Vanguard August/September 2012

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

THE FORUM FOR CANADA’S SECURITY AND DEFENCE COMMUNITY

www.vanguardcanada.com

OPERATING IN THE CONTESTED LITTORALS

MODELLING AND SIMULATION IN ARMY REQUIREMENTS

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CONTENTS C

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

38

fEATURES 8

Contested littorals

Navy prepares for a complex environment

by Rear-Admiral Mark Norman

14 Maritime blindness

Educating central Canada of maritime realities

by Andrew Murdoch Walker

16 Upgraded Aurora

RIMPAC tests modernized CP-140 fleet

by Carol Dobson

18 Unmanned asset

Frigate deploys for first time with UAV

by Chris Thatcher

20

16

22 Arctic patrol

AOPS offers the right solution

by Andrew Warden

24 Interoperability exercise RIMPAC challenges coalition air, land and sea forces

26 Defining requirements

DEPARTMENTS 6

SITREP: Marking maritime helicopter anniversaries

44 BOOKSHELf: Special Forces: A vital fourth service 46 EDGE Of TECH: Advancing next gen ASW sonar

Modelling and simulation in army procurement an interview with Colonel Mike Nixon

28 3D repairs

Simulation solution for EROC maintenance

by Chris Thatcher

30 Information management

DRMIS: Tracking the military’s materiel

by Jes Ellacott

32 WestDef 2012

WWW.VANGUARDCANADA.COM IT’S IN THE ARCHIVES Missed an issue? Misplaced an article? You’ll find them all online: interviews with government, military and industry leaders, and articles on the programs and policies of Canada’s security and defence community.

Corralling new business

34 The best defence

Does Canada need a cyber offence?

by Bruce Jackson

38 Search and rescue

LETTERS We welcome feedback on articles and story ideas.

Email editorvanguard@netgov.ca.

40 Afghan mentors

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

THE FORUM FOR CANADA’S SECURITY AND DEFENCE COMMUNITY

Advising in the cradle of the ANA

by Colonel Mike Minor

www.vanguardcanada.com

OPERATING IN THE CONTESTED LITTORALS

MODELLING AND SIMULATION IN ARMY REQUIREMENTS

Competing the multi-mission Spartan an interview with Alan Calegari

COVER STORY HMCS Victoria performing hoisting drills with a Sea King helicopter from 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron during sea trials in 2011. Photo: Corporal Malcolm Byers

Does Canada need A CYBER OFFENCE? Publication Mail Registration Number: 40052410

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AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012 3

E editor’s note EDITOR Chris Thatcher editorvanguard@netgov.ca

National Account Manager Marcello Sukhdeo (905) 727-4091 ext. 224 marcellos@netgov.ca MARKETING DIRECTOR Mary Malofy ART & PRODUCTION ART DIRECTOR Elena Pankova SUBSCRIPTIONS AND ADDRESS CHANGES CIRCULATION DIRECTOR James Watson circulation@promotive.net (705) 812-0611 CORPORATE PUBLISHER John R. Jones publisher@netgov.ca

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Recent revelations that the Parliamentary Budget Office has turned its attention to the government’s National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy will undoubtedly ruffle a few feathers – its recommendations for the F-35 program certainly did.

Since last fall when the government announced it had selected two shipyards with which to begin negotiations to build navy and coast guard vessels, the process itself has been widely praised. Rona Ambrose, the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, was but one of several speakers to hold up the NSPS as an example of better defence procurement practice at this year’s CANSEC event.

And officials from PWGSC, including ADM Tom Ring in these very pages, have delivered presentations on the success of the process. There is even a well-scripted video featuring words of praise from the shipyards.

And there is no question that the use of third parties like FMI, KPMG and a fairness monitor all helped to keep the process transparent and fair. And for those reasons, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program has been placed on a similar track, though one suspects at this point the government might be mixing apples with oranges following the recent re-issue of a tender for an independent auditor to verify the defence department’s figures.

But even many of those government officials praising the NSPS have urged some caution, noting these are just the first steps in a very long process to delivering new ships. Those words are worth heeding as rising materiel costs to build these ships threaten the government’s budget.

Perhaps Rear Admiral Mark Norman captured it best. In a presentation to the Navy Association of Canada in June – adapted to an article for this issue – he compared the process to finally being allowed to play your favourite PGA course. Driving that ball off the first tee is an exhilarating feeling, what the navy is describing as an unprecedented opportunity. “The good news is at least we’re on the fairway – which for me is a new and strange feeling – but let’s not forget that there are 17 more holes ahead of us,” he said.

In my limited golf experience, I’ve learned more than once that a great shot off the first tee has little bearing on the ultimate outcome of the round. As much as I might hope, it is rarely a sign of good things to come.

Thankfully, industry builds ships far better than I golf. Nonetheless, for the sake of the navy, measured but steady progress is critical.

9.5 in. Live

SALES VICE PRESIDENT PUBLIC SECTOR SALES Terri Pavelic (905) 727-4091 ext. 225 terrip@netgov.ca

10-7/8 in. Trim

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD LGen (Ret’d) Bill Leach LGen (Ret’d) George Macdonald VAdm (Ret’d) Greg Maddison LGen (Ret’d) Michel Maisonneuve

Off the first tee and on the fairway

11-1/8 in. Bleed

CONTRIBUTORS Mark Norman Andrew Murdoch Walker Carol Dobson Andrew Warden Jes Ellacott Bruce Jackson Mike Minor Roy Thomas Stefan Dubowski

Chris Thatcher, Editor 4 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

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An anniversary unacknowledged

As National Defence issues yet another update on the status of its Maritime Helicopter Program, a little noticed anniversary is quietly approaching. The EH 101 – the Cadillac helicopter Prime Minister Jean Chretien once deemed too expensive to replace Canada’s Sea Kings – is turning 25 this year.

The maritime helicopter, now known as the AW 101, took its first flight on October 9, 1987, and has been in service since 2000 with the U.K. and Italian

Where humans fear to tread Ultra Electronics Marine Systems has created a first: a robot that can navigate underground and underwater entirely wireless, with a video backlink for its controllers.

The latest in a developing field of unmanned robotics, this new throughthe-earth (TTE) technology has the capability to remove Canadian Forces and first responders from dangerous environments, while allowing them to explore places they cannot physically reach.

A first trial took place in an abandoned coal mine in Nova Scotia earlier this year, where Ultra carried out a test run of its new prototype system. Aboveground operators were able to command and control the robotic vehicle approximately 100 feet under the ground. The robot, nicknamed “Maggie” for its Magneto-Inductive wireless communication link between robot and operator, was successfully manoeuvred from above the surface, while sending video back to the operators from an on-board camera.

Ultra’s TTE technology allows operators to send the robotic vehicle into tunnels, culverts, buildings, basements or under the water. Its backlink capability provides communications ability without having to worry about trailing a

6 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

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navies. Canada, of course, flies the CH 149 Cormorant variant for search and rescue, which incidentally is marking its 10th anniversary since reaching initial operating capability.

In a presentation to the Ottawa-Montreal chapter of the American Helicopter Society in April, Jeremy Tracy, head of region in Canada for AgustaWestland, recalled the 101’s early trials involving nine prototypes before it officially took flight.

So perhaps Sikorsky can take heart. In early August, the fourth interim CH 148 Cyclone arrived at 12 Wing Shearwater. Designated MH 807, it joins two others as part of a contractual obligation to provide initial cadre training to aircrews and technicians. One of the four Cyclones, MH 806, has since been returned to Sikorsky for modifications. However, DND has yet to take formal delivery of any of the interim helicopters, saying in an update on August 3 that “some critical work remains outstanding.”

Initial deliveries for the much criticized procurement program were expected in November 2008, and subsequent due dates in 2010 and 2012 have since been missed. Much will be riding on Sikorsky’s ability to resolve its issues soon, because a far more inauspicious anniversary is in store for 2013 – the 50th year since Canada began taking possession of its Sea Kings in 1963.

tether or attaching fibre optic cable, said Leo Gaessler, Ultra’s vice president of marketing and sales.

Being able to wirelessly control vehicles from afar means removing soldiers, police officers and first responders from danger zones, and has the potential for improved IED, intelligence and underwater applications. “Often military forces and first responders are not 100 percent sure of the conditions they expect to encounter. The TTE technology gives them the confidence they will be able to communicate under the ground or into the water and avoid the risk of losing contact with headquarters or the rest of the team,” Gaessler said.

Ultra’s TTE technology can be added or incorporated into existing unmanned robotics platforms.

— Daniela Fisher

Thales focused on ESI competition As one of the largest sensor providers to the Royal Canadian Navy, Thales Canada has its sights set on the much anticipated electronic systems integration (ESI) competition for the Canadian Surface Combatant.

Although the focus at the moment is on the Arctic offshore patrol ships – Irving Shipbuilding is now under contract to assess the various AOPS designs and specifications – determining the ESI provider for the CSC represents one of the next crucial contracts in the government’s shipbuilding strategy.

With up to 60 percent of the cost of each ship in electronic systems, “it will be a big opportunity for the marine electronics industry,” acknowledged Conrad Bellehumeur, Thales’ vice president of government and external relations.

Thales is part of the Seaspan team and already the ESI for the Joint Support Ship and the Coast Guard vessels; it’s also hoping to be a supplier to Irving for AOPS sensors.

As the provider of the Interdepartmental Maritime Integrated Command, Control and Communications (IMIC3) project – a joint effort by the RCN and Coast Guard – Thales believes it is well positioned to deliver the CSC’s combat management, integrated communications and navigation systems.

sit rep S

inBrief Lockheed Martin has authorized Cascade Aerospace as a C-130

Heavy Maintenance Centre, just the second such facility in the world. Cascade is currently a Hercules Service Centre and conducts in-service support for Canada’s legacy CC-130 and new CC-130J fleets. Lockheed Martin delivered the final of 17 CC-130J aircraft to the RCAF in May. The Ottawa-based Professional Services division of CAE was awarded a contract for simulation services to support experiments, mission rehearsals, demonstrations, exercises, and operational and maintenance training. The Canadian Forces’ Canadian Advanced Synthetic Environment (CASE) project is expected to be a majority user of the contracted services, as it develops a nationwide network of simulation-based synthetic environments for mission rehearsal, tactics training and force development.

Canada’s new Boeing CH-147F Chinook helicopter took its first flight on June 24. The inaugural flight lasted more than 80 minutes and confirmed the initial airworthiness of the aircraft, including its new electrical system and advanced Common Avionics Architecture System cockpit. The RCAF are scheduled to take delivery of 15 Chinooks, beginning in 2013.

AirPatrol, the latest generation airborne satcom terminal from EADS subsidiary Astrium, has finished testing in Canada and is

now “flight proven.” It commenced flight trials with National Defence as part of the RIFL2E (Radar and Imaging for the Land/Littoral Environment) coastal surveillance project.

Burnaby-based Houle Electrical was awarded a $1.1 million contract to modernize key electrical equipment at Naval Radio Station Aldergrove. NRS provides long-range radio communications support to the RCAF and RCN in the Pacific and Arctic regions.

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AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012 7

M MARITIME Rear-Admiral Mark Norman is deputy commander of the Royal Canadian Navy. Previously, he commanded the Canadian Fleet Atlantic and has served in a variety of headquarters posts. This article is adapted from a presentation to the Naval Association of Canada.

intO thE cOntEStED

littOralS

In his recent address at the Navy Monument ceremony, Prime Minister Harper stated that “Canada’s economy floats on salt water.” With that simple phrase, he captured the government’s understanding of how important the world’s oceans are to Canada, now and in the future.

i

n this globalized era, Canada’s navy will be required to protect our three ocean approaches at home, as well as to keep good order at sea abroad. It will be required to render humanitarian assistance and relieve distress in response to events, and also to promote goodwill among populations. The Royal Canadian Navy will continue to be called upon to suppress criminal activities at sea, and to help other coastal states secure their home waters, and it will continue to play a crucial role in building trust and confidence to prevent conflict at sea.

However, regardless of how Canadian seapower is employed in these opening decades of the 21st century, it is the fleet’s ability to fight that will and must continue to underwrite everything we do across the spectrum of operations.

