Vanguard Magazine

Vanguard AugSep 2018

Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR

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ADJUSTMENT TO THE CANADA AIR DEFENCE IDENTIFICATION ZONE The Department of National Defence (DND) is adjusting the boundary of the Canada Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). The Canada ADIZ will be expanded to include most of the Arctic Archipelago. For the east and west coasts, the inner boundary will be moved offshore. Refer to the Designated Airspace Handbook (DAH) for the new ADIZ geographical coordinates. The following map depicts the revised boundary. NOT FOR NAVIGATION 16 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018 www.vanguardcanada.com sonable capability to monitor maritime ac- tivity. It's synthetic aperture radar, day and night, and through cloud capabilities make it a powerful system. The data it provides, when cross-referenced with the informa- tion provided using space-based Automatic Identification System, the Northern Cana- da Vessel Traffic Services (NORDREG) and other sources, assists with the identification of targets of interest. Access to ship Automatic Identification System (AIS) data from commercial sup- pliers such as exactEarth and ORBCOMM allows the government departments to tap ArCtiC The Canadian Air Defence Identification Zone. Image: NAV Canada Continental Europe over the Arctic. Image: Taken from CFNA presentation Inuvik Satellite Antenna Farm. Photo: Pierre Leblanc into this resource. The AIS requires certain categories of ships to transmit data such as speed and direction to improve marine safety. Those signals can be picked up from space and provide a degree of maritime situ- ational awareness. This is especially useful in the Arctic. The fleet of CP-140 Aurora aircraft, with their upgraded sensors and mission systems, provides another layer of maritime surveillance when deployed to the Arctic. The establishment of the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) in Cam- bridge Bay furthers the federal presence in the Arctic and will provide better science to guide stewardship decisions in the Arctic. It will complement the operations of the Polar Continental Shelf Project operated by Environment Canada in Resolute Bay. In Eureka, there is a Natural Resources Canada weather station as well as a Cana- dian Forces support facility for the mainte- nance of the High Arctic Data Communi- cations System on Ellesmere Island. The new road from Inuvik to Tuktoyak- tuk will allow supplies, equipment and personnel to be moved by road all the way to the Arctic Ocean in case of an emergen- cy. It provides one more option for federal agencies to deploy assets and resources to the western Arctic. There is a new fiber optic communica- tion line to Inuvik. It allows a high capac- ity communication link to the south. It provides the RCAF FOL in Inuvik with access to high speed internet connection. It has also allowed greater support to the Inuvik satellite antenna farm supporting federal government services, as well as other international operations. There are a number of airports and air- fields throughout the Arctic to support operations. However, many of those are small and made of gravel. The present assets provide a limited ca- pability to deal with security situations or emergencies. Approved future assets Although the present assets are impor- tant, one must take into consideration the fact that the Canadian Arctic is immense (as shown on the following map). Most Canadians are unaware that the center of mass of Canada is actually in the Arctic near the Nunavut community of Baker Lake. The MDA RADARSAT Constellation Mission, led by the Canadian Space Agen- cy, will eventually replace RADARSAT 2. The satellites' launch is planned for No- vember 2018. This set of three modern satellites should ensure data continuity, reliability and enhanced operational use of their all-weather synthetic aperture ra- dars. The Constellation will provide daily revisits of Canada's Arctic. It will provide a high resolution capability of 3 meters in the spot mode. The Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) project, which is under construc- tion now, will shortly deliver the first of five ice-capable ships, with an option for a sixth ship. The ships are designated as the Harry DeWolf Class. These ships, with a

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