Finance Minister Bill Morneau, scheduled to present a federal government “economic and fiscal snapshot” on Wednesday 8 July, says that “as hard as it’s been over the last few months,” mainly due to COVID-19’s economic impact, “the really tough choices will still be to come.” The challenge, he explained, is that “we'll need to think about where we invest and how we support people without creating bad incentives.”

An audio recording obtained by the Canadian government suggests that Iran permitted air traffic in and out of Tehran’s international airport during a period of intense military activity that saw a Ukrainian airliner downed by missiles six monhs ago. The recording is of a conversation between Iran’s accident investigation team and a Canadian family member of one of the 17 victims. The investigator, who explained that closing Tehran airspace could have exposed an imminent missile attack on U.S. bases in Iraq, has since been removed.

A member of the Canadian Armed Forces, identified only as an armed member of the Canadian Rangers, is in RCMP custody after a pickup truck registered in Manitoba was used to ram the gates at Rideau Hall early 02 July. after which the driver proceeded on foot toward the official residences of the Governor General and the Prime Minister, neither of whom was at home. The Department of National Defence confirmed the suspect’s military status but declined further comment “at this time” as it is an RCMP investigation.

In an era of increasingly netcentric aircraft, Lockheed Martin says U.S. Air Force pilots at a Nevada base now can use a simulator and train alongside various types of virtual aircraft. Air Combat Command formally accepted the company’s Distributed Mission Training system in June and during test at Nellis AFB, pilots in four F-35 simulators interacted with pilots at other bases.

Accusing Turkey of violating an arms embargo against Libya, France has suspended its involvement in NATO’s Operation Sea Guardian. The defence ministry’s announcement comes after France said Turkish naval vessels had threatened a French warship in the Mediterranean in June when it tried to inspect a Tanzanian-flagged ship suspected of smuggling weapons off the coast of Libya. The two countries have since exchanged a series of insults.

Rules barring most foreign travellers from entering Canada have been extended by a month until at least 31 July as the federal government steps up its COVID-19 countermeasures. The restrictions apply to everyone except Canadian citizens and permanent residents, and U.S. citizens entering Canada for “essential” reasons. Closure of the Canada-U.S. border to all but essential workers and trade is covered by a separate order.

A series of flight tests involving software updates designed to correct a controls conflict on Boein737 MAX airliners has been completed by the company and the Federal Aviation Administration. The results are key to returning the aircraft to service after the global fleet was grounded in the aftermath of fatal crashes in Malaysia in October 2018 and in Ethiopia March 2019.

U.S.-controlled territory in eastern Syria is under pressure from Russian forces, part of what is described as a move to squeeze the U.S. out of the contested region, according to two current and one former U.S. official. The two countries have supported opposing sides in the long-running civil war but hitherto have communicated regularly to deconflict in the crowded battlespace.

The Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopter has completed initial sea trials for the U.S. Marine Corps. A U.S. Navy spokesperson says the test team completed launch and recovery as well as a range of shipboard compatibility tests.

An explosion in Iran’s eastern mountains is believed to have occurred at an underground missile factory. Satellite imagery of the area east of Tehran show extensive charred not seen in previous images in the weeks leading up to the explosion.

The Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Edward Cornwallis, currently undergoing a $12.1-million refit at Shelburne Ship Repair in Nova Scotia, will be getting a new name when commissioned back into service next year. The 18th-century British officer and politician for which it is named offered bounties in the mid-1700s for the capture or scalps of Mi’kmaw men in a bid to stop raids on British settlements. A new name will be recommended by the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs.

The Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Fredericton is participating alongside British, French, German, Norwegian and U.S. forces in exercise Dynamic Mongoose off the coast of Iceland. Designed to hone anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare skills, the exercise began 29 June and is set to run until 10 July.

President Donald Trump has said he was not briefed about a Russian program which allegedly offeredAfghan terrorists bounties to kill U.S. service personnel but senior White House officials say the administration was aware early last year of the classified information and that it had been included in the President’s daily briefing notes.

GM Defense has been awarded a $214.3 million contract to supply 649 new helicopter-transportable infantry squad vehicles for the U.S. Army over the next seven years. There is a follow-on requirement for 1,415 more of the vehicles capable of carrying nine troopers.

The U.S. has imposed new export controls on military and some high-technology products destined for Hong Kong. The administration decided several weeks ago that the former British colony no longer had sufficient autonomy as Beijing consolidated its hold.

The flight data and cockpit voice recorders from Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752, downed by Iranian missiles after takeoff from Tehran nearly six months ago, will be shipped to France for analysis in July, the International Civil Aviation Organization has announced. While French investigators will lead the analysis, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada also will be involved because many Canadians died in the attack.