8 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

Navy prepares for complex operational environment The experiences of last year off Libya point to the challenges ahead. Many observers, I believe, will look back at NATO’s Libya campaign as the prototype air-sea battle of the 21st century, in what we have been describing publicly as the “contested littorals” – that relatively narrow zone astride the world’s coasts that encompasses the vast majority of humanity, and where massive social disruptions are already playing out with strategic consequences.

In the future, the RCN must be prepared to operate alongside our allies in the contested littorals against much more formidable maritime adversaries than the former Libyan regime.

Imagine an adversary able to operate

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modern submarines, for example, or deploy sophisticated anti-ship missiles from launch sites ashore, perhaps, as Hezbollah did in 2006, from the back of a truck. Imagine that future adversary having highly trained maritime special forces at his disposal, or highly motivated irregular maritime forces willing to mount “swarm” attacks in large numbers in a bid to overwhelm the defences of a task group. Imagine an adversary who may also have acquired highly advanced asymmetric weapons, such as antiship ballistic missiles.

Picture yourself confronting such an adversary in an enormously complex physical environment, where sensors and weapons must cope with a wide array of propaga-

MARITIME M

HMCS Vancouver en route to replace HMCS Charlottetown in the Mediterranean Sea for Operation Mobile off the coast of Libya, and patrolling the OP Mobile Area of Responsibility.

Photos: Cpl Brandon O’Connell

tion and environmental effects, as well as with background noise and clutter that are orders of magnitude greater than they are in blue water.

Imagine standing at your console in the operations room, knowing that your adversary enjoys the advantages of local knowledge – at least initially – and will use every ruse of warfare and every feature of coastline, bottom topography and ocean acoustics to close and engage.

The picture I am painting here is the naval equivalent of urban warfare at sea. But the contested littorals also encompass warfare ashore.

Indeed, across the width and depth of a littoral theatre, joint and combined forces

will be engaged in operations designed not only to defeat the adversary’s land, air and sea forces, but also to protect populations and to help restore civil services and governance.

In the contested littorals, Canada’s maritime forces will need to play a greater role in supporting operations ashore, beginning well before any initial exchange of weapons fire until well after the last shot is fired, if at all.

What’s clear is that the RCN must evolve from the navy that today remains capable of decisive action at sea, to a globally deployable navy that will be able to act decisively at sea and contribute to decisive action ashore. This future transition is not unlike that of the early 1990s when we took a blue water, Cold War fleet and deployed it in the littorals of the Persian Gulf, the Adriatic and, most recently, the coast of Libya. The difference is that we need to go deeper into the littoral than ever before so as to have a decisive impact ashore and not to be bested by what lies inland.

Let me take you into new territory – an operational level description of the contested littorals, where the linkages to future fleet requirements will become much more apparent.

Weapons and sensors Let’s start with maritime weapons and sensors. In the 1990s, we introduced into service through our then new frigates and just modernized destroyers an ability to deliver lethal effects at range and with great precision at sea, significantly extending the reach of the Canadian task group in relation to the “steamers” our new ships had replaced.

In Canada’s next generation of naval

combatant, a similar jump in capabilities will be required to address the threats we envisage in the coming decades, as well as the challenges of a vastly more complex, congested and cluttered battlespace.

In the contested littorals, the ability to deliver lethal effects at range and with great precision will be required at sea as well as from the sea. Moreover, there will also be a need to employ new non-lethal means both at sea and ashore as part of a comprehensive scale of graduated response and effects across the joint force – a capability that is likely to be crucial to maintaining the legitimacy of international intervention with populations at home as well as in the theatre of operations.

Significant improvements are already taking place in maritime weapon systems and sensors, as well as fundamentally new approaches to deal with the acute environmental challenges of the littoral environment.

Such developments, moreover, may raise new possibilities to extend the protective reach of the task group to forces ashore. For example, some navies have already deployed systems at sea to defend against both long- and short-range ballistic missiles, and the associated force-level air defence technologies will most assuredly continue to evolve.

In this case, the true science and art of force development lies in determining the extent to which such capabilities will be needed in future platforms and how they can be best delivered. However, the designers of our next generation of major surface combatants should anticipate a need to introduce evolving capabilities in a predictable way throughout the life of a given class, not just at mid-life as has traditionally been the practice.

ISR Many of these new capabilities have profound implications for maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. In relation to operations in the past or even today, operations in the contested littorals will need extensive – even exhaustive – joint intelligence preparation of the battlespace.

Such intelligence preparation is one of the means that the joint force will use to reduce the advantages of local knowledge that po-

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AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012 9

M Maritime tential adversaries may be assumed to hold as any future campaign commences.

Commanders at all levels in the joint force, whether at sea or ashore, will continue to rely heavily on tailored fusion of all sources of data and information of a given region, collected from a range of classified and open sources.

We expect that much of this fusion and analysis will become increasingly automated in joint centres ashore and fed to commanders at sea within a joint and combined intelligence architecture that is likely to see significant evolution over the next decade.

Nonetheless, the highly integrated nature of joint operations in the littorals will require much higher levels of intelligencedriven decision support at sea. We envisage a need for dedicated personnel at sea with the knowledge and experience to support the commander’s immediate tactical and operational-level intelligence needs, including: the coordination of reconnaissance and surveillance collection plans; the planning and coordination of joint lethal and non-lethal fires; post-engagement battle assessment; and information management of tactical and operational-level intelligence systems.

C3: Command, control and communications While individual platforms are the most visible part of the task group, the key to the task group’s combat power – both today and in the future – lies in its battle network. The battle network knits together commanders that are often separated by dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of kilometres to permit them collectively to “see” what each sees individually, from the ocean depths to near space, and throughout the electromagnetic and acoustic spectrums.

Each node in the future joint force, from major combatants through smart weapons and munitions, will become increasingly enabled by the battle network, as current sensor-to-shooter architectures permeate traditional service boundaries and are made increasingly robust, resilient and redundant in the face of cyber and physical threats that will likely emerge to target their integrity and performance.

Space-based communications will remain 10 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

A boarding party from HMCS Vancouver inspects a small empty boat found off the coast of Libya.

Photo: Cpl Brandon O’Connell

vital to all maritime warfare disciplines, but potential vulnerabilities and dependencies will need to be mitigated.

At sea, new techniques in combat information systems can be anticipated, ranging from new ways of visualizing the battlespace to deal with background maritime and air traffic and marine activities that are orders of magnitude greater in the littorals than they are on the high seas, to new learning algorithms that, for example, could be used to detect from subtle changes in background patterns of activity the presence of adversaries that will be using clutter and congestion to mask their location, movement and intent.

Commanders at the tactical level will need greater levels of decision support to deal with a battlespace that will become severely compressed, in terms of time and space, from adversaries that may be able to approach in close proximity, potentially in large numbers, among whom some will be armed with weapons of great velocity, precision and lethality. Automated detection, localization, tracking and targeting will remain a key requirement, as will the ability to automatically engage when so desired by the commander, or permitted by the legal framework of the operation.

Protection In terms of protecting the force, future combatants will need to be equipped for self-defence in all maritime dimensions, using complementary and integrated active and passive systems to counter not only the increasingly capable weapons that our adversaries will acquire but also to frustrate their steadily increasing competence to employ those weapons throughout the

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entire “kill chain.” This includes stealth measures to reduce signatures, as well as systems to control and suppress them for tactical purposes.

Our future combatants will also continue to require an ability to operate for limited periods within a contaminated environment without risk to personnel. They will need to be designed not only to survive battle damage but also to remain operational having taken damage, fully leveraging advances in automation and decision support. We envisage future systems that can be automatically activated to isolate and contain the effects of battle damage, decision support for damage control teams, and combat, propulsion and power systems that can be rapidly and automatically reconfigured.

At the level of the task group, force-level capabilities will permit the task group to make broader contributions to the joint force at sea or ashore. For example, the capabilities inherent in a future air defence system could permit the Canadian task group to defend joint assets or population centres ashore, or at sea to provide extended defence-in-depth for a joint sea base.

Finally, protection in the cyber domain will become as vital as protection in the physical domain, requiring measures that will assure the integrity and performance of our battle networks in the face of physical or cyber attacks.

Platform considerations From the perspective of platform design, hull and propulsion systems will undoubtedly evolve in the next decade toward greater efficiencies and reduced environmental impact.

Crew optimization is also likely to emerge as a key driver across all future fleet platforms.

M Maritime One of the key platform lessons we have learned from operations conducted over the past several years ... is the need to improve our ability to support operations ashore. To date, we have performed such missions from ships that were never designed for such work.

One of the key platform lessons we have learned from operations conducted over the past several years, from East Timor in 1999 to Haiti in 2010, is the need to improve our ability to support operations ashore. To date, we have performed such missions from ships that were never designed for such work. While we’re proud of what we have accomplished, it was achieved largely through improvisation.

There are a number of platform features that properly integrated into the design of our future combatants would significantly improve the ability of a ship’s company to render assistance and relieve distress when called upon to do so. Among such features we will examine include the: • Design of more flexible deck arrangements; • Larger and more versatile ship’s boats; and • Incorporation of sufficient reserved volume for humanitarian stores and accommodations.

12 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

Recent operations have also underscored a need for the Canadian Forces to consider the acquisition of a dedicated platform to support operations from the sea, including for humanitarian operations and disaster response scenarios.

Even in relatively permissive environments, such operations will typically unfold in manifestly chaotic conditions – often in the absence of, or hampered by extensively damaged transportation networks and infrastructure, where local medical and social services have been overwhelmed through the sheer number of injured and dispossessed. In such circumstances, nothing can match the flexibility, adaptability, logistics capacity and strategic effect of a purpose-built amphibious vessel to render assistance: with a capacity to embark personnel, vehicles, force logistics and humanitarian materiel in volume and get them where they’re needed throughout a theatre of operations; an ability to embark/disembark cargo without the need of shore-based infrastructure, as well as to transfer cargo to other vessels at sea; and the deck space and arrangements that permit it to accommodate or operate large landing craft, as well as medium or heavy lift aircraft, each of which is essential to project, sustain and support operations ashore.

In our view, such a vessel – and the joint sea-air-land capabilities that it would have embarked – could be among the most heavily utilized assets in the CF inventory.

Equipped with the space and communications facilities to act as a floating civilmilitary coordination centre, such a ship would be an ideal platform for joint action from the sea -– a platform for the Canadian Forces to contribute meaningfully,

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decisively and strategically to operations ashore.

Moreover, such a vessel could readily emerge as the Canadian Forces’ principal defence diplomacy asset, deployed routinely to regions of strategic interest with a range of CF capabilities embarked to strengthen regional partnerships, or more broadly to conduct diplomatic goodwill missions with other federal agencies and non-governmental organizations and assets embarked.

The task group Regardless of the evolution of individual platforms in the decades to come, the Canadian Task Group will remain crucial to the future RCN as our “system of systems” – a network of ships, aircraft and submarines whose sensors and weapons are integrated into a highly cohesive and self-sustained “warfighting whole.”

The ultimate purpose of a task group is to control events at sea and influence events ashore. A naval task group permits Canada to act independently when it must defend its sovereign interests alone. A flexible naval task group permits Canada to lead international operations.

Ultimately it permits Canada to contribute to the collective defence of the global system in a strategically meaningful way – through its ability to act decisively at sea, and through the new combatants coming to the fleet, to contribute to joint action ashore.

Un On ma unm

Ex sur ma iss

Conclusion Decisions to modernize and replace an aging fleet, deferred for many years, have now been made. Soon, new capabilities will be arriving, setting the stage for a fleet renewal that will be every bit as profound as the transition we undertook in the 1990s from the old “steamers” to today’s frigates and destroyers. We have a compelling vision for the future RCN and a plan to get us there.

We are at a moment of strategic renewal, an opportunity that is all but unprecedented in the 102 year history of the RCN. I submit to you that our collective challenge is to seize this moment together.

Fo

Unmanned Systems Canada Conference “Solutions for Emerging Markets” November 6 – 9, 2012 Unmanned System Canada invites the global unmanned systems community to gather in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. This years conference will explore the opportunities in the civil and commercial market place, as well as a full day to the ever increasing requirements and capabilities of our military unmanned systems.

Explore the synergies between military and civil missions as Canada moves towards Arctic surveillance and domain awareness as prioritized in the governments Canada First policy. Hear how manned and unmanned systems work in a coordinated ISR strategy and hear about these topics and issues:

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Fostering success Fostering insuccess unmanned in unmanned vehicle systems. vehicle systems.

