roughly three to four per cent of GDP, over three years, our government will make carefully judged, targeted and meaningful investments to create jobs and boost growth,” she said. The 2020-2021 deficit was already forecast to top $381 billion.
Nov 30
A German administrative court has ruled that the government cannot be compelled ensure that U.S. drone strikes controlled from Ramstein comply with international law. The case was brought by human rights groups on behalf of Yemenis whose relatives were killed in a 2012 strike. The ruling restores a lower court’s finding that the government could balance its legal obligations with “foreign and defense policy interests.”
Nov 30
Several members of the U.S. Department of Defense’s senior advisory board have been suddenly dumped by the Trump administration. A directive issued by the DoD’s White House liaison removed 11 board members, including several former members of Congress, two former secretaries of state and a former chief of naval operations.
Nov 30
An Ottawa-based military family has filed a complaint with the Ontario Landlord & Tenant Board, alleging that the Saudi Arabian embassy evicted them in bad faith. They say that Chargé d'affaires Sulaiman AlAqeel had said he planned to move into the property but that it was subsequently listed for sale.
Nov 30
Canada is extending its ban on non-essential entry by most travellers who are not Canadians, permanent residents or people entering from the U.S. The ban on entries from the U.S. is extended to Dec. 21 and on others until Jan. 21, as are 14-day quarantine requirements.
Nov 30
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is blaming Israel for last week’s killing near Tehran of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. “Iran's enemies should know that the people of Iran and officials are braver than to leave this criminal act unanswered,” he says. “In due time, they will answer for this crime.”
Nov 27
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has chosen former NATO commander MGen Dany Fortin to spearhead the government’s distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Most recently chief of staff for Canadian Joint Operations Command, he becomes vice-president for logistics and operations at the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Nov 27
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, generally considered the driving force behind Iran’s nuclear weapons program, has been killed. State media report that he had been wounded in the attack while travelling near Tehran Iran but that doctors’ efforts to save him had failed.
Nov 27
The Canadian frigate HMCS Ottawa was able to transit strategically contentious waters between Taiwan and China in September 2019 but only after the plan had been discussed by senior officials at National Defence and Global Affairs. Officials had been told to keep quiet about the voyage three months after Chinese fighters buzzed two other Canadian ships transiting the Taiwan Strait.
Nov 27
Thirteen Australian special forces troops have been sent notices of likely dismissal in the wake of a recent report that 39 civilians and prisoners had been killed in Afghanistan. These are in addition to 19 other troops who could face prosecution. The Australian report blamed the killings between 2009 and 2013 on a “warrior culture” among some of its peacekeepers.
Nov 27
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his provincial counterparts held a virtual meeting Nov. 26 to discuss distribution of COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available. The premiers of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick say per capita distribution will be based on vulnerability. “We expect certain vaccines to become available in early 2021,” says Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada's deputy chief public health officer, meaning that six million Canadians could be vaccinated by March.
Nov 26
Construction has begun on a new $144-milliion Defence Research and Development Canada facility at CFB Valcartier, Que., the first phase of a $270-million upgrade. Eighty multi-disciplinary laboratories will consolidate nearly 500 scientists from various locations on the base.
Nov 26
Nearly 500 persons accused of participating in a 2016 attempted coup in Turkey, including 337 military officers, have been sentenced to life imprisonment. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government said the attempted overthrow directed from Akinci air base near Ankara resulted in 251 deaths and more than 2,000 injuries.
Nov 25
Michael Flynn, the retired U.S. Army General who pleaded guilty twice to lying to FBI investigators about interaction with Russian contacts during Donald Trump’s transition into power in 2016, has received a full presidential pardon. Flynn, who led the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2021 to 2014 and became Trump’s National Security Advisor, was fired in February 2017.
Nov 25
The U.S. Department of Defense’s contract management office says “recent negative trends” in mishaps at three Boeing facilities have resulted in damage to military aircraft. Saying that incidents “far exceeds historical rates” and are “not consistent with expected performance,” the office cites, among other things, damage due to disregard for overhead clearances when moving aircraft.
