President Vladimir Putin says Russia plans to station but control tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus this summer, saying it would not violate nuclear non-proliferation agreements. “There is nothing unusual here,” he says. “The United States has […] long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries.”
Mar 17
(Globe & Mail)
An anonymous veteran federal public servant was identified today as the source for a series of internationally embarrassing disclosures about foreign interference in Canadian affairs and about seeming government indifference or reluctance to act over the years. Acknowledging the prospect of eventual prosecution if identified, the whistleblower explains the reasons for sharing concerns about an evolving threat.
Feb 19
(ALEXANDER LANDRY and CONNOR HUNERFAUTH)
All future activities in the Northwest Passage should be assessed through an Environmental, Social, and Governance lens, advise Hunerfauth and Landry as they provide an overview of key considerations.
Feb 17
(KEN POLE)
It is estimated that Ukraine is firing as many as 5,000 artillery rounds and missiles a day in its counteroffensive against Russian invaders, as much as some of its European allies manufacture in a year. That pales against more than three times as many Russian "fires" on any given day, but as Ukraine needs to ramp up its own stockpiles in preparation for a spring escalation of the conflict, Canada and other allies are having to deal with their ability to meet that need.
Mar 28
(CBC)
Defence Minister Anita Anand announced March 27 that Canada’s Operation Impact in the Middle will continue until 2025 but that the mission is being downsized. The decision enables Canada to continue supporting regional partners’ counterterrorism efforts because, Anand said, “when I visited them in December, I saw directly how their presence makes a difference.”
Mar 27
(CBC)
Public Services & Procurement Canada confirmed today that the U.S. State Department has been asked to approve the potential purchase of up to 16 Boeing P8-A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft for the RCAF. “The final decision will be based on the capability offered, availability, pricing and benefits to Canadian industry,” PSPC said. In service with Australia, Britain and India as well as the U.S. Navy, it is a militarized version of the 737-800 civilian passenger jet.
Mar 25
(CBC)
Canada plans to invest $7.3 billion to upgrade fighter bases and northern landing strips to accommodate its ordered Lockheed Martin F-35s, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office announced March 24. Also confirmed during President Joe Biden’s visi to Ottawa, the government also said that the first new Over the Horizon Radar base will be in northern Ontario, part of a 20-year upgrade of continental air defences.
Mar 25
(CTV)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden used a day of talks in Ottawa March 24 to tackle a range of shared issues, including defence and security, third-country refugees, Haiti, clean energy and trade in what Trudeau said was a demonstration of how their countries’ interests are “interwoven.” Biden, on his first visit to Canada as President, agreed, saying, “I can't think of a challenge we haven’t met together.”
 Collins Aerospace |
 Cleeve Technology Inc. |
 Logistik Unicorp |
Jan 22 –
Will the issue of heavy armour support for Ukraine unite or divide the allies? Will Germany's post-WW2-guilt overpower its modern leadership role in global stability? Is a willing coalition of European neighbours enough to stiffen the German spine?
Jan 15 –
Canada has announced that the Lockheed Martin F-35 has been chosen to replace the aged CF-18s. New kit as major as this should go a long way to boosting recruitment of pilots, aircrew, and aviation technicians. It's time to quickly capitalize on this new recruitment tool.
Jan 12
Action on the Arbour Report is likely to begin soon, LGen Michel Maisonneuve and Dr Danic Parenteau provide suggestions for consideration by the different committees engaged in these changes. Read on for clarification, and more details, pursuant to comments received after publishing (Oct 2022) their five general recommendations for any review of the Canadian Military Colleges.
Jan 10 –
This procurement has been politically turbulent for both Liberal and Conservative governments over the years, but Canada has finally announced it will begin taking deliveries of its first 16 F-35 Lightning II fighters in 2026 despite protesters who call for vulnerability in the name of peace.