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M MARITIME

by Andrew Murdoch Walker

Eradicating maritime blindness

“We always speak of ourselves as a country that stretches from sea to sea, to sea ... meaning that we are always concerned about the safety of our own waters and the sea links that can connect us to the wider world. But circumstances have changed and so has the emphasis in our own policy.”

Maritime blindness in central Canada has been a critical issue for far too long. But as the Honourable Bill Graham, chairman of the Atlantic Council of Canada (ACC), acknowledged at the outset of a recent conference in Toronto hosted by the ACC on issues of maritime security, if citizens in the central provinces do not develop a stronger understanding of Canada’s maritime realities, and the importance of maritime security to Canada’s international trade, they will not demand and push for a larger maritime presence.

As the base of business, media and political engines in the country, this key disconnect in central Canada inhibits cooperative efforts to develop a stronger capability in the maritime domain.

“We are still a maritime nation,” Graham reminded the audience of high-ranking theorists, policymakers, and practitioners as well as an array of representatives from naval interests in central Canada, including both the Canadian and American Coast Guards, Naval Officers’ Association of Canada, Toronto Port Authority, the RCMP, Royal Canadian Navy, the Commanding Officer of HMCS York, and the Toronto Search and Rescue initiative.

Within the broad range of themes discussed at the conference, each panel noted one particular issue: the threats we face have changed. Retired Vice-Admiral Dean McFadden said it best in his closing speech on the challenges ahead for allied naval forces: “If someone ten years ago had said that the naval forces of NATO, the European Union, China, India, and the Republic of Korea would deploy off the horn of Africa to counter the rapid rise of piracy, I think they would have been laughed at.”

Rear-Admiral David Gardam captured the new challenge, explaining, “it’s about being aware of what’s happening in your backyard, so that you can respond appropriately.”

Graham then tied these issues together. “Hopefully a conference of this nature ... by focusing on the issues, by making us all 14 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

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aware of what those threats are, ... will help us focus on how we want to encourage our political masters to ensure that we have the resources required to deal with them.... Militaries are famous for that; fighting the last war.”

Not all discussions were of future allied maritime capabilities.

The former Maritime Component Commander for Operation Podium for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Gilles Couturier, offered a promising analysis of the joint inter-agency capabilities that Canada possesses. The conference also addressed a “holistic” approach to maritime security, noting that security of the Great Lakes, the Arctic, and shores beyond our border are all connected and should be dealt with as such by the proper governmental institutions including the RCN, Coast Guard and RCMP. Of particular note was an enlightening mid-day interview of renowned journalist and Naval Reservist, Peter Newman. Honourary Captain Sonja Bata gracefully led the interview while a captivated audience could not help but absorb the historical knowledge shared between the two maritime icons.

In closing, McFadden noted that capacity building must become a larger part of allied forces foreign engagement, and that the variety of responsibilities of these forces are much wider than gunboat diplomacy.

He left the audience with a frank appraisal: “The existence of stable global maritime order has been such a long-standing and innocuous public good that we’ve not needed to pay it much mind. It had, within our lifetimes, been brought to a high state of perfection, not through the clash of arms, but through the negotiation of statesmen. But the United Nations Convention on the Law Of the Sea cannot be the high-water mark from which we retreat.... If we don’t appreciate the importance of the global maritime order on which so much of what we have is based and that this order is not sacrosanct and can be altered in ways not only injurious to us, but to the development of human kind, we will not summon the will to be vigilant in its defence. That order must not only be maintained, but be implemented more effectively than it has been. That, I believe, is the fundamental challenge we will face in this maritime century.”

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M Maritime

RIMPAC tests

upgraded

Auroras F

or those living in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, the Royal Canadian Air Force’s CP-140 Aurora long range patrol aircraft flying overhead is a familiar sight. These are the workhorses of the RCAF, capable of flying 9000 kilometres without refuelling and used for everything from searching out illegal fishing, immigration, drug trafficking and polluting along the country’s coastline, to search and rescue operations, as well as violations of Canadian territorial sovereignty above and below the ocean’s surface.

Ten of the country’s 18 Aurora aircraft are in the middle of a $1.5 billion fleet overhaul. The program is divided into two parts. The first, the Aurora Structural Life Extension Project (ASLEP), worth $279 million, is proceeding with 10 of the 18 Auroras scheduled to receive new wings and the replacement of key structural components.

“We’re replacing a lot of the major structure components of the aircraft so the entire horizontal stabilizer is replaced, the outer wings are replaced, the center wing we disassemble and do an inspection and replace the bottom surface,” Kevin Lemke, IMP’s senior director of fixed-wing production told the Halifax

Aircraft technicians from 19 Wing Comox perform after-flight checks on a CP-140 Aurora aircraft at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

Photo : MCpl Marc-Andre Gaudreault 16 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

www.vanguardcanada.com

Carol Dobson is the principal of Carol Dobson Communications in Halifax. Previously, she worked in government and association public affairs, including as the Assistant Base Information Officer at CFB Halifax.

Chronicle Herald when the first refurbished aircraft was completed last December.

The second part, the complete $1.2 billion Aurora Incremental Modernization Project (AIMP), has been subdivided into three “blocks.” Block 1 has been completed and was concentrated on the replacement of unsupportable systems. Block 2 brought a glass cockpit to the aircraft, with the navigation and flight instruments components provided by CMC Electronics, and a complete replacement of the communications suite. The final block, Block 3, is a wholesale replacement of the aircraft’s sensors and mission computers.

Four upgraded Aurora aircraft from 405 Long Range Patrol Squadron at 14 Wing Greenwood, N.S. and 407 Long Range Patrol Squadron at 19 Wing Comox, B.C. were flying during the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise from June 29 to August 3, in and around the Hawaiian Islands.

Three of the CP-140s deployed for RIMPAC 2012 have upgraded communications, data management systems, and sensors under Block 3 of the AIMP and will be tested for the first time in a tactical environment. This biennial event is the world’s largest maritime multi-national exercise, designed to prepare military forces from Pacific Rim nations to work together in a variety of missions ranging from humanitarian aid to full-combat operations.

Personnel from the Maritime Proving and Evaluation Unit from Greenwood, N.S. will be participating in the exercise to evaluate the upgraded Aurora aircraft. According to an RCAF backgrounder, “MPEU’s expertise covers a varied and complex scope of disciplines including project management, test and evaluation, tactical development, operational suitability assessments, human factors engineering, data collection and

Maritime M “This is a chance to operate in a realistic situation, to fly against submarines and navy ships, to see what the new systems allow us to do.”

Captain Barrie Ransome, Task Force Libeccio CP-140 Aurora pilot, during a patrol off the coast of Libya. Photo: Corporal Mathieu St-Amour. analysis as well as aircraft avionics and airframe performance studies; all of which are conducted in as operationally realistic an environment as possible.”

“One of the major improvements in the Block 2 upgrade was replacing the 1970s era green CRT screens, which showed everything in different intensities of green to ones in full colour,” Major Kurt Lalonde, the commanding officer of the Maritime Proving and Evaluation Unit, said. “It’s improved our recognition capabilities and has really improved our ability to track subsurface vessels.”

Another tool in the Aurora’s toolbox is the upgraded automatic information system, which allows the crew to track ships with regard to position, speed and cargo to provide instantaneous situational awareness.

For example, using a local context, Lalonde said most fishing vessels carry a generic radar transmitter. With the upgrades, the aircrew can easily determine that they are flying over a local fishing boat – or something more sinister.

He said improvements to radar on the aircraft also make the crew’s job easier. Now they have the capability to have strip maps and other navigational aids in front of them on their computer screens. These maps will be able to let the crew know, in colour, the elevation of the land they are flying over or the depth of the sea at any time of the day or night.

“This works in all kinds of weather. We can pull up maps of buildings, we can see the ground, no matter the conditions,” Lalonde said. “This is a real game changer.”

Aircrews will be glad to know that the Magnetic Anomaly Detector is becoming a thing of the past. This was a 20-minute test to do a magnetic comparison in the air. It involved 20 minutes of flying “up, down and sideways,” something which rendered more than one service person airsick through the years. This is now automatic and instantaneous, meaning the aircraft can be in the air sooner.

RIMPAC is an opportunity, Lalonde said, “to test the aircraft in realistic scenarios. It’s allowing us to play with our multinational partners, to test the interoperability of our equipment and exchange information. This is a chance to operate in a realistic situation, to fly against submarines and navy ships, to see what the new systems allow us to do. We can fly on a target, such as the Victoria class sub from Canada or the L.A. class diesel subs from the U.S.” During the exercise, Lalonde and his team will be developing a series of recommendations to his commanding officer to progress with training by operational squadrons beginning in January 2013. “We’ll be drafting standard operating procedures on how to use the new systems aiming at having four crews ready to man the aircraft at 404, 405 and 407 Squadrons in May,” he said.

www.vanguardcanada.com

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012 17

M MARITIME

by Chris Thatcher

eVaLuaTINg

an UnMannED aSSEt For more than a week, the ScanEagle circled silently over a suspected drug trafficker in the Arabian Sea, 1000 feet above the target vessel for up to 12 hours at a time, mostly at night, while over the horizon 30 miles away HMCS Charlottetown monitored.

The smuggler was eventually passed off to another ship for boarding, but the drug bust was part of an operational first for the Royal Canadian Navy – the Charlottetown is the first Canadian frigate to deploy with a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as part of its tool kit.

For Commander Wade Carter, the ship’s commanding officer, the UAV has proven to be an invaluable asset.

“It has allowed us to extend the range of the ship and keep an eye on things, but also to search for targets for a lengthier period of time, both day and night,” he said in an interview from the Arabian Sea where the Charlottetown is participating in Operation Artemis as part of the multinational coalition task force CTF 150, which is conducting maritime security and counter-terrorism operations “It has increased the time period we are able to observe a target.

We have a helicopter, of course, but it is limited in the hours it can fly. Having the UAV compliments it; effectively, we can fly for 20 hours a day with the two of them combined.”

The long-endurance ScanEagle, built by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing, and operated under contract by Ottawa’s ING Engineer-

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ing, is used primarily for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). The sensor payload consists of electro-optical camera for day operations and infra-red for night.

“We can fly them out to about 40-50 miles and our connectivity with the aircraft is exceptionally good,” Carter said of the five birds onboard. “We have good video pretty much the whole time. The range is limited a bit by the altitude you want to fly the aircraft at. If you want to fly it low, you can’t fly it as far. But we’re flying out to 30 miles at about 1500 to 2000 feet, which is about the altitude we want. And we typically fly it for eight hours at a time.”

Although the navy conducted trials with the ScanEagle last fall, the Charlottetown was tasked as the first warship to deploy with a UAV. In 50 sorties and over 400 flying hours, it has accumulated lessons for its sister ships, notably its replacement HMCS Regina, and the Canadian Forces Maritime Warfare Centre.

The first was sequencing the UAV with the ship’s Sea King helicopter on the flight deck. With a little thought and some table top exercises, the crew determined the safest way to operate is to launch the UAV and then the helicopter, and then recover them in reverse order. “If there is trouble, I never [want to] foul the deck with UAV gear while I’m flying the helicopter,” Carter said.

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M Maritime He said the navy would require a platform that can function held by the army with Insitu, and the army acquired extensive exover land or water for up to 12 hours to conduct both long-range perience with the UAV in Afghanistan, the navy opted to deploy a surveillance and observation support to activities such as a boardthree-person army team to fly the aircraft rather than train a crew ing party. Payload sensors such as EO/IR or a synthetic aperture on short notice. It also deployed for the first time a civilian team radar might be more conducive to land operations than over infrom ING to launch and recover the aircraft and handle maintedistinguishable sea states, he noted, suggesting the need for internance. While the combined army-navy-civilian team has worked changeable pods to satisfy both army and navy needs. well, it did involve an initial procedural learning curve to ensure If the aircraft were to be launched and recovered from both ships the army pilots were providing information in “such a way that and ground landing strips, it would require a common system. So it made sense to the combat team” in the ship’s operation room, too if operational control were to be passed between the services.

Carter said. “Just learning how procedurally to operate the air“That’s going to be the biggest challenge, to do something craft took a little while because the control room for the UAV is CF wide, because certainly that is more economical if we can all not in the ops room.” have a common airframe and payloads with the same training and There were also logistics issues around obtaining spare parts from maintenance,” Bellingham said. “It would be advantageous but a manufacturer on the other side of the globe – “it took us a while [might] not necessarily be the best thing for the navy due to the to know exactly what spare parts are more critical than others,” requirements.