Several U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan are reported to have been killed by Taliban-linked militants encouraged by Russian bounties. This is according to information from captured militants and evidently was the focus of a White House meeting in March but President Donald Trump says he was not briefed.

President Donald Trump’s nomination of retired Army General Anthony Tata as policy chief at the Department of Defense is being challenged by more than 50 advocacy groups. Accusing him of “bigotry and discrimination” during his military career, the critics say the Senate should not confirm the appointment of “one of the most clearly bigoted executive nominees in recent memory.”

Poised to begin a six-month presidency of the European Council, Germany is expected to launch a common threat analysis for the European Union as well as push for non-EU states to have access to defence cooperation projects. Its term begins 1 July.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been directed to exempt Canadians from new restrictions on foreign professionals’ access, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association. An executive order announced 22 June by the White House blocks entry for most H, J and L visa holders for at least the rest of 2020; President Donald Trump’s rationale is that it would provide job opportunities for U.S. citizens.

Less than eight weeks after the fatal crash of one of its Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone helicopters in the Ionian Sea, and a week after the RCAF cleared the fleet to resume operations, one helicopter crew has completed the first in a series of training flights. In the meantime, Department of National Defence is preparing to accept deliveries of the remaining aircraft from its order of 28.

An extension of its ban on the issuance of green cards outside the U.S. has cast a cloud of uncertainty among Canadians and other nationals employed by multinational companies, notably in the tech sector. In announcing his decision, President Donald Trump characterized it as a way to free up jobs in the U.S. economy for Americans.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to track all federal employees and contractors in its hunt for “insider threats” regardless of whether they require security clearance. It had focused initially on government agency employees with clearance who might pose a threat even inadvertently.

U.S. Air Force plans to retire its 16 Northrop Grumman E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attah Radar System aircraft should be put on hold until a suitable replacement is found, according to a congressional subcommittee. The cost of a replacement JSTARs fleet has been estimated at $7 billion.

The House of Representatives Oversight and Reform Committee has told Lockheed Martin that the Department of Defense faces “excess costs” due to having to “troubleshoot” issues with its F-35 Lightning II fighters. There have been more than $300 million in unplanned spending since 2015 and the DoD expects to pay $55 million annually if Lockheed Martin does not resolve the ongoing issues.

Mike Griffin, the U.S. Undersecretary for Defense for research and engineering, as well as his deputy, Lisa Porter, are leaving 10 July to work in the private sector. During his more than two years in the newly-created post, Griffin has had a sometimes contentious relationship not only with his own team but also with Congress.

The remains of the final four of six Canadian Armed Forces members who died 29 April have been identified. The Department of National Defence says the victims’ families have been notified and the remains will be released to them in the coming days.

Reports of a CAF member spreading racist images even as senior officials apologize for their slow response to questions about systemic racism are being investigated by the Military Police. “We reaffirm our commitment that no defence team members should feel unwelcome in a room, workshop, drill hall, ship or airfield,” Chief of the Defence Staff Gen Jonathan Vance said in a joint statement with the Department of National Defence’s top civilian, Deputy Minister Jody Thomas.

Jiří Šedivý, the former Czech Republic’s defence minister and now head of the European Defence Agency, has challenged the European Union to “deliver . . . to its full extent” by avoiding pressure to cut military spending and pooling resources “because a collective approach is much more cost-effective than national solo efforts.”

The U.S. Department of Defense is broadening its Comply-to-Connect (C2C) program to encompass the entire U.S. military in a bid to ensure that any device touching its network complies with DoD cybersecurity standards. Set up by the National Security Agency, the Marine Corps and the Air Force in 2013, C2C continuously analyzes all connected devices such as smartphones and computers to ensure compliance.

More than 18 months after they were detained by China, two Canadians – former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor – have now been charged with espionage. They were arrested in December 2018 a few days after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was detained in Vancouver at the request of the United States. China has denied any link but Prime Minister Trudeau has accused China of “using arbitrary detention as a tool to achieve political goals.”

Former Conservative cabinet ministers Peter MacKay and Erin O’Toole, generally considered the front-runners in the race to succeed Andrew Scheer as leader of the Conservative Party, pretty much dominated a French-language debate 17 June. O’Toole, a former RCAF officer, accused MacKay, a former defence minister, of lying several times.

A pair of extensively upgraded Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets has been delivered to the U.S. Navy for flight tests. The Block III variant incorporates conformal fuel tanks which reduce drag and extend range while presenting a lower radar cross-section than earlier versions.

John Bolton, a former U.S. Ambassador to the UN and national security advisor to President Donald Trump, paints a detailed and derogatory picture of his former boss in a new book the White House is trying to supress through a lawsuit. Among other things, Bolton, an acknowledged policy hawk, says Trump, whom he describes as “servile” in dealings with foreign leaders, asked Chinese President for help in winning next November’s election.