Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
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I inside industry First upgraded LAV III delivered to army The first of the Canadian Army's upgraded Light Armoured Vehicles was unveiled in London, ON, last month. At a ceremony complete with soldiers manning the LAV III's new systems, General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada delivered the first of 550 revitalized vehicles to the Canadian government. "The on-schedule delivery of the first upgraded LAV III is an important event for our company," said vice-president Danny Deep. "The upgrades we have incorporated ... will significantly enhance the vehicle's survivability, operational capability and long-term performance. With our Canadian design, manufacturing and supplier base, we are proud to say that the best armoured vehicles in the world are made in Canada." GDLS-C was awarded a $1.064 billion contract in October 2011 to upgrade 550 LAV IIIs, many of which had seen extensive use in Afghanistan. Last November, an option in the contract was exercised to upgrade 66 additional LAV IIIs for reconnaissance, a value of $151 million. The LAV III upgrade project is one of four Family of Land Combat Vehicles programs announced in July 2009 for the army. As part of its Industrial and Regional Benefits commitment, GDLS-C announced a flurry of contracts with Canadian suppliers in January. In total, GDLS-C will award over 500 subcontracts. The recent subcontracts included deals with Parker Hannifin Canada ($3.04 million), Qualified Metal Fabricators ($3.98 million), EODC ($3.75 million), Enduron Custom ($4.47 million), SteelCraft ($10.39 million), Terminal & Cable TC ($11.22 million), Fluid Power House ($5.04 million), Michelin North America ($3.27 million), J/E Bearing and Machine ($4.35 million), Dumur Industries ($4.67 million), Barrday ($6.0 million), General Kinetics Engineering ($16.76 million), and Thales Canada ($12.4 million). Thales opens innovation park office Academic tweed and denim mingled with military cadpat in late January at the opening of Thales Canada's new offices in Kingston's Innovation Park. The move into Queen's University's high-tech incubator represents a major step in the development of the company's presence in the city. The prime contractor for the Canadian Army's Land Command Support System, Thales has had a footprint at nearby CFB Kingston since 2004, working closely with the Land Command and Staff College, the 1st Canadian Division Headquarters, and the Canadian Forces Join Signal Regiment among others. Liam Porter, manager of Thales's Kingston office, says the company has grown from a single employee eight years ago to 22 today, including sub-contractors. Anyone curious about the thinking behind Thales's decision to boost 8 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2013 www.vanguardcanada.com its presence in Kingston, and at Innovation Park in particular, needed only to wander away for the speeches for a few minutes. Set up in a nearby room, surrounded by posters highlighting Thales's command and control systems, they would have found a large tabletop computer screen, perhaps three feet by two, displaying a simulated battlefield. Accompanied by a knot of graduate students, the simulator's developer, Professor Nick Graham from Queen's School of Computing stood close by to answer questions. Graham directs a lab at Queen's University known as EQUIS (Engineering Interactive Systems at Queen's University), and the tabletop system is his (and his lab's) brainchild. Known as OrMiS, this touch-activated, command and control military simulation application was created to teach commanders how to manoeuvre military forces. The chance to work with EQUIS, and other researchers at Queen's and RMC, many of whom have labs at Innovation Park, is what drew Thales. These schools' high-tech graduates also represent a highly desirable pool of future employees. For Innovation Park and Queen's, snagging a top-level defence contractor such as Thales represents a major milestone in the growth of the park, which was founded nearly five years ago. Although a number of companies have been started and nurtured at Innovation Park, Thales's arrival represents the first time a multi-national, high-tech player has chosen to locate there. — Ian Coutts Report: Consider Cyclone alternatives A new report is calling for the federal government to consider alternatives for the maritime helicopter program. In early February, academics Michael Byers and Stewart Webb released a report for the Rideau Institute and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, entitled "The worst procurement in the history of Canada: Solving the maritime helicopter crisis," in which they recommended the government impose late penalties and refuse further topup funding to manufacturer Sikorsky over on-going delays with delivery of 28 CH-148 Cyclones. But the two went a step further, suggesting the government "commence an accelerated review of off-the-shelf alternatives without further delay, so as to be in a position to negotiate a new contract with another supplier in the event of a continued failure by Sikorsky to fulfill its obligations." They then proceeded to list possible candidates, including the Sikorsky-built MH-60R Seahawk, currently in service with the U.S. Navy; AgustaWestland's AW-101, serving with the U.K. and Italian navies; the NH-90, built by NH Industries and in service with France, Italy and the Netherlands; and the Eurocopter EC-725 Super Cougar, operated by the French Armed Forces, among others. Speaking in the House of Commons of February 11, Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose seemed to signal the government's intent to follow through on the first recommendation. "Our government expects Sikorsky's obligations under this contact to be met and to date they have not been met. In fact they have missed every deadline and every timeline," she said. "We have already applied millions of dollars in liquidated damages and we are going to be applying significant additional charges that will begin to accrue against this company for failure to deliver. " With the Sea King, the helicopter the Cyclone is intended to replace, set to mark its 50th anniversary of service this year, calls to revisit the replacement program will likely only get louder in Ottawa. As of January 2013, the government had yet to accept formal delivery of any of the four interim Cyclones currently at CFB Shearwater for training purposes. In a 2012 third-quarter earnings call, United Technologies, Sikorsky's parent company, indicated that it would likely be able to deliver just eight of the remaining Cyclones in 2013.