Carter explained – and challenges with integrating a UAV into the “We are definitely looking at the aspect of the handover. There’s controlled and congested air space of Mediterranean during the been some interest with the air force about the ability to take confirst phase of the ship’s deployment: the crew had to establish new trol of a UAV this size from airborne assets. relationships with civilian agencies in the reFor example, what’s the possibility of a Sea gion to get approval to launch in controlled King or another helicopter with the approair space and had to work through the CAOC priate people on board being able to take (Combined Air Operations Centre) to deconcontrol as part of the mission?” flict with air traffic from other military ships in Maintenance ashore might also mean carnon-controlled areas. rying less equipment on ships during operaHowever, the UAV quickly drew the attentions. “There does exist that desire to do tion of allied navies, most notably the Dutch. that transfer from the sea over to the air, “When we were working with NATO for the to the land for maintenance, and then fly it first couple of months of deployment, the right back again. That would certainly be Dutch commander was very intrigued and optimal, to be able to tie in that joint piece. asked us to fly it a lot,” Carter explained. He And that could include not only Canadian said the Dutch have subsequently acquired Forces but also coalition abilities. There the ScanEagle and are deploying with it on “There’s been some may be a common UAV storage, maintheir next rotation with NATO. “We are interest with the air tenance and re-supply set up to support a learning and we’re passing our lessons on to other navies.” force about the ability multinational operation and we would just pass these things back and forth.” to take control Whatever system the navy ultimately Joint project? adopts, all future ships, including the upWhile the RCN does not have a project yet of a UAV ... from graded Halifax-class frigates, the Arctic offfor the procurement of a UAV system, it is airborne assets. shore patrol vessels, the surface combatants in the process of evaluating the aircraft under and the joint support ships, will be designed the Land Forces’ operational assessment conto accommodate launch and recovery systems as well as control tract of the ScanEagle that runs through 2014, says Lieutenant rooms and operator accommodations, he said. Given the limits of Commander Vince Bellingham of the Director Maritime Requirecrew space, that will likely mean training navy personnel to both ments Sea. The army is finalizing performance specifications for operate and maintain the aircraft, though Carter suggested a joint the acquisition of a small unmanned air system team with the army might be a long-term solution as well.

“From the navy’s perspective, there are requirements [in the “We know from the navy perspective what a valuable asset having army’s specifications] that at first glance would certainly meet a the UAV is and we’re just having to come to grips with the culture large portion of what we envision as our requirements at sea for change of having this technology onboard,” Bellingham said. the ISR piece,” Bellingham said.

Carter agrees. “It won’t replace a helicopter because it can’t He acknowledged that while the RCN might have some unique do things like rescue people, transport people or carry heavy payrequirements, there would be a lot of overlap in types of missions loads, [but] UAVs are going to be a part of operations going both the army and navy conduct, especially as the navy trains more forward. It has been tremendously valuable to me. Whenever I for operations in congested littoral areas. Whether that means a have more information than my adversary, I’m in a much more joint acquisition or acquisition of the same platform, that remains advantageous position.” to be seen.

20 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

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M Maritime

The right solution for

Andrew Warden

manages maritime affairs and communications for the Navy League of Canada.

patrolling

the Arctic Since the Conservative government announced in the Canada First Defence Strategy in 2008 that they were pursuing the possibility of acquiring Arctic warships, criticisms and options have been proposed by many with interest in the issue. The culmination of this discussion is the Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) project.

The reality is that regardless of the debate around these vessels, Canada needs some sort of presence in the Arctic. The ice mass is receding and commercial interests are rising. Whether it be to monitor fisheries, patrol the exclusive economic zone, or assist in search and rescue activities, Canada needs the right mix of government capabilities to operate in the diverse and hostile Arctic environment and meet requirements beyond those of icebreaking and scientific work.

Entre the AOPS. The proposal for these ships is to include as many multi-role capabilities as possible. Most important, they will be able to operate in an environment that no other Royal Canadian Navy vessel is currently able to endure save for the mildest months of the Arctic summer.

Although the idea of having armed ships patrol the Arctic originated with the Mulroney government in the 1980s, the current AOPS project was initially announced in 2008. After years of discussions and study, the current project is currently at the stage where Halifax Shipyards is actually reviewing the design. Under the government’s National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy, the AOPS will be the first combat ships built by Halifax Shipyards. The implementation contract is expected to be awarded in 2015; the first ship should enter service around 2018 and the final ship by 2023.

In addition to this schedule, the government has indicated that the total number of ships will be between six and eight. While the final number will be determined by cost, every effort must be made to ensure that the government acquires the full complement

Possible AOPS designs and HMCS Yellowknife, a Kingston-class coastal defence vessel, on patrol.

22 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

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Maritime M of eight vessels, primarily because not every vessel is always ready for deployment due to maintenance schedules and the Navy’s graduated readiness system. As well as having to account for ships being in maintenance, the Arctic and adjoining portions of the Atlantic and Pacific represent an immense domain that will require more than a single ship. One intent of the NSPS, by naming Halifax Shipyards as one of the two shipbuilding centres of excellence in Canada, is to achieve efficiencies and savings throughout the shipbuilding project to allow for the acquisition of all eight vessels. As this is the first combat vessel project to go forward under NSPS, the project will undoubtedly become a case study for future projects such as the Canadian Surface Combatant, meaning that success is even more important.

Like any project, AOPS is not without critics. While there are several areas that have been identified by skeptics, perhaps some of the most important ones revolve around the issues of speed, armament and ice-breaking capabilities. In all of these areas, the AOPS will be doing exactly what it is being designed to do and what Canada needs it to do.

To address the concern of speed, it would be good to compare the AOPS to Canada’s current patrol fleet; the Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels. The MCDVs currently being used by the RCN have a maximum speed of 15 knots. That is very similar to the AOPS proposed 14 to 17 knot goal as outlined in the project deliverables. Furthermore, it must be remembered that in the Arctic environment, there are still many hazards to shipping that force ships to operate at a slower speed, meaning that a higher speed is not as crucial as it would be if the ships were operating in say, the open Atlantic or Pacific. Additionally, the AOPS is being designed to operate with helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles aboard, allowing the ship to extend its range and capabilities.

The weapon systems are another area where some have raised concerns. With the design to include a small gun, some have said that these ships are little more than slightly upgraded commercial vessels. However, there really isn’t a need for a large armament for the AOPS. These ships are not being asked to conduct combat operations, but to patrol and demonstrate presence in the Arctic.

For this purpose, even a small deck gun should more than suffice.

Finally, the fact that the AOPS are only being designed to operate in first-year sea ice and some small multi-year obstructions is not really as much of a concern as we might be led to believe.

When it comes to operating in and patrolling the Arctic, there is rarely a need for a surface vessel to be present whenever the entire Arctic ocean is frozen. The AOPS is designed to monitor things more in the line of commercial traffic in the form of cruise ships,

fishing and cargo transport, and none of those will not be present in really thick ice conditions. Consequently, having a ship that is only capable of operating in first-year ice conditions is not a problem and will generate a capability that the RCN currently does not have with any other ship in the fleet.

The Arctic ice mass is melting, sea routes are opening, and commercial interests are growing. Whether it be gas and mining exploration, fisheries or pleasure cruises, Canada needs some sort of military asset in the Arctic to monitor, assist and enforce whenever needed. The reality is that even today without ice-capable ships, the RCN is the only government agency that is capable of mounting multi-agency operations at sea whether in the Pacific, Atlantic or Arctic.

Having AOPS in the Arctic lets others know that Canada is watching. Its simple presence will help to deter violations from environmental to criminal. Together with an occasional frigate in summer months, AOPS will add a valuable capability to Arctic patrol. It will broaden Canada’s capabilities to take on its full responsibility and look after its Arctic territory.

Actual ships with sailors and other government agencies on board able to operate for extended periods in the Arctic environment are precisely what Canada needs, and the AOPS program is the solution. No idea is perfect, but AOPS is going to do exactly what Canada needs it to do.

C

M

Y

CM

MY

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The AOPS is being designed to operate with helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles aboard, allowing the ship to extend its range and capabilities. www.vanguardcanada.com

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012 23

M MaritiMe

RIMPAC EXERCISES

A US Navy MH-60S Sea Hawk prepares to land on HMCS Algonquin. Photo: MCpl Marc-Andre Gaudreault

CANADIAN, COALITION INTEROPERABILITY

T

he world’s largest maritime exercise wrapped up on August 3 following a month of scenarios to test coalition interoperability.

Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), now in its 23rd year, is held around the Hawaiian Islands. What began in 1971 as a Five Eyes exercise involving the U.S., U.K., Australia, New Zealand and Canada has swelled to 22 nations, 40 ships, six submarines and more than 200 aircraft, as well as 25,000 military forces conducting air, sea and land operations.

The 2012 version, hosted once again by the U.S. Pacific Fleet, marked several firsts, including the deployment of non-U.S. officers to command components of the Combined Task Force (CTF).

Canada’s BGen Mike Hood, deputy director general of international security policy at National Defence and a former commander of 8 Wing Trenton, commanded the air component while RAdm Ron Lloyd, recently Chief of Force Development, served as deputy commander of CTF. Commodore Peter Ellis directed the amphibious task group led by the USS Essex.”

“The fact that a Canadian has been chosen to lead the air component is indicative of how seamlessly we operate with the U.S. military,” said Hood, who commanded the 150-person Combined Air Operations Centre.

The Royal Canadian Air Force contribution included CC-177 Globemaster and CC-150 Polaris airlift support, four CP-140 Aurora long range patrol aircraft, seven CF-18 Hornets, a CC-150 Polaris air-to-air-refueller and a CC-130H(T) airto-air-refueller as well as two CH-124 Sea King detachments. Among the other more notable components under Hood’s command was a U.S. carrier air wing.

The Royal Canadian Navy marked a milestone for its Victoria-class submarines with the firing of a MK48 Heavyweight Torpedo on a decommissioned ship, USS Concord, by HMCS Victoria off the island of Kauai. HMCS Algonquin, Ottawa, Brandon, Saskatoon and Yellowknife, along with Fleet Diving Unit (Pacific), also took part in the exercise.

24 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

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A CF-18 Hornet from 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron gets refueled by a CC-130 Hercules air-to-air refueller from 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron.

Photo: MCpl Marc-Andre Gaudreault

USNS Concord is sunk by a torpedo from HMCS Victoria. Photo: 407 Long Range Patrol Squadron

MaritiMe M Soldiers of the non-combatant evacuation operation company, 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry practice military operations in urban terrain at the Marine Corps Training Area Bellows.

Photo: MCpl Marc-Andre Gaudreault

Soldiers from multiple countries (Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Tonga and United States) stand on the ight deck of ship USS Essex.

Photo: MCpl Marc-Andre Gaudreault www.vanguardcanada.com

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012 25

M Modelling & Simulation

Defining requirements in

A SYNTHETIC ENVIRONMENT throughout the procurement process, from the identification of a capability requirement to the definition of a potential vehicle, ship or aircraft, and long after the platform has been acquired, modelling and simulation play a prominent role.

Colonel Mike nixon, Director of land Requirements (DlR), spoke with Vanguard about the army’s use of m&S to both acquire its equipment and train its personnel.

the size of a force is entered into a model they have created and then put through a pre-determined tempo of activities over time.

Based on usage rates on record, on repair parts necessary, etc, they can give us a sense of not only how many of a platform we’ll likely need, but also how much logistics support equipment we’ll need to buy with it. That helps us get the scope of a project before we get into the actual definition phase, which is the nut work that my folks do in DLR, to define the requirement.

Q Break down modelling and simulation in a typical army procurement process. Where does it start?

The initial modelling and simulation and experimentation would begin with the Directorate of Land Concepts and Designs. To get to a concept, they use both modelling and simulation, which can then become the basis of a Capability Deficiency Requirement (CDR), which then evolves into a defined capability requirement.

