Vanguard Magazine

Le to right: MGen Peter Dawe, Chief of Combat Systems Integration; Dominic Rochon, DM and CIO of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat; Ross Ermel, ADM (Digital Services) and Defence Chief Digital Officer, DND; Christiana Cavazzoni, ADMi and Chief Digital Officer, Fisheries Oceans Canada, and the Canadian Coast Guard Le to right: Wendy Hadwen, ADM, Policy Industry, DND; Simon Page, ADM, Defence and Marine Procurement, PSPC; Siobhan Harty, ADM, Defence Procurement Review; Marc Watters, Cyber Lead, CADSI; MGen Nancy Tremblay, (Ret'd), ADM (Materiel), DND; Dave Perry, President & CEO, Canadian Global Affairs Institute Master of Ceremonies: RAdm Casper Donovan RCN (Ret'd) Co-Chair: MGen Peter Dawe, Chief of Combat Systems Integration; Terri Pavelic Editor-in-Chief, Vanguard; Co-Chair: LGen Michael Rouleau (Ret'd) Senior Advisor, Accenture 24FEBRUARY/MARCH 2025 www.vanguardcanada.com C 4 I S R A N D B E Y O N D rines which may ultimately deliver between eight and 12 patrol submarines. All Commanders agreed that our require- ments capture process is inadequate as the majority of the requirements are obsolete or outdated before they are consolidated. Predicting In-Service Support (ISS) costs is equally challenging. The institution must move to a Continuous Capability Sustain- ment (CCS) model of support (which was ultimately addressed in Panel 4). Adapting to the Contemporary Operating Environment Panel 2 The Operational Commanders, was moderated by Kevin Newman, a well- known news anchor and journalist. This panel exchanged ideas in a very free- flowing manner following the moderator's questions. A post-quantum decrypted in- formation space where there are no more secrets was first addressed. With artificial intelligence (AI) having access to informa- tion across society there are serious con- cerns about our collective ability to triage information about our operational envi- ronment and the actions of our adversary. In some cases, AI has already taken the place of programmers. MGen David Ab- boud, Commander Intelligence Command and Chief of Defence Intelligence suggest- ed that we are data rich but information- hungry, suffering from data-paralysis. We have multiple layers of sensors but at this point we lack the AI/ML tools to exploit the data. USAF Maj Gen Mark Piper, Deputy Di- rector of Operations, NORAD suggested that while we seek instantaneous access to common data through AI and ML, human decision making will play a key role in the decision-action cycle. All panelists agreed that solutions exist, and we must find ef- ficient ways to leverage as there are seri- ous consequences to falling behind. That means pursuing non-traditional channels of innovation and changes to process and mentality. Connectivity with our Allies through Pan-Domain C2 (PDC2) leading from interoperability to interdependency was also highlighted. A new term - C5ISR- T including Cyber and Targeting emerged from USAF, building on C4ISR. MGen Si- mon Bernard, Deputy Commander CJOC, questioned how we will expand national infrastructure across the north to meet our security ambitions in a semi-permanent posture. As a closing comment it was rec- ognized that the Allies are operating just below the threshold of armed conflict. We are not at war with the Russians, but they are at war with us. An Update on Polices, Procedures and Experimentation in the Digital Space Panel 3 was the logical extension of how the CAF seeks to digitalize with an examina- tion of Digital Services and Experimenta- tion, moderated by Christiana Cavazzoni, ADM and Chief Digital Officer, Fisheries

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