Nov 25
MilSOFT, a privately-owned Turkish company says it has developed an artificial intelligence-based software which enables swarms of fixed-wing or rotary drones. “They are quick, cost-effective and easy to operate,” a Turkish government official says. “Most importantly, they are assets designed to minimize human loss in asymmetrical warfare.”
Nov 25
The U.S. Government Accountability Office reports that various military aircraft have not been ready to fly when needed for years. “The average annual mission capable rate . . . decreased since fiscal year 2011,” it says. Of 41 aircraft reviewed, only the Bell UH-1N Huey utility helicopter had been consistently available.
Nov 25
An Individual Integrated Visual Augmentation System developed by Microsoft evidently improves combat marksmanship, the U.S. Army says. Scheduled to go into widespread use next year, the Bluetooth-enabled IVAS includes a head-up display of tactical maps as well as the reticle on their weapons’ scope.
Nov 25
New GPS receivers capable of using a more secure military signal, will be put into service next year. The U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center reports that Germany is the first of 58 countries authorized to acquire the technology.
Nov 25
Most Canadians can expect to receive an emergency public alert on their TVs, radios and mobile devices today in a national test of the system. The time, five minutes before the hour, varies by region.
Nov 24
An independent analysis of NATO says that while the alliance can expect to benefit from a new U.S. presidency, it must adapt a more comprehensive and resilient agenda to remain relevant globally. The analysis underscores the growing need to tackle “corrosive” cyber operations, disinformation campaigns and supply chain disruptions, among other things. In addition, “NATO’s core tasks of collective defense, crisis management and cooperative security must be expanded to include countering challenges that contribute to global instability.”
ISSUES & IDEAS
Arab countries are uncertain about the new U.S administration attitude towards them, and are anxiously watching for the expected policy changes to come.
6 Nov 2020 – By banning the wearing of poppies by its employees, Whole Foods (owned by Amazon) had wandered onto a reputational minefield. It had to calculate its next move very carefully. (new update 7 Nov).
Everywhere we look within DND, we find delay. This ranges from replacing vital equipment to appointing a new leader – what does that say about how the government prioritizes its Armed Forces?
FEATURED ARTICLES 2020 |
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BY ROBBIN LAIRD
The Royal Australian Navy plays a big part in Australia’s extensive transformation process. The new procurement approach has been labelled a “continuous shipbuilding process,” and has the potential to impact defence procurement processes of its allies.
FrontLine has gathered the key industry leaders in the defence and national security sectors. These are the project primes and specialized subcontractors that provide Top Quality solutions for these critical sectors.
General Jonathan Vance, Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), announced, in March 2020, the list of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) appointments, promotions, and retirements for 2020, and then announced his own retirement in July.
Personnel changes in your defence community include: Raytheon, DRS, ADGA, MDA, DND, Canadian Embassy in Washington, Cdn Forces College, and Climatopolis.
BY KEN POLE
Accurate plotting of a potential enemy's next moves has seen militaries worldwide rely increasingly on sophisticated technologies for strategic advantage, and that's where NATO's Airborne Early Warning & Control force comes in.
In naval warfare, one of the best tools for area denial is the anti-ship missile system. Iran is developing sophisticated anti-ship missile systems to counter any offensive advantage posed by its adversaries.
BY CHRIS MACLEAN
Will 2020 finally be the year in which listening turns to hearing, and then to action? Change has begun. Hopefully our leaders will embrace and assist this grassroots progress, but if not, to borrow from General Mattis, we can still do it together. What will you do?
BY KEN POLE
As 2020 rolled in, few could have guessed that members of the Canadian Armed Forces would soon be helping elderly Canadians battle an invisible enemy: the novel coronavirus that had emerged in China's Wuhan province in late 2019.
BY EUGENE GERDEN
Despite the pandemic, many European NATO members are considering raising their combat potential as one way to stimulate economies that were negatively affected by efforts to control and mitigate the effects of COVID-19.
BY JAMES FRYER
A clearer distinction between 'compulsory' and 'discretionary' missions will help ensure the military's relevance for the most important challenges facing Canadians.
BY ROSS FETTERLY
As COVID continues to force the federal government to implement measures that will inject liquidity into the economy, now is the time to reflect on annual defence budgets and the impact on capabilities from long-term funding shifts.