Sometimes called the cloud builders, DLCD is involved in the process up until a point where employment concepts are known, and then there is a handoff to DLR to build it. But there is always a continual review. We have a board called the Army Capability Development Board, and every new capability that is determined to be an actual requirement is validated by it. Then there is an analysis process to consider all aspects. If I want to buy a new truck, that truck is going to have to be able to talk to people, so the communications folks have to be involved; the truck has to be maintained, so the maintenance people have to be involved.

And that analysis is done through the life of a project up until the point where we are close to an RFP. The RFP is influenced by the Statement of Requirements (SOR), which is influenced by all that work. And it all starts with a CDR. There are several aspects of modelling and simulation to project pre-definition. Through contracted services or through CORA – our Centre of Operational Research Analysis – we’ll utilize modelling to determine requirements. To use trucks as an example, 26 auGuSt/SEPtEmBER 2012

www.vanguardcanada.com

Q And it continues through the life of a program? How might that work with a project such as the Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle?

When a contract for something is signed, we still work with the manufacturer to tweak and finalize the platform. So even at this stage there is modelling, for example with human factors such as the exact placing of the seats. The SOR demands room for X amount of people and the bidders will provided vehicles with their version, but now we look at it with our research folks and, based on our knowledge of IEDs and what parts of the vehicle are most vulnerable, we’ll make adjustments. So the likelihood the TAPV will roll off the assembly line looking exactly like the one Textron tested is zero.

Q Some of the projects you are modelling are, in fact, simulated training systems for everything from small arms modernization to the main battle tank. Can you talk about a simulation initiative that illustrates this?

The Land Vehicle Crew Training System has a lot of potential in what it can bring to the Canadian Forces and the army in terms of enhanced training in a more fiscally austere environment. The scope of LVCTS is to provide both individual and collective trainers. It will be the same mechanism but used with different training audiences at different times. So if I’m a tank gunner and I have

Modelling & Simulation M to prove myself in gunnery to a certain standard before I pop off my first live 120mm round, this simulation system will provide that capability to the degree that a gunnery instructor will have complete confidence in a gunner before he goes out on the range.

In a Canadian context, it eliminates time because it’s not affected by weather; there’s no wear and tear on the vehicles by inexperienced drivers. It does not replace the real thing, but it gets a driver or a gunner to a point where the amount of time they have to spend in an actual operational platform is reduced substantially. And the intent is to have the system geographically dispersed and networked. One of the largest costs for a collective training exercise for the army is travel. We’ve got brigades in Edmonton, Valcartier and Petawawa. To have three combat teams in each of those locations working together in one exercise, in one simulated environment – the potential is phenomenal.

Q Are you able to recreate the level of realism and intensity of a live scenario?

My original Regimental Sergeant Major when I was at the armour school spent half an hour with the German Panzertruppenschule in a tank driving simulator – he had 30 years of experience at the time, a lot as a driver – and his comment when he came out of the full motion simulator was: “I remember that queasy feeling I used to get when I was driving a Leopard I.” Not every component of LVCTS is going to be hi-fidelity and full motion, but enough of it will be to achieve that individual piece, and then all of it together will achieve the collective piece. It will become a tactical trainer.

So the environment within the simulation environment changes.

The gunner is still doing his stuff, the driver is still doing his stuff, but our focus is now on the troop leader receiving and transmitting orders, giving direction and controlling his organization.

Q Can you integrate the various Land components or even an air wing into that tactical combat training?

From a low level tactical piece, there are certain components that already happen. We want to have the simulators that our artillery folks, especially the forward observation folks are using, to be part of the rest of our Land system. It is getting there. Up until now it used to be stovepipes. I had a tank gunnery system trainer, the artillery had theirs, the infantry had their small arms trainers. To get synergy, we had to go to the field and do it in real time together. Tactical helicopter training systems, that’s the next logical step. We’re actually developing doctrine from the reconnaissance side with tactical aviation reconnaissance, and I’ve been told that at least for the tactical training – squadron training – a wing could be sharing the same tactical scenario. That is the potential we want to achieve.

That was part of the initiative for the resources we have put behind LVCTS. We’ve got a lot of new projects from TAPV to the new main battle tank and we’ve consciously carved off some of their budgets that they had for these stovepipe simulation systems to be able to come up with a unified synergetic simulation system.

It’s a complex problem and it has taken us some time to get there, but we will have a much better global system then if we had done individual projects.

Q Is this training now widely accepted and expected?

The military in general and the army in particular are very good at doing what they have done, and doing it better every time they do it. So when you change the paradigm a bit, and it hasn’t been done before, where do you start the cultural change? Ultimately it is at the individual training, which is where the younger generation is.

When I was at the armour school, we had a course for troop warrants, the second-in-command of a four-tank troop or an eight-car recee troop, that was really the first time they had to receive orders, do a combat estimate, come up with a plan and issue their own version of control. Up until 2007, it was theory and then deploy to the field. In some cases people hadn’t been in a vehicle for a few years because of administrative jobs and it would be halfway through the course before you started seeing success in tactical applications. So in 2007 we introduced Virtual Battle Space 2, simple computer program but with our vehicles. The course before had a 70 percent success rate; this course had a 100 percent success rate. And it also spent $40,000 less because 30 percent of it was done through simulation before they went to the field. In some cases these guys were in their late 30s and there was some scepticism. But not after that. Our cultural barriers to simulation are largely gone.

Q Has M&S changed how you identify and define a project?

I think we will see a much larger impact in the five years to come then we saw in the past five years. It takes a while in an organization with this structure to make that leap. We follow a chain of command and don’t want to be rogues, and sometimes we have to be beaten by industry to convince us there’s a better way of doing something.

Over the past five years, there has been a gradual increase in awareness and utilization. The next five will be exponential.

Q How do you expect to see M&S advance?

I see us getting to a point in the future where our road to high readiness is drastically reduced and the organization is even better prepared to transition to an operational environment without any “I didn’t expect to see this.” We have a phenomenal preparation period for training but operational theatres are in a perpetual state of change, so if you are able to inject those changes quickly into a training scenario, which is much easier to do synthetically then in an actual field exercise, you’ll have a better prepared organization to do the nation’s business.

Will that also mean reduced training budgets? I don’t know that yet and I don’t want to set false expectations. We are trying to define that now. But the cost of moving a main tank in a field exercise versus a synthetic environment is significantly less. An investment in a top notch, state-of-the-art simulation system has the potential to avoid recurring operational costs substantially. It means getting a better trained unit or sub-unit quicker, with less expenditure of resources and less time away from home.

Colonel Nixon will speak as part of a panel on Canadian Forces use of modelling and simulation at DEFSEC Atlantic 2012 in Halifax, September 5-7 (www.defsecatlantic.ca). www.vanguardcanada.com

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012 27

M Modelling & simulation

by Chris Thatcher

The 3D solution for EROC repairs

A

s military vehicles have hardened to address the threat of improvised explosive devices, routine maintenance has become anything but routine. Formerly accessible components are now often buried behind armour protection, complicating the most basic tasks.

“Now changing the oil isn’t pop the hood, it’s take this slab off, take that slab off, undo this – all weighing thousands of pounds, so now you need cranes and winches to actually take it apart,” says Gabe Batstone, the chief executive officer of Vancouver-based NGRAIN. “No one was really prepared for this aspect. Depot maintenance, where you’ve got lots of equipment, was okay, but [for] something basic, how do you do it?”

This was especially true for Canada’s expedient route opening capability (EROC), large vehicles such as the RSD Husky and the Force Protection-built Buffalo and Cougar that were acquired and deployed to Afghanistan with little time for operators and maintenance technicians to train on them.

In trips to Afghanistan in 2008 and 2009, Batstone saw firsthand the challenge for technicians confronted by fortress-like vehicles with small, intricate devices. “One, how can you get something quickly and efficiently in the classroom to show them what they need to do? And second, can you send something [into the field], be it on an iPad or other device, so that when they are doing [maintenance or repairs] you can given them a reminder?”

One solution has been three-dimensional simulation software.

In May, NGRAIN announced that a range of its Virtual Task Trainer solutions had been selected by National Defence to provide interactive simulations for both the Buffalo, which uses an extended crane and claw to uncover IEDs and other threats, and the Husky, which includes large ground penetration radar panels that are complicated to remove and install.

While a simulation of a complex device won’t mitigate lifting off armour plates, it has provided visual real-time, step-by-step instructions on how to perform basic procedures, both in the classroom and in the field.

More important, software such as NGRAIN’s has helped technicians and combat engineers get the job done right the first time.

According to Batstone, experience has proven that when someone is sent out to repair or install a component, “one in four times they don’t actually do it right.” With the visual aid, most are achieving a 95 percent or higher success rate. “And there are significant costs to that,” he noted. “When they don’t get it right the first time, you have to send somebody back out, you may have used parts, and you’ve certainly used time, and obviously what28 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

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“Now changing the oil isn’t pop the hood, it’s take this slab off, take that slab off, undo this – all weighing thousands of pounds, so now you need cranes and winches to actually take it apart” – Gabe Batstone

The IED uncovering Buffalo. Photo: Sergeant Dennis Power ever you were working on is still not functional.”

He points to a recent project with the Canadian army in which a 3D training module was able to improve the fail rate in a particular course from 25 percent to almost zero, while raising the average course score of 80 percent to 96, all while helping students to perform the task 30 percent faster.

“All of it goes to the reality of the situation,” he said. “You’re in the era of austerity – there is not a lot of money out there. You’re also in the era of persistent conflict. I think technology and innovation are one of the ways you can bridge that gap.”

Visual learning may be the preferred method of a new generation, but economics is the key driver behind the growing use of simulated training, Batstone said. “Even if you don’t want to do it, you have to think outside the box. If you brief someone at the Pentagon and say, I’ve got this great new technology, I can save you 30 percent, and he’s got the same budget he had last year, he [won’t be interested]. But if the next day his boss walks in and says he’s got to cut his budget by 25 percent, he’s looking for your card.

“In the simulation industry I would argue that budget crunch and the financial crisis has opened a lot of doors because people have to change the way they think. We are creatures of habit. And smaller budgets have broken a bunch of habits in our customer base.”

Many, he said, now recognize that simulated training is faster, often cheaper, and at times more effective.

i

inForMATion manaGEmEnt Jes ellacott

is a communications officer with the information management Group.

A single solution for tracking

THE MILITARY’S MATERIEL Connectivity, interoperability and access to the right information at the right time are important for any business. For the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces (DND/CF), these elements are essential to conducting and supporting operations.

Knowing the status of all the tanks, aircraft and ships possessed by the CF is no small task. There are a significant number of defence resources that have to be moved, managed and maintained, and there is an incredible amount of financial information related to these requirements.

Enter the Defence Resource Management Information System (DRMIS), a product of the Financial Management Accounting System (FMAS) and Materiel Acquisition & Support Information System (MASIS). In essence, it is a means to capture and record Defence business.

More specifically, it is a computer-based tool that supports every element of the business process in terms of defence resources: a single solution that has replaced hundreds of stand-alone computer and paper-based systems to create a much more effective and efficient process that links engineers to supply managers to vehicle technicians to accountants.

DRMIS allows everyone involved in the life of an asset – a Leopard tank, for example – to work within the same system in near real time. If an engineer responsible for the configuration of the tank determines that a part needs to be replaced across the entire fleet of tanks, he or she can easily enter that information into the system. At the same time, the person responsible for buying the part nationally for the fleet is alerted to the need to order that part.

Continuing down the business line, technicians in all of the workshops responsible for maintaining the tanks can see that they

have a demand to make a change or repair and can turn that demand into a work order. Parts are then drawn against the order and once the technicians have completed the work, the engineer in Ottawa can see that it has been completed. It is a seamless, efficient and transparent business process.

“Basically, now you’ve got all these people linked electronically.

It’s changed the way they’ve done business,” says Barry Moore, director of DRMIS. “It’s a transformational implementation and the benefits here are huge.”

Field applications

To fully understand DRMIS, it is best to look at how it actually works in the field. A perfect example is the closure of the CF combat mission in Afghanistan. Before DRMIS, personnel at Forward Operating Bases would have brought their equipment back to the airfield in Kandahar. From there, people would have shipped the equipment to the “The implementation of DRMIS for aircraft supply depot in Montréal where it would maintenance will, when compared to our legacy have been assessed for one of several acsystem, result in a significant reduction in data tions: return to a unit for repair/use, repair entry errors and missed steps leading to enhanced in Montréal or send for overhaul, or cannibalize followed by disposal. fleet configuration control and a commensurate During the mission close-out in Kandareduction in flight safety events.” har, DRMIS allowed this process to get – LCol Michel Pichette, head of MASIS Air Force Team started much earlier and much more ef-

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inForMATion manaGEmEnt

i

The Mission Transition Task Force tracked and packed over 27,000 shipping containers of materiel.

