Vanguard Magazine

16 APRIL/MAY 2022 www.vanguardcanada.com ARCTIC system is practically obsolete being based in part on forty plus year old technology. It is doubtful that it could detect hyper- sonic cruise missiles with small radar cross section. Canada needs to invest heavily in the modernization of NORAD which includes the replacement of the North Warning System. No date has been an- nounced but it will be years before we see the replacement. Canada needs to increase its strategic in- frastructure in the Arctic. One of those investments should be the development of a more northern forward operation location (FOL) in the High Arctic. There is a gap of 3,000 kilometers between the FOL in Inuvik and the one in Iqaluit. Those FOLs are over 2,000 km from our station in Alert. Russia has the Nagurskoye airbase on Alexandra Land in Arkhangelsk Oblast, which is only 1,527 km away. Resolute Bay, Nunavut, should be developed as a security hub including an FOL, an air defence long range radar, sub- surface monitoring sensors and a deep-sea port. Resolute Bay could support fighter operations of the Canadian Forces, drone surveillance and the long-range maritime patrol of the CP-140 Arcturus and their new suite of sensors. The Canadian Coast Guard as well as all the federal depart- ments with functions in the Arctic such as the Canadian Border Security Agency could be supported there on a seasonal basis. Such dual-use facilities would also generate commercial opportunities. Another investment will be to increase our capability to monitor sub-surface ac- tivity. It has been said that the Russians probably have better bathymetry of the Arctic Archipelago than we do. It is time to deploy the underwater sonar arrays tested under the Northern Watch pro- gram and take advantage of unmanned underwater drones that have increasing autonomous long-range capabilities. The new Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships and the 1 Canadian Ranger Patrol Group contribute to arctic domain awareness. Our ability to monitor activity in the Arctic is critical. The RADARSAT Constellation is an excellent system to monitor surface activity on both the land and at sea. In addition to the all-weather coverage of the Arctic Archipelago, it can also moni- tor our huge Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the extension of our continen- tal shelves. Given their track record in oth- er oceans, the Chinese fishing fleets would not hesitate to encroach on our arctic EEZ and we know that Russia is already claiming part of our continental shelve extensions. The persistent surveillance of our national interests in such a large area can best be done from space. It behoves the government to invest in the replace- ment of the RADARSAT Constellation. Canada should invest in its own stra- tegic satellite communications systems with "the ability to establish and maintain broadband connectivity in remote and hostile areas in an electromagnetic (EM) degraded or denied environment to sup- port mission-critical communications", as suggested by Defence Research and Development Canada in their latest chal- lenge of their IDEaS program. Canada must have full control of the infrastructure and data flowing over it. This is important not only for the Arctic, but anywhere in the world our forces are deployed. The Enhanced Satellite Communication Forces Station (CFS) Alert. This would be an economy of force "special military op- eration" that could easily be conducted by Spetsnaz. What would be the impact on Canada? How would Canada react to that assault? Can CFS Alert defend against the attack? Suddenly, Canada's attention would shift to the immediate threat in the Arctic as opposed to Europe, and a significant allocation of resources would be directed to this incursion. A similar situation hap- pened during the Second World War when a Japanese submarine shelled Estevan Point on the western coast of British Columbia in August 1943. It led to the construction of the Alaska Highway and forced the deploy- ment of troops to that province. Canada is constantly criticized for not doing enough for its own defence. The invasion of Ukraine seems to have jolted Canada to reassess its posture. In quick succession the Minister of National Defence announced the purchase of the F-35 fifth-generation fighter to replace our aging F-18 fleet after years of dithering. She also announced the construction of an over-the-horizon air defence radar, another surprise. The latter may be part of the re- placement of the North Warning System which is not yet funded. The present In addition to committing to ESCP-P, Canada should also secure dedicated capacity on Lightspeed, an advanced and highly secure low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications system being fielded by Telesat, a Canadian company and a world leader in satellite communications.

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