buglerbilly
19-04-10, 02:34 PM
By Dave Pugliese
Published: 19 April 2010
VICTORIA, British Columbia - Fiscal problems have stalled Canadian Air Force and Navy projects, but efforts to re-equip its Army vehicle fleets remain on schedule.
Canada's Army is emerging as the clear winner in equipment purchases. It has received approval to spend more than 5 billion Canadian dollars ($4.9 billion) on several new fleets of armored vehicles, while an Air Force program to buy search-and-rescue planes and the Navy's efforts to spend billions on new vessels are in limbo.
The ongoing war in Afghanistan, and the fact that the service has become the main force called on by government for both international and domestic deployments, has bolstered its support, say analysts and officers.
"The Army is the major beneficiary of money available for equipment, largely because of Afghanistan and presumably because of an expectation they'll be called up more in the future for other missions," said defense analyst Martin Shadwick, a strategic studies professor at York University in Toronto.
Shadwick said the Army has been high profile over the last decade. It has been in Afghanistan, and is the first service the Canadian government usually turns to for international missions, as well as domestic deployments to deal with natural disasters such as forest fires and flooding.
Military officers privately agreed with that assessment, noting that although the Air Force has received new aircraft in the last three years, those planes have a transport role that would be used largely to support Army deployments. Canada has purchased and received four C-17s and is receiving the first of its new fleet of C-130Js starting in May.
The Air Force also will receive new Chinook helicopters. In the interim for the Afghanistan mission, it acquired used Chinooks from the U.S. military, again the primary role of the aircraft being to transport Army personnel.
Last July, Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced the Canadian government would spend 5 billion Canadian dollars on the Close Combat Vehicle (CCV) program, the Force Mobility Enhancement program and tactical armored patrol vehicles. He also said that the price included an estimated 1 billion Canadian dollars to upgrade the current fleet of light armored vehicles, known as LAV-3s. Extensive use and the rough Afghanistan terrain have taken their toll on the LAV-3 fleet, he said.
The government has already selected General Dynamics Land Systems Canada, the builder of the LAV-3, as the prime contractor and systems integrator for the upgrade. The project will upgrade 550 vehicles with an option for an additional 80.
One of its key armor programs, the planned CCV purchase, looked as if it would fall victim to fiscal cuts when it was temporarily put on hold in December, but the Defence Department has confirmed the program is once again a priority.
Annie Dicaire, a spokeswoman for the Defence Department's procurement branch, said that a request for proposals for the CCV will be issued in the fall with a contract award expected in the fall of 2011.
The Army purchases come despite government direction that the Canadian Forces will face cutbacks over the next several years as the country tries to get control of a 55 billion Canadian dollar budget deficit.
The Conservative Party government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper plans to cut 2.5 billion Canadian dollars in planned defense spending between 2012 and 2015, a move that could delay a decision on the purchase of new-generation fighter aircraft as well as the building of new ships for the Navy, analysts and opposition-party politicians say.
The Defence Department is already dealing with belt-tightening measures. The military has reduced training for its reserve forces and limited some Air Force flights to free up money to meet more pressing needs, such as purchasing new equipment.
Those efforts, started late last year, are designed to save 423 million Canadian dollars, which will be transferred to priority projects.
In addition to the new armored vehicles, the Army is receiving secondhand Leopard tanks from the Netherlands. It will also acquire new trucks in the next several years.
For the Afghanistan mission, the Army has received heavy armored transport trucks, M777 howitzers and various heavier armored engineering vehicles to deal with improvised explosive devices.
Ready To Roll
Shadwick said one advantage that the Army has over the other two services is that the equipment it needs is readily available, unlike the construction of vessels that can take up to a decade.
"The lead time on acquiring a Close Combat Vehicle is relatively fast compared to purchasing ships or even compared to some Air Force projects," Shadwick said.
Of the proposed new acquisitions, the CCV was seen as the top Army program; the vehicle is intended to bridge the gap between light armored vehicles in the 5- to 20-ton range and heavy armored vehicles, which are more than 45 tons. The Army had planned to purchase 108 of the vehicles with an option of acquiring up to 30 more. They will accompany Leopard tanks into battle.
Alan Williams, the former assistant deputy minister for materiel at the Defence Department, said that the Army projects may indeed be important enough to take precedence over those of the two other services. But Williams said he is troubled by the government's lack of a detailed plan on where exactly the vehicles fit into the country's overall defense strategy.
"Do we need a CCV?" asked Williams. "Maybe, but I think there should be a well-thought-out strategy on how such vehicles contribute to the government's goals."
Still, the Army's new armor projects are all expected to move forward in the fall.
Dicaire said requests for proposals for the tactical armored patrol and Force Mobility Enhancement (FME) vehicles are expected to be released in fall 2010. The FME project will be implemented in two phases, she noted. The first phase includes the acquisition of armored engineer vehicles and armored recovery vehicles, and the second phase tactical mobility implements, including dozer blades, mine plows and mine rollers.
The tactical armored patrol vehicle would replace the Army's existing fleet of RG-31 mine-protected vehicles and the Coyote wheeled light armored vehicles. Besides the initial procurement of 500 vehicles, there is an option for an additional 100. The vehicle will be delivered in reconnaissance and general utility variants. å
Published: 19 April 2010
VICTORIA, British Columbia - Fiscal problems have stalled Canadian Air Force and Navy projects, but efforts to re-equip its Army vehicle fleets remain on schedule.
