C-17’s

Well, at least things are looking up for the Air Force:

OTTAWA — The government of Canada has finally inked a deal with Boeing Co. to buy four C-17 Globemasters, giant jets the Canadian Air Force will use to transport tanks and other large pieces of military equipment all over the world.
CTV News has learned that government officials will announce details of the contract on Friday at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in southern Ontario. National Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor and General Rick Hillier, the Chief of Defence Staff, will be in Trenton for the announcement.

Source: ctv.ca

Regards,

Danmac

Re: Canadian cuts

Greetings,

For those of us who are naturally inclined against governments who say one thing and do another, this much must be said in a Canadian context.
We have a defence minister who actually wore a ‘Canada’ shoulder badge and a government that was elected on a platform that included increased defence spending in a very public plank.
That said, the present cuts reflect national reality: a country in which defence spending has been viewed dimly; a population (and tax base) that’s 1/10th of our neighbour’s and a war in Afghanistan.

Regards,

Danmac

Re: cuts

Two words: minority government.
The Tories are seen by many commentators as actually the most pro-military government since the late 50’s. The problem is trying to get in major programs (C-17, CH-47, Nyala and joint support ships) while trying to keep a relatively pacifistic opposition happy enough to keep the Tories in power. That.. and Afghanistan is eating up a good chunk of the budget.. something anyone in the UK (and knows the RN) can appreciate.
That said, there’s no definitive design chosen yet for the JSS. It’s hoped that will happen next year with steel cutting soon after. As for the future surface combatant, 2014 is optimistic in my view.. and the oldest frigate HMCS Halifax, will be 24 years old. If anything, the tankers should be put in standby reserve to keep their steam plants in decent shape until replacements arrive.

Regards,

Danmac

Thanks

Actually SIRIUS is not a radar, it’s an IRST. Thales proposed SMART-S Mk2 to the FELEX by the way.

Cheers,
Sunho

My bad..

Danmac1

Politically palatable

It’s a minority government, in a country with a historical antipathy to defence spending.
Agreed that more should — and likely will — be spent on the ‘ pointy end ‘ of things. But for now, our biggest issue.. that of getting troops to distant theatres and supporting them.. is being addressed. We can talk about future Air Force/Army requirements down the line, but in a purely Naval context, getting the support ships built is a big deal. It allows industry to ramp up once more after a decade of being dormant on the defence side, and by the time those ships enter service, DND should have it’s ‘ Common Surface Combatant ‘ or CSC.. sorted out and ready to cut steel.
In the interim, the Halifax class is getting ‘ FELEX ‘. The Frigate life extension program entails Evolved Sea Sparrow, as well as upgraded communications, Sirius radar, and upgraded computer software. The concern for me is what happens to the Tribals in the interim before the CSC’s roll down the ways.. those hulls are wearing out, and I have my doubts as to whether the Victoria’s will ever achieve their designed potential.

Supply ships

It looks like they will be a hybrid tanker/support ship with some sort of Roll on/Roll off capability — see the SFU link above. As for tankers, we have two.. HMCS Protecteur and Preserver, built 1969/70.. so getting geriatric. As for where they would be built, Halifax is an option..possibly.. so is the Davie yard in Quebec. The best yard to build them — Saint John.. is now closed — it built the Halifax-class.. with three subcontracted to Davie.

Re: Pumas

Absolutely, not to mention the MM-38’s on your FAC’s.. and don’t you still have Gabriels on your Saar’s? But again, quite an inventory to manage. As an aside, ship buffs — like myself — will miss the Chilean County class. They were handsome ships.. well maintained by your country. Chile actually made them pretty potent surface units with the deletion of Sea Slug and the addition of the expanded helo deck and Barak. But.. they were still way too manpower intensive and absolute gluttons when it came to fuel. Your navy will save a bundle just by going to CoGaG and CoDaG propulsion. By the way, as a Canadian, it’s nice to see how your country has maintained the Oscar Viel Toro icebreaker. Just so you know.. she was a history maker in Canada. The first icebreaker in our country to be built with a gas turbine, as well as diesel propulsion.