What if Canada started funnelling 2% of GDP exclusively into development of advanced drone manufacturing for defense purposes? Not only would this immediately catapult it into both NATO guidelines for defense spending, but could give us a technological edge on a force multiplication technology, something we desperately need as a manpower deficient nation. Our contribution to global missions wouldn't have to be manpower, instead we could continuously export this drone technology, while also building up a significant home defense.
IMO, the lessons of the Russian invasion would be for Canada to focus on mass-produced and cheap drones. I'm not sure Canada can compete against the likes of the US in the advanced area, and modern air defenses have gotten so good they can wipe the sky clean of expensive, big, lumbering non-stealth drones.
But with cheap drones, you can continually throw them out to spot artillery, recon for enemy positions and movements, loiter around with a a small explosive payload that can attack whatever targets they can, overload air defenses without worrying about losses. And the low cost (and profit) means the US MIC might not want to compete.
Last edited by accord1999; 01-24-2023 at 12:28 AM.
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it’s woefully underfunded and it’s rusted out. How does that get fixed in a reasonable time frame?
The short answer IMO, is it doesn't.
But, having a more defined focus for the forces helps.
Canada can't fund, equip, train & deploy a modern military.
By redefining the role of the CF it will reduce the amount of equipment needed, IE: MBTs. They are expensive to buy, maintain and deploy. Having an armoured corps that focuses on armoured recce it is light and more deployable around the world and Canada.
It is an age old question with the military.
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What I like about this is the focus. We don't seem to have the resources or wherewithal to have a complete army/navy/air force that are all modern and well-maintained. If we specialized in something we might be able to make more meaningful (high technology/unique) contributions to world security. Maybe instead of drones we pick a specific ship-type or two and focus on building/selling/contributing those.
I only picked drones because of force multiplication potential (something we desperately need to contemplate in a defense situation) and the recent evidence of successful use in a modern battlefield (Ukraine.) A specific ship type or other piece of high technology is a good idea though.
But this is exactly it; even if we were to pump up our contributions to match or exceed NATO expectations, we have no hope of adequately modernizing a force on all of these fronts in a logical amount of time. It just leads to the cycle of wasted and destroyed capital that we see in our current military. We need to refocus.
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That's a complete disgrace and our military leaders and government have again completely failed. We have no readiness at all. We couldn't defend a brothel from a boy scout troop.
Maybe we're back to the old days that I remember well when we went on exercises and were issued 10 blank rounds for the week and told to yell bang when we ran out.
When you could use a screw driver to punch a hole in the side of a rusty armored vehicle. And where our 1940's era radios would explode if you didn't do the two dial tune quick enough.
Canada's military needs far more capable officers then the ones we have now. We need a government to just decide that we can't have a capable military and issue out ceremonial uniforms and shiny phony tanks and vehicles and have a parade military and arm a militia with pitchforks.
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That's a complete disgrace and our military leaders and government have again completely failed. We have no readiness at all. We couldn't defend a brothel from a boy scout troop.
Maybe we're back to the old days that I remember well when we went on exercises and were issued 10 blank rounds for the week and told to yell bang when we ran out.
When you could use a screw driver to punch a hole in the side of a rusty armored vehicle. And where our 1940's era radios would explode if you didn't do the two dial tune quick enough.
Canada's military needs far more capable officers then the ones we have now. We need a government to just decide that we can't have a capable military and issue out ceremonial uniforms and shiny phony tanks and vehicles and have a parade military and arm a militia with pitchforks.
Ha, that brought back some good memories.
Armoured using the high beams of the Iltis as the "main gun".
I still have a lump on the back of my skull from the PRC-77.
I've laughed at Russia and their military, but are we any different?
It might look good on paper, but pull back the curtain and it look horrible.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
I thought I'd post this here now that Canada has decided on the F35. Now this video does cover the B variant. But the stuff talking about the Stealth, sensor fusion and advanced system are an interesting watch.
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A B.C. man who alleges he was raped by a Cadets Canada leader when he was a teenager says it's time for the organization to wrestle with the "ghosts of the past" and make real change to protect children.
The former cadet filed suit in B.C. Supreme Court last month, alleging he was groomed at camp in the Okanagan and then sexually assaulted in a Victoria hotel room by a cadets captain in 1979. He was 13 or 14 years old at the time.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
The Canadian military’s senior leadership was advised the sexual misconduct crisis was a battle for public opinion and those who raised concerns were akin to foreign enemies.
In a series of documents produced for then-acting Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre and other senior leaders in March 2021, advisors highlighted the need to push more positive views about how the Canadian Forces was handling the ongoing sexual misconduct crisis.
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Defence Minister Anita Anand on Thursday said her priority is to change military culture. “How do we ensure that we are ready for tomorrow?” she asked a gathering of retired and serving military officers. “First, we start with our people, who must be protected, who must be respected and who must be empowered to serve when they put on a uniform every day. As such, my top priority continues to be meaningful, durable and robust culture change across our institution.”
But Arbour, the retired Supreme Court justice, has raised concerns that many of the recommendations she made to try to halt sexual misconduct in the Canadian Forces have not been followed by the Liberal government. At a House of Commons defence committee meeting Dec. 13, 2022, Arbour accused Canadian Forces leaders of dragging their feet on changes.
