Noah's Week in Defence (5/5/20): Golden Dome, USN exploring Canadian Shipbuilding, LUV Update

Happy Tuesday everyone. We have a lot to go through this week, so I wont be wasting time talking. CANSEC is next week, which hopefully I shall find a way to go to! If I can then I will be doing some special stuff for it.

Anyways, to the newsletter!

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News

• BREAKING: Canada has apparently requested to join the Golden Dome initiative, and Trump is all for it. This is the first ive heard of it, but I note the RCAF has been working on their IAMD plan for a long while now. No details at this time. Working on it.

• Let's start this week with a message from our new Minister of National Defence!

• Stocks on new Canadian Ranger rifles are cracking and need to be replaced

• One of the coolest things this year. The Canadian and French armies held exercises this week in the Sept-Îles region. Dubbed Lion Mistral, this exercises included the participation of the French Ship Mistral

• A personal recommendation: Modernizing for major combat operations

• MDA Space and SatixFy Announce Amended Merger Agreement for Increased Consideration

• NAVANTIA and LEONARDO sign MoU for jointly market naval solutions

• Babcock joins forces with Airbus and CAE for comprehensive multi-role helicopter offering for Poland

• Airbus Helicopters in Canada marked a significant milestone with the inauguration of its new integrated distribution centre in the Niagara region.

• His Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) William Hall has departed from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to join Operation CARIBBE, Canada’s contribution to the U.S.-led enhanced counter-narcotics operations under the Joint Interagency Task Force South.

• Newfoundland company Score awarded $89 million contract to support construction of destroyers for Canada’s Navy

• Canada's military plans to be in the Arctic 'on a near permanent basis,' says commander

• Canadian military’s new recruitment tool faces rollout problems

• Arabsat selects Telesat Lightspeed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) services for its multi-orbit connectivity portfolio

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Project Updates

• The Camp Sustain (CS) Project RFI has been updated with a new Q/A ahead of another round of document drops

• We have a new Call for Proposals (CFP) on behalf of the Department of National Defence’s (DND) Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program, seeking innovative science and technology (S&T) solutions to Canada’s defence and security Challenges.

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Lobbying Updates

• Arcfield Canada has filed a new record under Summa Strategies Canada to engage the governemnt on both supply chain and CUAS systems

• General Motors of Canada has filed a new record for a variety of different purposes.

• Vancouver Shipyards had filed a new record regarding participating in the NSS, primarily in regards to Ship Repair and Overhaul

• Roshel has two new filings this week. One with Sandstone Group in regards to ongoing government contracts and another with Samuel Associates on continued support to Ukraine. They also filed a new communication report meeting with Danna Farhang, Deputy Director National Defence

• De Havilland Aircraft of Canada has filed a new record under De Havilland Aircraft of Canada looking for support in regards to the CL-515

• Open Ocean Robotics has filed a new record under CFN Consultants regarding the provision of maritime domain awareness solutions using solar powered autonomous uncrewed service vessels.

• Cubic Defence has filed a new record under Rubicon Strategy to showcase their solutions to officials and exploring potemtial procurement opportunities.

• IBM Canada has filed a new record for a variety of different purposes.

• CAE has filed a new record under Prospectus Associates In Corporate Development regarding their ongoing training contracts with the DND.

• Bombardier has filed a new communication report documenting one meeting with Wendy Hadwen, Assistant Deputy Minister of National Defence

• MDA Space has filed a new communication report documenting one meeting with Scott Millar, Assistant Deputy Minister, Assistant Deputy Minister's Office at National Defence

• Thales Canada has filed a new communication report documenting one meeting with Angus Topshee, Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy

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Rumors & Speculation

• The United States Navy has stepped up discussion with Canadian shioyards about their capacity. I have nothing solid yet on this, but multiple people have confirmed to me. This comes as the Unuted States struggles to keep with their current building schedules. Other countries including Japan and South Korea were also consulted.

• LUV has added two new Companies into their list of qualified suppliers. Both General Motors and Terradyne have been added to the list of suppliers for LUV Phase I and II.

• New timelines for GBAD are around. Phase I of the GBAD project, which will procure a new SHORAD system for MNB-L has been pushed back to 2026. Meanwhile Phase II and III, which will procure VSHORAD and SHORAD systems for thr wider army are current looking to award ~2028/2029

• AEW also has a firm timeline now of IOC before 2035. It isnt exactly solid, but sets a period where we want the system in service.

• Expect to hear something in the next bit about new sensors and armament for the P-8 aircraft.

• NTACS fans rejoice. A few concepts for the future of Canada's tactical aviation have come around, and it seems attack helicopters are on the menu as a possibility.