Photo: Cpl Patrick Drouin

ficiently by letting all those involved know the condition of the equipment while it was still on the ground in Afghanistan. It allowed engineers in Ottawa to make decisions regarding its future repair in Canada or its disposal in theatre. Arrangements for the purchase of spare parts and the negotiation of repair and overhaul contracts was also done ahead of time so that when the equipment arrived back in Canada, repairs took place at pre-designated and forewarned locations (Montréal, a contractor’s facility, or unit locations) as early as possible.

Another area where DRMIS has proven its worth is as a deployed system on ships at sea. It keeps the naval repair facilities on shore abreast of the status of ships while they are at sea, thereby allowing the planning for necessary repairs to take place before the ship’s return.

“The fleet maintenance facility can see what’s wrong with that ship; they can determine the parts they have to order. They can put long lead time things in place so that when the ship arrives, they are ready to execute the work,” says Moore.

In fact, it is this deployed capability that has garnered significant international attention for the system. Moore explains that Canada is part of a 17-country coalition called the Defence Interest Group (DEIG) that shares information regarding implementations of SAP in support of defence business and operations.

Canada leads this group in the use of SAP for deployed operations and is the only country in the world to have a resource management system of this kind on its warships.

civilian workforce at DND, the idea being that a computer-based system for managing materiel would enable fewer people to do more. MASIS became the main tool used by engineers, maintainers and procurement personnel until 2010 when it was integrated with the departmental financial system to create DRMIS. Currently, DRMIS is fully in place supporting engineering and maintenance processes for the Royal Canadian Navy. This functionality is approximately 95 percent complete for the Canadian Army and approximately 30 percent complete for the Royal Canadian Air Force. By the end of 2013, engineering, maintenance and supply chain processes will be fully in the DRMIS solution for all three environments and for all equipment (less legacy aircraft fleets within the RCAF).

In addition, Moore indicates that it is the Department’s intention to continue to roll out DRMIS to replace other legacy or aging systems currently in use – like those used to manage real property – resulting in the streamlining of additional business processes and providing better overall accountability.

“That’s the whole idea with Enterprise Resource Planning capabilities – they’re enterprise-wide so they integrate and automate processes end-to-end across the department,” he said.

We Can Count On Them . . .

They Can Count On Us

Past, present and future MASIS, the materiel-based predecessor of DRMIS, came about in the late 1990s as a response to a reduction in both the CF and the

“DRMIS is the tool we use to materially certify our submarines, and manage the in-service materiel state; it is critical enabler in being able to safely put submarines to sea.”

– Capt Marcel Hallé, Director of Maritime Management and Support

We Care!

Join The Royal Canadian Legion www.vanguardcanada.com

auGuSt/SEPtEmBER 2012 31

W WeSTdeF 2012

WestDef 2012: From conference sessions and a trade show to an evening at the Stampede.

WestDef 2012

Corralling defence business

W

ith the annual Calgary Stampede as backdrop, WestDef 2012 attracted a modest but significant audience to its twoday conference and trade show in July.

With a sizeable aerospace sector and thriving logistics support companies (four of the Canadian Forces’ larger bases and a Defence R&D Canada centre are located in the province), Alberta has steadily gained prominence as a defence hub. That has been especially true for the unmanned systems sector, which has literally taken off in recent years.

Keynote addresses included Premier Allison Redford, RAdm Bill Truelove, SeaSpan president Brian Carter and Jake Jacobson, chief of staff for ADM (MAT). Truelove, commander of Maritime Forces Pacific, took the opportunity to reinforce the navy’s vision for operations in the contested littorals, and painted a picture of a sophisticated adversary in a cluttered and complex battle space to illustrate some of the navy’s future capability requirements.

Also of note, Marius Ghenescu, director of innovation for General Dynamics Canada, announced the opening of the company’s EDGE Innovation Centre in Calgary, an opportunity for small and medium sized companies as well as OEMs to connect to a wider network of companies developing innovative defence solutions and identify possible partners.

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leader

It’s true… CAE is a global leader in modeling, simulation, and training, and proud to be a homegrown Canadian success story.

We are an excellent partner in helping the Canadian Forces face the challenges and complexities of today’s modern warfare. Specifically for the Canadian Navy, we’ve developed and supported complex systems integration projects for over 30 years, including the Canadian Naval Electronic Warfare System (CANEWS I & II), the Tribal Class TRUMP Display Management System, and the Maritime Helicopter Program Integrated Information Environment (MHP IIE). In addition, CAE has recently teamed with Lockheed Martin to develop the new combat system under the Halifax Class Modernization program.

CAE is proud to help prepare and support our Canadian Forces in achieving mission readiness.

one step ahead

cae.com

C Cyber security Colonel (Ret’d) Bruce Jackson

served in a number of positions dealing with information operations. He consults in the areas of strategic planning and IT security.

H

Cu

Atl b

Co

On Ex Le En Fo Joi Tak Me

And “The best defence is a good offence.” The popular saying has been variously attributed to world champion boxer Jack Dempsey and legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi, but it is equally applicable to cyber defence.

N

ormally, an effective defence is never passive. It not only blocks an attack, but also has the agility, power and wit to seize the initiative and defeat not only the attack, but the attacker.

Cyber defence as practised today tends to be passive. As a generalization, we build barriers around our networks, wait for the attack to come, and clean up afterwards. As Members of Parliament on the U.K. Intelligence and Security Committee argued in their recent annual report, defending against cyber attacks is not enough; “there are also opportunities for our intelligence and security agencies and military which should be exploited in the interests of UK national security,” including active defence, exploitation, disruption, information operations and military effects.

In keeping with Lombardi’s quote, we must do better, and without drawing a flag on the play.

The defensive model A common security model used (with some variations) by a number of commercial, gov34 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

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ernment and military organizations consists of four parts: Protect; Detect; React; and Restore.

At the risk of oversimplifying, Protect means to build, fortify or reinforce something so it is resilient to attack. Detect means to discover an attack in sufficient time to be able to do something useful about it. React is the actual defensive battle: actions taken to defeat the attack.

Restore involves repairing damage done during the attack.

In execution, these elements occur more or less sequentially. However, designing a successful defence requires a different approach.

It must focus on React, and let requirements for Protect, Detect and Restore flow from the needs of a vision of the engagement to be fought. This vision must be based on an accurate estimate of the way the attack will unfold, based on predictive intelligence.

A defensive system, therefore, needs first to consider React and Detect. Protect provides the effects demanded by the design for battle, typically delaying or limiting attack options to those that fit the defensive scheme. Restore,

d

September 5-7, 2012 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Cunard Centre - Halifax Waterfront Atlantic Canada is a natural gateway to and bridge between Europe, the United States and the remainder of Canada.

Come see why this event continues to grow in size and popularity!

One of Canada’s major networking opportunities for business and government: Explore partnership potential with regional and international firms Learn about Canadian Government procurement plans Engage with Government assistance programs Focus on the 2012 theme of Modeling and Simulation (M&S) Join the discussion on the intersection between M&S and the talents of the digital gaming industry Take advantage of the huge potential for business within the Canadian Shipbuilding Program Meet major industry Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) who are focused on supply chain enhancement And do it all in one of Canada’s great business & tourism destinations - Halifax, Nova Scotia...

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defsecatlantic.ca

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO MAKE A BOOKING, PLEASE CONTACT: Colin Stephenson, Executive Director Mail & Courier: 166 Ingram Drive Fall River, Nova Scotia CANADA B2T 1A4 Office: +1 (902) 465-2725 Fax: +1 (902) 484-3222 Cell: +1 (902) 223-2099 E-Mail: colin@defsecatlantic.ca

“Canadian Partnership Potential.

Focused Here, Expanding Worldwide...”

C CyBer SEcuRity “The defensive form in War is ... a shield formed of blows delivered with skill.”

the model of the Defensive Battle Not just this ...

Protect

But this!

Protect

Execute

Detect React

Predic ve Intelligence

Detect Design the defensive scheme

Restore

React Restore Feedback

finally, not only repairs but also provides feedback based on an analysis of the action to adjust the scheme for the next attack.

An intelligence capability Detect has two roles. Strategically, it provides predictive intelligence on which the designer can base a defensive scheme. This requires a firm grasp of the opponent’s methods of operation and an ability to predict future methods out to a useful time horizon.

Tactically, it triggers immediate actions in the design for battle that will allow the defender to be proactive enough to defeat the attack. Key to success here is being able to detect an attack in time to allow the React function to be successful.

Most cyber attacks are not detected until long after they have taken place. While the attacker’s exploitation can last a significant time, the battle was lost long ago – before it had a chance to take place. Our time-scales are very short – small fractions of a second.

It is likely that we will need to place our sensors not only inside our system, but also well outside our perimeter to give us the reaction time we need to fight the battle: cooperation with others in the community will be critical. Otherwise, we end up skipping the React function altogether and going straight to Restore to try to clean up the mess.

Where the threats are constantly changing, a longer-term intelligence capability allows us to anticipate new attacks and evolve our defensive scheme to meet them. To be effective, getting this information into the hands of key defenders is essential; having it sit in the hands of the intelligence staff is not useful. Difficult or not, it is nonetheless necessary to develop this capability so we can avoid the historical problem of being well-prepared for the last war, but not for the one about to be imposed on us.

An operations capability While all parts of the model are important, fighting and winning the battle is the core function. It is by no means certain that our 36 auGuSt/SEPtEmBER 2012

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— carl von clausewitz, on War cyber defenders have approached designing the defence with a clear vision of how this engagement will take place. We must create a design, incorporating the effects created by our obstacles and the warning allowed by advanced detection systems to allow the right actions to be taken – by humans or by computers – at the right time to avoid the attack or defeat it.

In general, our understanding of how to defend develops alongside our understanding of how to attack. Yet in Canada, we have no acknowledged offensive cyber capability outside a minimal penetration testing or “ethical hacking” presence. Most cyber defenders have no opportunity to participate in this activity, and so their understanding of the attacker’s options tends to be restricted by lack of experience and training.

This situation also leads to a passive mind-set, a recipe for failure in a defensive battle. Development of a true offensive cyber capability would allow our defenders to improve their skills and understanding of their craft, to the benefit of our cyber defences in general.

What are the issues?

Why are we not doing all of this now? First, accurate predictive intelligence is hard. There are too many potential adversaries with their own security measures and too little intelligence capability suited to this purpose. Second, there are huge policy issues with overt offensive action. Both legal and practical factors are a long way from being resolved. In the same vein, the scale of action and the authority of the actor need to be considered – we do not expect the average citizen to take up arms against a burglar, nor do the police normally arrive with guns blazing. Lastly, today we have barely enough institutional capacity to do the easy part – fortify our systems – and in no way enough to design and execute a more effective defence.

Conclusion Cyber defence has for too long focused on deployment of obstacles that are certain, with time, to be breached by our attackers – at the expense of the ability to create a vision of the defensive battle and a design to conduct it successfully. We have maintained a passive psychology, reacting to old attack methods too late, and applying costly countermeasures that may or may not be useful against future attacks.

We need to focus on our operations and intelligence capabilities so we can design effective and proactive defences that have a better chance of success, and we need to imbue our defenders with the offensive spirit necessary to build a “shield of blows delivered with skill.”

2

0

1

2

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Some of the many Keynote Speakers:

The Honourable Vic Toews, Minister, Public Safety Canada

Sir David Omand,

former Security and Intelligence Coordinator, Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office

Ottawa Convention Centre

Senator Pamela Wallin,

Chair, Senate Committee on National Security, Canada

Sir David Pepper,

former Director, Government Communications Headquarters, UK

10.30.12 - 10.31.12

S SeArCH anD REScuE

COMPETING THE MULTI-MISSION

SPARTAN

With another industry day scheduled for mid-october, canada’s Fixed-Wing Search and Rescue program may finally be heading toward a draft request for proposal by the end of the year. among the leading contenders is the twin engine c-27J Spartan by italian manufacturer alenia aermacchi, an aircraft currently in operations with 10 nations in a range of environments. though not specially a SaR aircraft, the Spartan has been used in humanitarian operations involving similar requirements. over the past 11 months in afghanistan, two c-27Js with the uSaF have completed over 32,000 missions and 71 air drops while transporting 1,400 tonnes of cargo and 25,000 passengers. dr. Alan Calegari, cEo alenia north america, spoke with Vanguard about canadian search and rescue and the aircraft.