Canada's Army is emerging as the clear winner in equipment purchases. It has received approval to spend more than 5 billion Canadian dollars ($4.9 billion) on several new fleets of armored vehicles, while an Air Force program to buy search-and-rescue planes and the Navy's efforts to spend billions on new vessels are in limbo.
The ongoing war in Afghanistan, and the fact that the service has become the main force called on by government for both international and domestic deployments, has bolstered its support, say analysts and officers.
"The Army is the major beneficiary of money available for equipment, largely because of Afghanistan and presumably because of an expectation they'll be called up more in the future for other missions," said defense analyst Martin Shadwick, a strategic studies professor at York University in Toronto.
Shadwick said the Army has been high profile over the last decade. It has been in Afghanistan, and is the first service the Canadian government usually turns to for international missions, as well as domestic deployments to deal with natural disasters such as forest fires and flooding.
Military officers privately agreed with that assessment, noting that although the Air Force has received new aircraft in the last three years, those planes have a transport role that would be used largely to support Army deployments. Canada has purchased and received four C-17s and is receiving the first of its new fleet of C-130Js starting in May.
The Air Force also will receive new Chinook helicopters. In the interim for the Afghanistan mission, it acquired used Chinooks from the U.S. military, again the primary role of the aircraft being to transport Army personnel.
Last July, Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced the Canadian government would spend 5 billion Canadian dollars on the Close Combat Vehicle (CCV) program, the Force Mobility Enhancement program and tactical armored patrol vehicles. He also said that the price included an estimated 1 billion Canadian dollars to upgrade the current fleet of light armored vehicles, known as LAV-3s. Extensive use and the rough Afghanistan terrain have taken their toll on the LAV-3 fleet, he said.
The government has already selected General Dynamics Land Systems Canada, the builder of the LAV-3, as the prime contractor and systems integrator for the upgrade. The project will upgrade 550 vehicles with an option for an additional 80.
One of its key armor programs, the planned CCV purchase, looked as if it would fall victim to fiscal cuts when it was temporarily put on hold in December, but the Defence Department has confirmed the program is once again a priority.
Annie Dicaire, a spokeswoman for the Defence Department's procurement branch, said that a request for proposals for the CCV will be issued in the fall with a contract award expected in the fall of 2011.
The Army purchases come despite government direction that the Canadian Forces will face cutbacks over the next several years as the country tries to get control of a 55 billion Canadian dollar budget deficit.
The Conservative Party government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper plans to cut 2.5 billion Canadian dollars in planned defense spending between 2012 and 2015, a move that could delay a decision on the purchase of new-generation fighter aircraft as well as the building of new ships for the Navy, analysts and opposition-party politicians say.
The Defence Department is already dealing with belt-tightening measures. The military has reduced training for its reserve forces and limited some Air Force flights to free up money to meet more pressing needs, such as purchasing new equipment.
Those efforts, started late last year, are designed to save 423 million Canadian dollars, which will be transferred to priority projects.
In addition to the new armored vehicles, the Army is receiving secondhand Leopard tanks from the Netherlands. It will also acquire new trucks in the next several years.
For the Afghanistan mission, the Army has received heavy armored transport trucks, M777 howitzers and various heavier armored engineering vehicles to deal with improvised explosive devices.
Ready To Roll
Shadwick said one advantage that the Army has over the other two services is that the equipment it needs is readily available, unlike the construction of vessels that can take up to a decade.
"The lead time on acquiring a Close Combat Vehicle is relatively fast compared to purchasing ships or even compared to some Air Force projects," Shadwick said.
Of the proposed new acquisitions, the CCV was seen as the top Army program; the vehicle is intended to bridge the gap between light armored vehicles in the 5- to 20-ton range and heavy armored vehicles, which are more than 45 tons. The Army had planned to purchase 108 of the vehicles with an option of acquiring up to 30 more. They will accompany Leopard tanks into battle.
Alan Williams, the former assistant deputy minister for materiel at the Defence Department, said that the Army projects may indeed be important enough to take precedence over those of the two other services. But Williams said he is troubled by the government's lack of a detailed plan on where exactly the vehicles fit into the country's overall defense strategy.
"Do we need a CCV?" asked Williams. "Maybe, but I think there should be a well-thought-out strategy on how such vehicles contribute to the government's goals."
Still, the Army's new armor projects are all expected to move forward in the fall.
Dicaire said requests for proposals for the tactical armored patrol and Force Mobility Enhancement (FME) vehicles are expected to be released in fall 2010. The FME project will be implemented in two phases, she noted. The first phase includes the acquisition of armored engineer vehicles and armored recovery vehicles, and the second phase tactical mobility implements, including dozer blades, mine plows and mine rollers.
The tactical armored patrol vehicle would replace the Army's existing fleet of RG-31 mine-protected vehicles and the Coyote wheeled light armored vehicles. Besides the initial procurement of 500 vehicles, there is an option for an additional 100. The vehicle will be delivered in reconnaissance and general utility variants. å