Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/1520153
M A R I T I M E 32 APRIL/MAY 2024 www.vanguardcanada.com other, and whether there are gaps to ad- dress. As we all learn from those bad situa- tions that do happen, I would simply offer that the defence business is a sacred trust grounded in the national interest, as well as the safety and security of CAF people. 5. Innovation The noticeable shift in the maintenance requirements of our older fleets indicates that sticking to traditional business practic- es will no longer suffice. Innovation in the technologies we use and the processes we follow will be vital to widen the space for decision-making and improve outcomes on schedule, quality, cost, and platform availability. To facilitate innovation within the technical domain, the Naval Techni- cal Innovation Program (NTIP) was es- tablished a few years ago and has proven quite successful in providing an effective means to assess innovative new technolo- gies and leverage grant money available through Government-funded innovation programs. A wide array of interesting new technologies are being explored under the NTIP in partnership with several Cana- dian companies. For example: • exploring the development of an auton- omous underwater signature ranging ca- pability that shows potential to provide the RCN more geographic flexibility for signature rangings; • leveraging artificial intelligence to iden- tify corrosion on the upper decks of our ships in a fraction of the time it would take using traditional manual methods; see the Maritime Engineering Journal for more information; and, • testing new technologies on chartered commercial vessels to significantly light- en the constraints around using RCN vessels as test platforms and enable us to evaluate more new technologies more rapidly. My central message is that the best solu- tion on pushing our fleets beyond their design lives is to plan around the prob- lem entirely. But if you're stuck having to extend, my next best advice is to focus on people. Fleets and platforms are the 'what,' but it is people who are the 'why', the 'how' and most importantly, the 'for whom.' My central message is that the best solution on pushing our fleets beyond their design lives is to plan around the problem entirely. But if you're stuck having to extend, my next best advice is to focus on people. Fleets and platforms are the 'what,' but it is people who are the 'why', the 'how' and most importantly, the 'for whom.'