TBD July/Aug 2023
St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador
4 March 2023
(CP24)
General Wayne Eyre, the Chief of the Defence Staff, wrapped up a visit to Ukraine’s capital today. His visit included a briefing from his counterpart, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, as well as meetings with Canada’s ambassador to Ukraine, Larisa Galadza and with Ukrainian troops, some of whom were Canadian-trained through Operation Unifier.
3 March 2023
(Al Jazeera)
Forty years after losing a battle with Britain over the Falkland Islands, a.k.a. Islas Malvinas, Argentina said March 2 that it wants new talks about the remote South Atlantic archipelago, where 99.8 per cent of the more than 3,000 residents voted in 2013 to remain a self-governing British territory.
3 March 2023
(Ottawa Citizen)
The Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Union of Veterans’ Affairs Employees want the government to tear up a contract which has privatized veterans’ health services. Partners in Canadian Veterans Rehabilitation Services, a joint venture between Loblaws-owned Lifemark Health Group in Toronto and WCG International Consultants in Victoria was awarded the $570-million contract last year. “This was a poorly thought-out plan that only benefits the contractors and its owners,” UVAW President Virginia Vaillancourt said March 2.
3 March 2023
(CP)
The Department of national Defence is paying to repair a software problem that caused an RCAF CH-148 Sikorsky Cyclone maritime helicopter crash off the coast of Greece in April 2019. DND says the upgrade is not covered by the original $3.1-billion contract for 28 aircraft. Sikorsky is covering the cost of unrelated tail cracks on the remainder of the fleet.
3 March 2023
(Al Jazeera)
Foreign ministers from the G20 countries ended a March 2 meeting without consensus on the war in Ukraine as China and Russia refused to support a call on Russia to cease hostilities. However, India’s host foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, said that there was agreement on most other issues such as climate change and counterterrorism. A finance ministers’ summit late last month also failed to reach consensus over Ukraine.
2 March 2023
(Breaking Defense)
All U.S. and foreign operators of Lockheed Martin F-35s were advised today of an engine retrofit following the loss of an aircraft during a pre-delivery test in mid-December. The Time Compliance Technical Directive from the Joint Project Office covers an upgrade designed to address “harmonic resonance” in the Pratt & Whitney engines, a job requiring four to eight hours.
2 March 2023
(Stars & Stripes)
Mike Lee, a U.S. Republican Senator from Utah has threatened to block a $1.55-billion sale of cruise missiles to Japan unless it hands over a U.S. Navy officer imprisoned for the traffic deaths of two persons. When Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ignored an initial demand, Lee said he hoped the PM is “ready for conversations on the Senate floor that you’re not likely to enjoy” because “this issue isn’t going away, and neither am I.”
2 March 2023
(Military.com)
Most of U.S. Air Mobility Command’s refueling and cargo fleets are to have “subdued” external identifiers. A spokesman explains that since missions often involve sensitive cargo, “we have concerns about the operational security impacts to these missions in the modern era of on-demand, real-time information.”
2 March 2023
(CTV)
Canada’s budget for maintaining 15 overseas war memorials, some nearly 100 years old, is $11.7 million over six years. Veterans Affairs Minister Laurence MacAuley said February 17 that most of the money is spent in France on the Vimy Memorial and the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial.
2 March 2023
(CP)
As the federal government continues to struggle with the concept of a legal registry of foreign agents in Canada, it’s suggested that it should “copy and paste” Australia’s five-year-old legislation. This is the advice offered by a former Privy Council Clerk and a senior fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation.
2 March 2023
(CTV)
The Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada, Mona Nemer, is looking into the unidentified aerial phenomena. The Sky Canada Project evidently will collect information with a view to producing a draft report in the fall and setting the stage for a public report in early 2024.
1 March 2023
(Army Times)
The first rotation of battalion combined-arms training for more than 600 Ukrainian troops, focusing on the M2 Bradley fighting vehicle, has finished at the U.S. Army Grafenwoehr training area in Bavaria. A second is under way with nearly 900 Ukrainians in artillery and Stryker infantry carrier battalions.
