Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
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6 APRIL/MAY 2014 www.vanguardcanada.com S SIT REP When the Canadian Armed Forces embarked on Ex- ercise COOPERACIÓN III in April, they proved a con- cept for the expeditionary capability of the CH-149 Cormorant helicopter. The two-week, multinational response to a simulated natural disaster in southern Peru involved 13 countries from the System of Cooperation among the Air Forces of the Americas (SICOFAA), including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay and the United States. It also involved 60 CAF personnel, some assigned to the Combined Air Operations Centres in Lima and Pisco, as well as a CC-130J Hercules transport plane from 426 Squadron and a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter from 413 Squadron. "The general exercise objectives [were] to standardize procedures and improve interoperability with various South American air forces, allowing for an efficient and expeditious Canadian response (should our help be requested) in case of a natural disaster," explained public affairs officer Capt Trev- or Reid of 19 Wing Comox. The deployment of the Cormorant, which was transported to Lima via a CC-177 Globemaster III from 429 Squadron, marked a milestone of sorts. It tested the "deployability of the Cormorant in an air ex- peditionary setting," Reid explained, using the Royal Canadian Air Force's new Air Transport Kit (ATK). The ATK was part of a 2011 deal with the U.S. government to acquire nine VH-71s helicopters to pro- vide spare parts for the CH-149 Cormorant fleet. The U.S. had cancelled its VH-71 presidential helicopter program, an updated version of the AgustaWestland-built CH-149. "This was a very astute acquisition on Canada's part not just to support ongoing maintenance but to increase the capability and deployment of the fleet," said Jeremy Tracy, Head of Region–Canada for AgustaWestland. "The ATK can be used to quickly ferry a Cormorant in disasters and emergencies in the far north or other countries." "We had a successful unload of the Cormorant," Reid said, which involved technicians from IMP Aero- space and Defence and AW reattaching the tail and rotors. "The ATK adds another capability to the RCAF in terms of our ability to move Cormorants long distances, be it domestically for operations or maintenance purposes or abroad. [It] certainly has expanded the potential of the Cormorant fleet in terms of our ability to get it places quickly and efficiently." The Cormorant operated primarily from Pisco on SAR training and aid delivery in challenging ge- ography that included deserts, beaches, valleys, mountains and ocean operations. National Defence acquired 15 SAR Cormorants from AW in 2002. A framework for understanding critical infrastructure On February 12, the U.S. Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity. The framework is the result of an executive order by President Obama the previous year to gather existing standards, guide- lines and practices to help organizations adopt "the principles and best practices of risk management to improve the security and resilience of critical in- frastructure." Although an American initiative, the framework should be studied by Canadian governments and industry. As delegates to Security Outlook 2014 in March were reminded, threats to critical infrastruc- ture, either man-made or natural, are a growing concern. "Critical infrastructure is one of the do- mains that has me really anxious," said a veteran intelligence officer. (The Outlooks, hosted by CADSI, are conducted under the Chatham House rule.) He noted that in the Internet of Everything, al- most all functions of society are now "under threat that until recently were completely ignored." And espionage, he added, remains alive and well, and from a growing array of non-traditional actors. One senior researcher with the federal govern- ment raised the challenging facing physical critical infrastructure (CI), much of which is degenerating rapidly due to age. He called for prioritization of CI in order to know where to invest in renewal – border infrastructure was a key concern – and urged that more thought go into resilience and sustainability. "Resilience needs to be a design requirement of all CI," he said, adding that government must work with industry to develop resilient building materials and ICT infrastructure. He also argued for a "move to risk-based decision-making." All of that will be difficult without good data and, more importantly, analytics. An executive with a leading IT company pointed to the NIST framework as a possible basis for gathering data that could help decision-makers understand what's a threat, what's not, and how best to manage it cost-effec- tively. "Analytics is the new future for CI protection to analyze the cyber threat," he said. "Big data ana- lytics is becoming part of the solution." Photos: Capt Trevor Reid SAR exercise tests Cormorant transportability Photo: D. Sarratue www.mbda-systems.com WORLD LEADING MISSILE SYSTEMS MBDA combines technological excellence with industrial cooperation to equip the armed forces with the best operational capabilities regarding missiles and missile systems. lock on to mbda solutions Corpo1_206x276_V_uk.indd 1 23/01/13 15:52