Q How did Alenia assess search and rescue in Canada? Beyond weather and geography, does the SAR mission make any exceptional demands?

We looked at the program first and foremost [as to whether] we have the right aircraft to meet the mission as we believe it to be (it is still being defined through the process that the government of Canada is operating). For us it was an easy decision to say we can compete with an aircraft that probably has a superior level of performance just based on the physical characteristics of the aircraft and the ability to operate a multi-mission type aircraft that can be quickly reconfigured from search and rescue to air ambulance, whatever the SAR mission will be confronted with.

Second, we have tried to understand from information and dia38 auGuSt/SEPtEmBER 2012

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logue with the ministries and others in industry what we can do to render our aircraft even more suitable for the mission. I don’t know what the specific sensor requirements will be, but whatever requirements they request we can certainly meet and incorporate into the aircraft without any major modifications.

We understood as a company that we could not do this alone.

So we have announced a partnership with General Dynamics Canada, which is the current provider of ISS [in-service support] for rotary SAR; we have formed a partnership with Provincial Aerospace – they are currently doing missions for search and rescue under the current program – and with our sister company, DRS Canada. This is not just about giving an aircraft, this is a program to be sustained for 20 years. So it is a long-range commitment with all of the variables that can come into play over a

SeArCH anD REScuE S 20-year span. We need to have that knowledge today so that we can commit the resources, the technical expertise, to sustain the evolution of the aircraft.

Q Does the Arctic pose unique challenges?

I can’t comment on other aircraft but certainly our aircraft has met that demand. It is flying in Scandinavian counties, which are the equivalent of an Arctic sub region. It has flown in very harsh conditions in Croatia over mountainous regions. So the aircraft is well tested in real environments. In the event of an expanded role for Canada as an international partner supporting Arctic search and rescue, we believe the aircraft will be used to allocate either rotary assets or vessels that will then engage. But we have the potential to land on the ice cap. The Arctic region is not a deterrent for the performance of the aircraft.

Q You mentioned partnerships. Were you looking for specific Canadian expertise in Arctic or mountainous operations?

One of the most important factors in selecting the partners was the value of adding Canadian content. Obviously we know our aircraft but we don’t know as much as our partners about the Canadian environment. We wanted to know from an operator what you encounter day in and day out when you fly these missions.

That was certainly the case with PAL because they do fly the missions today and they do have a very strong position in the North.

General Dynamics, of course, has broad experience in how they manage performance-based, long-term contracts – we needed to understand that and how it relates to the sustainability and support we need to bring as an OEM. And then we needed a technology integrator that was knowledgeable of our systems but could also add value by understanding the operational side of Canada.

We have others – CAE for the training. We want to reach out and make it as Canada as possible. No matter what, the mission system will be built in Canada by Canadians.

Q Given that the C-27J was not initially billed as a SAR aircraft, does a SAR configuration require anything different or unusual?

Not really. We’ll need to wait and understand more what the definition of requirements will be. But I wouldn’t say there is anything exceptional from a support/logistics standpoint for the aircraft outside of perhaps frequency of maintenance if the aircraft is used in a particular environment for an extended period of time.

One of the advantages of the airplane is that it has plenty of room for all of the equipment that SAR teams carry, which is quite a bit; there is plenty of room in the back for a mission system – we don’t know what that is going to look like, but we have the flexibility to adapt. In my opinion, one of the most positive things is the versatility that the aircraft has to accommodate in a palletized form various stages of equipment that will render it suitable for a mission. So if, for example, it has to have command and control

equipment, they can roll up onto the aircraft through a palletized system the equipment that is necessary. It could then come back and reconfigure for evacuation or medevac. We believe that capability is going to be an excellent workhorse for RCAF search and rescue because they can man the bases in a flexible way without having a rigidly configured aircraft that can only do certain things.

Q This program has had more downs than ups over the years.

With wider and more frequent consultation, has it become more amenable to industry?

As president of a company, if it happens in a week it is too late.

But realizing the importance and the sensitivity of budgets, the government of Canada has probably made the right decision to reset the program. The process is very comprehensive. It is a very cooperative effort between the ministers of Public Works, DND, the air force search and rescue and industry to make sure that nothing is missed, that every aspect of the program is addressed.

So, yes, maybe at a pace that is not what I would like to see from a company standpoint, but I am confident, particularly after the discussion we had at CANSEC, that this is a program the government wants to execute, but without the risk of having a problem on their hands. I understand that. The budgets for this are very large. Accountability and transparency must be met.

Q As the process has changed, are you seeing any substantial changes to the requirements or the program itself?

There is still the discussion of one or two contracts: one for procurement of the aircraft, the other for the in-service support. Ultimately, I think one point of accountability will prevail, which is what the government wants. I haven’t seen any changes that are currently challenging us in rethinking the programming.

Q There has been discussion of options such as outsourcing.

Is this feasible in your mind?

We had heard at one point there was the option of a mixed fleet, the option of outsourcing. I think it is going to be a very difficult thing to do if they want one single point of accountability. The Canadian air force is ultimately going to be responsible for the deliverables of these things. You can outsource certain aspects of it but you cannot outsource the overall results of a program which by nature has to have a structure of a military organization, a chain of command that understands emergency response, flyable airspace, all the stuff that has to be governed by a government agency and not by an operator that would tend to look at profitability and not the mission.

Q As we approach an RFP, what are your next steps?

Internally, we are reviewing every aspect of our campaign. We have in place a number of meetings, all in Canada, because we need to be extremely localized in the decision making process as well. www.vanguardcanada.com

auGuSt/SEPtEmBER 2012 39

M MenToring Colonel Mike Minor (left), with col

Greg Smith, is commander of the Kabul military training center training advisory group. Photo: master mcpl. France morin

Advising in the cradle of

THE AFGHAN ARMY “I remember that his first question concerned the centuries-old Buddha statues that were dynamited by the Taliban in March of that year, shortly before our encounter. Two Taliban combatants from Kandahar confidently responded that worshiping anything outside of Islam was unacceptable and that therefore these statues had to be destroyed. My brother looked at them and said, this time in Pashto, ‘There are still many sun-worshippers in this country. Will you also try to get rid of the sun and drop darkness over the Earth?”

— northern alliance leader massoud’s brother on a massoud encounter with the taliban

W

ith Massoud’s words resonating in my mind, I know why we are still fighting the Taliban here in Afghanistan. This is not a war of religion, but one between distorted beliefs, some theirs, some ours. The main victims before and since the war began are ordinary Afghans and it is their protection that is paramount today.

Surrounded by 1600 Afghan soldiers on the parade square at Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) during an interview with Aljazeera, fear in the reporter’s eyes at the number and rawness of the recruits enveloping us, I grasp that my experiences during this mission to train the Afghan National Army (ANA) are radically different from my time on operations in southern Afghanistan in 2008, were Afghans were on the periphery of my experience.

I was fixed in a headquarters helping plan and direct coalition operations. There in Kandahar, Canada was directly involved with others in counterinsurgency operations, clearing and holding villages until they were handed over to Afghan security forces

40 auGuSt/SEPtEmBER 2012

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and development could begin. Sometimes this involved fighting, which came at a tremendous cost in lives, though not once did we lose a battle. As a colleague recently pointed out, however, and as the Americans learned in Vietnam, you can win all the battles and still lose the war.

This is why the Canadian Forces, having done good work to bring security to Kandahar Province, have shifted course – now that the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are much more capable of providing their own security – and are singularly focused on this crucial training mission to help build the rest of the ANA. Here at KMTC, we are involved in “war winning” rather than battle winning. We are helping build an army at the grass roots level; this is crucial nation building work, and in this we shall not fail. But our effort will not guarantee success in Afghanistan. Others must do their part to help build their national institutions.

Many have wisely stated we can’t kill our way to victory in Afghanistan. Given the extended families in central Asia, we are only

Under blue skies of the ANA classroom. Photo: Master Cpl. Cless Howse

MenToring M creating an exponentially large future generation of insurgents who will hate us. Peace and reconciliation is therefore necessary between the Afghan government and a more moderate, reformed Taliban that will not terrorize the population.

With the recent overtures of peace by both the U.S. and the Taliban, for the first time, I have noticed some expression of hope amongst senior ANA commanders, hope that peace and security will soon arrive in Afghanistan. As Brigadier-General Patyani, the ANA commander of KMTC, recently told me, “there will be no winners unless we make peace.” Everyone is tired of this war. Nonetheless, we should not fool ourselves. This peace will likely come only with compromise and possibly a temporary cost to some of the more liberal progress made in Afghanistan. As such, the insurgents need to be part of a broad based solution supported by the international community.

As well, good multi-ethnic governance with functioning ministries, popular support, and less graft is clearly required. Strategic partnerships that provide enduring international support, not only for the ANA, but for governance, the rule of law, combating corruption and the drug trade, economic and social development, and other elements of Afghan national power, are also an absolute necessity until security has taken hold and the economy begins to produce national income to sustain the country; this may take a decade or more.

A crucial pillar In the midst of this political ambiguity, Canadian soldiers maintain a particular focus on our military mission, to help the Afghans put the finishing touches on their army. This is an crucial pillar in the campaign to peace. Canadian soldiers at KMTC, the cradle of the ANA, are supporting our Afghan counterparts to build a national army by helping them conduct initial entry soldier, noncommissioned officer and officer training.

Canada is the lead nation at KMTC and our 280 soldiers are working alongside 350 advisors from 18 other nations to help build the ANA. It is a daunting task, particularly given the magnitude of the undertaking. Close to 50,000 soldiers are trained at KMTC in any given year. While the tempo of training should drop as the ANA reaches its full strength later this year, KMTC will remain Afghanistan’s premiere training facility and key to the future sustainment and success of the ANA.

Most remarkable, Afghans are now doing all the training and almost everything else, with Canadians and other coalition forces providing military advice in their shadows. Constrained by time, basic training is only nine weeks for soldiers and 24 weeks for officers. Hampered by the requirement to train large quantities of troops as the army is being built – there are 1400 soldiers on each basic training course and five courses are conducted at once – the soldiers trained here are what we call “Afghan good enough.”

They are or will soon be good enough to maintain security against the Taliban insurgency, but not yet good enough for expeditionary operations of their own outside of Afghanistan.

Trying to build an army while it fights is like trying to build a car while driving – not easy. But these are a hardy and ingenious people. I admire their ability to get things done. Trying to build heartfelt relations so we can work together effectively gets under your skin, but in a good way. The relationships you build here are strong. They’re built on trust.

This is not always a high tempo operation for the team. Nonetheless, we ask a lot from our soldiers because they are operating in a gray area between two narratives: first, Afghan culture and its values and morals so different to our own, and second, coalition force expectations and Western values.

With great autonomy, soldiers are faced with moral dilemmas every day, guided by their conscience. But they are driving tremendous change. Recent “atmospherics reporting,” things Afghans talk about in downtown Kabul, mention the strong relation and respect that the ANA at KMTC have for coalition forces, the majority being Canadians. We have young junior leaders advising Afghan senior officers sometimes 20 years their age, and they are being listened to. We have immersed our soldiers in an Eastern culture like no other. Though they see only the tip of the “cultural iceberg,” the way Afghans dress, eat and act in a military setting – and much remains hidden – our soldiers succeed.

The Canadian soldiers here are inquisitive, tolerant, and have made a

A 52 year-old graduate of literacy training, the 100,000th Literacy School graduate, and the all female Malalai Company graduation oath ceremony. Photos: MCpl Chris Ward

www.vanguardcanada.com

auGuSt/SEPtEmBER 2012 41

M Mentoring real effort to learn the local languages. I sense the respect is mutual, but when incidents such as burning of the Quran or the deaths of innocent civilians occur, we are sometimes all painted with the infidel brush. Then it feels like all the effort put into a far-reaching project you’ve worked on for years has vanished. Yet we continue to plod ahead, mission first, even as crowds of angry protesters gather near here, with shots being fired as I write.

We have slightly less concern than other camps because here we are shielded by the ANA camp that surrounds us. Today they protect us from normal Afghans; the irony is normal Afghans are not our enemy, yet after ten years their tolerance towards us wanes due to our repeated errors and the basic fact that we are still here in their country, like guests that have over stayed their welcome. I am afraid we may have become as much a part of the problem as we are part of the solution – our presence needs to be carefully balanced. This is why a relatively quick but responsible completion of this mission, and a transition to a reduced supporting presence and an ANA lead, is strategically so important. And ultimately, only the ANSF can win the peace.

An Afghan face So how is it going? We are trying to work ourselves out of a job and we’re succeeding. T.E. Lawrence – Lawrence of Arabia – operating in the deserts of Arabia during the First World War, stated “Do not try to do too much with your own hands. Better the[y] do it tolerably than that you do it perfectly. It is their war, and you are to help them, not to win it for them.” This truism applies to our work in Afghanistan.

Good days here are when we stand back and see the ANA do positive things without our advice that they were not doing when we arrived. Progress is slow, but no less so than complex coalition operations in Afghanistan, and on this “march of a thousand miles” we are nearing our objectives. With many wrinkles, the ANA is being built well enough, despite myriad difficulties.

There is a continuum of training that starts here at KMTC, but continues with specialty courses, training to form fighting units, and more training once they move into their area of operations and join their corps. In ten years, we together have built an ANA of almost 195,000 strong from nothing. This summer, we begin to transition KMTC completely to BGen Patyani and the 3,000 Afghans that work here. It will be a two-year process, perhaps less, but they are ready to begin.

When I was in the south, we talked about putting an “Afghan face” on operations. Today there is an Afghan face, muscle, and intellect behind almost everything that occurs at KMTC. And once the army is built, training courses should get longer and the volume of soldiers being trained should reduce. The quality of Afghan soldier should improve immeasurably, with some continued international support. The dream of many Afghan generals I have met is that ‘Afghan good enough’ will one day be good enough to serve alongside the coalition somewhere, helping some other nation like we are helping them. They would like nothing better than to join the international community and help someone else. I believe they are simply tired of needing help; they want to stand on their own.

One area where they are still getting significant help is the Amer42 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

N

ANA soldiers in basic soldiering skills at KMTC. Photo: MCpl Robert Bottrill ican sponsored literacy training. Less than 10 percent of soldiers that enroll in the ANA are literate at a grade one level. Imagine not being able to read your pay statement, your weapon’s serial number, or your child a story. With 64 hours of training over their nine week Basic Warrior Training course, however, almost 90 percent of the soldiers are literate to a grade one level. In just over two years, 60 percent of the ANA are literate because of this program, compared to the lost generation of the general Afghan population, beaten down by 32 years of war, where only 24 percent are literate. Now mothers are sending their sons to the ANA, rather than to Madrasas in Pakistan, so they become educated.

We are also working hard to cut all their dependencies on us.

When Canada took over from the U.S. at KMTC last June, one of the greatest gifts we brought them was nothing! We have no American dollars and resources, so all they got was us, their advisors. When I first arrived, I dreaded every meeting as there would surely be more requests. Now, when I’m asked for stuff, BGen Patynai cuts off his own staff and leaders in mid-stream and tells them, “don’t ask the coalition, we can do this.” And they do.

We focus on developing people, not providing more things. It is good people that will maintain and operate weapons, vehicles and equipment they have been given, and lead the soldiers they have trained. Nonetheless, we need to thank the Americans for having given the ANA almost everything they need to build an army, for without them, none of this would be possible.

Massoud’s brother’s comments at the outset of this article suggest we are in Afghanistan for the right reasons. We came to Afghanistan as liberators, not conquerors, and after almost 11 years of war, much progress has been made to free and secure Afghans to decide their own future.

I do not know if this peace will be won – I believe it will because the insurgents have been severely degraded and are “on the back foot” – but there are so many strategic variables out of our control.

Most importantly, allied nations need to announce loud and clear that Afghanistan will receive enduring fiscal and military support beyond 2014 so the insurgents realize they can’t just wait us out. I do know, however, that we will succeed in our mission to help them build this army. When Canada leaves Afghanistan for good, we will have helped build a peace-winning pillar of national power.

A a c c h in t M

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B Book shelf

by Roy Thomas, MSC, CD, MA (RMC)

SOF: A vital fourth service Special Operations Forces: A National Capability Dr. Emily Spencer, Editor Canadian Defence Academy Press, 2011

The American-led global war on terror has brought Special Operations Forces to the fore. Given their current importance, should they too be subject to the deficit cost-cutting now underway at National Defence?

After reading Special Operations Forces: A National Capability, nine essays culled from a December 2010 symposium in Kingston, readers will undoubtedly have their own conclusions.

Much of the book is devoted to Col Bernd Horn’s contribution on the Canadian SOF legacy and provides a valuable perspective on SOF capabilities.

Surprisingly, the Canadian origins of special forces’ operations predate

Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed: The MSF Experience Claire Magone, Michael Neuman and Fabrice Weissman, Editors Columbia University Press, 2011

To deliver humanitarian assistance, is it required to shake hands with the devil?

The Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) experience of negotiations in 12 different countries offers a smorgasbord of real life examples. There is no “cookie cutter” response and no centralized control of the voices and or activities of the various MSF sections.

Pakistan on the Brink: The Future of America, Pakistan and Afghanistan Ahmed Rashid Viking, New York, 2011

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those of the air force, navy or even conventional army units. Dr. Horn, in addition to being a former deputy of SOFCOM and a former commander of both a conventional infantry battalion and an airborne commando, has extensive academic credentials in special and airborne operations.

Canadian and American practitioners, both serving and retired, as well as academics provide insights into the alignment of the present Canadian SOF organizations with Canada First Defence Strategy missions; the utility of SOF; its role as an enabler filling the so-called strategic planning gap; SOF as an economy of force option; and SOF as a tool for expanded policy choices.

Professor Sean Maloney compares Polish, British and U.S. special forces operations in the Kandahar region of Afghanistan. The book concludes with essays on SOF media relations, so crucial to public oversight and taxpayer support.

In a book on capabilities, left unanswered for me is whether there should be development of a reserve SOF capability as was done with the SAS in the U.K. Also not addressed are chain of command issues when conventional forces commanders utilize SOF within coalition operations, a topic that surely merits discussion at the political level.

Hy Rothstein’s suggestion that only unconventional units can win unconventional wars is not considered. His book, Afghanistan and the Troubled Future of Unconventional Warfare, reviewed in 2007, argues that organizational culture of conventional forces works against their use in conflicts such as Afghanistan. However, Rothstein’s view and the arguments put forward in this book would suggest that Special Operations Forces are a fourth service that Canada must continue to support with sufficient monies.

Canadians will be particularly interested in the case of MSF in Afghanistan, which the organization left in 2004 after 24 years, only to return in 2008. The case of neighbouring Pakistan, where MSF has so far been denied access to the Federal Administer Tribal Areas but is engaged in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, will certainly intrigue. The 2011 earthquake, on the other hand, brought about a short-lived change in the relationship between MSF and the Pakistan military.

An explanation of the principles underlying MSF negotiating introduces the country chapters. Key among them is that everything is open to negotiation; that MSF judges when to keep silent, and knows its place in each scenario, and acknowledges there will be “antagonisms.”

In an afterword, David Rieff, author of A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis, adds that “all effective humanitarian action is based on negotiating compromises.” However, there must not be “capitulation” or “complicity.” Readers can judge for themselves, but what is clear is that the need to shake hands with the devil to deliver assistance cannot be clarified in a 30-second sound bite.

Pakistan’s future may well become ours, in part because of its nuclear weapons.

So this book by the author of Taliban and Descent into Chaos should scare any Canadian with children or grandchildren.

In 1990, when I left Pakistan after my second posting in four years, I never imagined that Pakistan would deteriorate to the extent described by Rashid.

Between 1986, when I attended the Pakistan Army Staff College in Quetta, and 1989/90, when I served in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s Tribal areas as an unarmed UN military observer, there had been many changes, but not this catastrophic.

Rashid, a prominent Lahore-based journalist, offers few slivers of hope, arguing that the systemic challenges that face all those attempting remedies are insurmountable. Canadian boots may well be back in that area, in combat, within my lifetime.

T

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e edge oF tEcH

Advancing next generation sonar for anti-submarine warfare

Stefan dubowski

is a freelance writer in ottawa (dubowski@stiffsentences.com).

MUlTiSTATiC ACTiVe SonAr

S

ubmarines have always been designed for stealth. But thanks to ongoing advancements, modern-day vessels can be particularly difficult to detect with common sonar systems. Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) is investigating a new technique that could help the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force improve their sub-finding capabilities.

Sporting anti-sonar skins and whisper-quiet engines, the latest underwater boats threaten to slip past existing anti-sub warfare (ASW) systems including sonar, which uses sound to detect objects beneath the water’s surface. These days, many defence forces use monostatic or bistatic sonar systems, wherein the transmitters and receivers are located in the same place or in two places (respectively). However, if the equipment isn’t situated in the right location, the sonar network fails to detect the submarine.

DRDC, an agency of National Defence, is looking into a different sort of sonar to help boost the Canadian Forces’ ability to find subs. Known as multistatic active sonar, the technology sees multiple transmitters and receivers working together across a wireless grid. The equipment, situated on naval ships and air force planes, collects data from numerous locations, providing a more complete picture of sub activity than any offered by monostatic and bistatic sonar systems.

DRDC is researching the technology in a multi-year undertaking called the Advancing Multistatic Active Sonar Employment Technology Demonstration Project (AMASE TDP). It intends to demonstrate how multistatic active sonar is better than the standalone and passive sonar that has been used in the past. DRDC positions the project as an important evolution in the development of next-generation anti-sub warfare capabilities.

Transmitter-receiver trials DRDC is conducting the demonstration at its research centre in Dartmouth. Sponsored by the Canadian Forces, the demonstration considers different transmitter-receiver pairings, different ocean environments (shallow or deep water), and new methods for processing and displaying the sonar data.

Multistatic sonar isn’t exactly new. The technology has been available for decades, but forces are only beginning to implement it. The formidable anti-sonar capabilities of the latest subs, plus increased submarine activity, have made forces particularly keen to investigate multistatic systems.

Canada is no exception. According to Adrian Hewitt, the DRDC project manager overseeing the AMASE TDP, the CF needs sonar systems capable of detecting even the quietest vessels.

The project will scrutinize how multistatic sonar can be used with existing and soon-to-be-operational sonar systems employed by the CF. “That’s where the biggest bang for your buck is,” Hewitt said. “Sonar systems are extremely expensive. Whatever 46 auGuSt/SEPtEmBER 2012

In multistatic operations, the active transmission from one or more sources is processed on a number of receivers. If the receivers are well distributed throughout the area of interest, there is an improved probability that at least one of the receivers will be in a favourable position for target detection. we demonstrate, we want to make sure it can be paired with systems that are currently in use or being procured.”

The AMASE TDP received departmental approval this year. Recently, DRDC moved to the next step: planning and engaging the RCN, RCAF and sonar systems manufacturers to ensure the project involves the right mix of experts. The organization is also working with the Forces on a schedule for technology trials. As part of total costs, the AMASE TDP’s $5 million budget includes funding for a trial every year through to 2016.

“You don’t want to spend three years developing something and then try it out just once,” Hewitt explained. “When you experiment early and often, you yield much better results.”

Technology modelling Once planning is complete, DRDC will move forward with technology modelling, in which the organization uses software to mimic the characteristics of different transmitters and receivers.

“Within those various combinations we’ll try to determine a subset that we can scope our demonstrations around,” he said.

Canada’s forces already use a wide array of sonar systems, including hull-mounted and variable depth sonar on Iroquois-class destroyers, Canadian Towed-Array Sonar Systems (CANTASS) on Halifax-class frigates, sonobuoys on major warships (sonobuoys are expendable sonar systems dropped into the water) and tethered sonar on maritime helicopters.

Multistatic sonar may well help the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force augment their current systems for a comprehensive view of submarine activity. With the AMASE TDP, DRDC could play an important part in ensuring that future sonar systems can keep pace with the advanced features of modern subs.

www.vanguardcanada.com

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Textron and its Canadian partners are honoured to have been selected to provide the Canadian Forces’ new Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle.

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