National Defence and the Canadian Forces have previously been criticized for ignoring similar reviews and investigations that emerged after sexual misconduct scandals in the late 1990s and 2014-2015.
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The Canadian Government today announced that it has submitted a Letter of Request through the U.S. government’s Foreign Military Sales program, regarding the acquisition of up to 16 Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft.
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The Canadian Government today announced that it has submitted a Letter of Request through the U.S. government’s Foreign Military Sales program, regarding the acquisition of up to 16 Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft.
Without knowing a lot about other options this makes the most sense to replace the CP-140's with. Proven airframe (737) and lots of examples in use with ally countries.
The Canadian Armed Forces is under fire for its plan to cut thousands of troops off a cost-of-living allowance without much notice.
The military announced last week that about 7,700 Armed Forces members will no longer receive the top-up starting in July, when it will be replaced by a new housing benefit that commanders say will better assist those who need the most help.
Social media and online forums dedicated to military personnel have been crackling with dissatisfaction over the plan, including the abbreviated timeline. Some are also unhappy with a new 10 per cent pay increase over four years, retroactive to 2021.
Experts say the lack of notice speaks to larger problems around how the military treats its people, which they worry is sparking anger and frustration at a time when the Canadian Armed Forces is struggling with a recruitment and retention crisis.
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“We’re pissing people off,” said retired lieutenant-general Guy Thibault, who previously served as vice-chief of the defence staff. “And this may be the final straw that pisses them off. It’s not really about compensation. It’s just that they’re not feeling valued.”
The decision to replace the military’s existing cost-of-living allowance with a new housing benefit follows a 14-year battle between the Department of National Defence and Treasury Board, the central department that controls federal spending.
Established in 2000 as a way to compensate members for the added costs of having to live and work in certain communities, the allowance rates were frozen in 2009 as defence and treasury officials fought over the program’s cost and parameters.
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The Canadian Government today announced that it has submitted a Letter of Request through the U.S. government’s Foreign Military Sales program, regarding the acquisition of up to 16 Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft.
Good, let's do it. That platform is really the best (and only) option.
OTTAWA — A battle is brewing between Canadian defence officials and federal decision-makers as the Trudeau government looks for ways to save billions of dollars over the next few years.
Experts say last week's budget and the delays in a planned update to the defence policy are signs of this pending conflict, with ramifications for Canada's military and its international reputation.
The budget contains virtually no new defence funding, but does include several cost-cutting measures, notably an order for departments and agencies to identify ways to cut spending by three per cent over the next few years.
And while the government says the Canadian Armed Forces will be excluded from such cuts, it remains unclear the degree to which the exemption will extend to the Department of National Defence, which controls the military's budget.
"Regarding the reduction in eligible spending by departments and agencies, as indicated in Budget 2023, the reduction will not impact the Canadian Armed Forces," Finance Department spokeswoman Marie-France Faucher said in an
That has left experts confused, given how intertwined the two organizations are, with much of the work of the Defence Department directly impacting military management, operations and procurement.
"I'm trying to think of what DND spending would be unrelated to the CAF," said David Perry, president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute think tank and one of Canada's foremost authorities on military spending.
That confusion has been magnified by uncertainty around the Liberal government's plan to upgrade its defence policy, which was first released in 2017 and promised tens of billions in new funding for the military.
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Retired lieutenant-general Guy Thibault, head of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute think tank, said it suggests the Liberal government has different priorities — and a willingness to accept the risks of not doing more for the military.
"It is obvious in the aftermath of (U.S. President Joe Biden's) visit and the messaging in this budget that the prime minister, deputy prime minister or cabinet are not convinced that more investments in defence will result in greater influence with the U.S. or allies," he said.
"And obviously they do not truly believe in the threats we are facing. This is simply a continuation of historical government practice of accepting the risk and spending the least amount on defence as they can possibly get away with."
The Canadian soldiers are in Poland to train Ukrainian military personnel but since Canada did not send military cooks on the mission, the troops were told to eat at local restaurants.
But there is a massive backlog with the Canadian Forces reimbursing the soldiers for those costs, sending some of them thousands of dollars into debt. Their families contacted this newspaper to complain about the situation they say is causing financial stress at home.
After this newspaper inquired about the situation, the Canadian Forces confirmed Monday that there are problems with payments of per diems and the reimbursement of other expenses. The Canadian Forces is now promising to speed up the process.
“We apologize to the members and their families for the distress this has caused, and thank them for their patience,” said Capt. Nicolas Plourde-Fleury, spokesman for Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC). “We want them to know we have implemented measures to better support them moving forward.”
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Canada has yet to determine how much Chinese steel and equipment will go into its new naval warships, but it didn’t scale back on such products for its Arctic and offshore patrol vessels even though concerns were raised in 2018
Canada-Chinese relations have been rocky for several years. In October 2022, Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre told MPs that China considered itself to be at war with the West and that Canada must rise to meet the challenge.
But that hasn’t changed efforts to source equipment and steel from China for the Canadian navy and Canadian Coast Guard’s new Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships, or AOPS.
Steel for AOPS was bought from European suppliers, with about 17 per cent of that being purchased from China. In addition, other equipment on the AOPS, from lifeboats to pipes and fittings to anchors and towing systems, was also produced by China, according to National Defence documents.
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Catherine Cobden, president of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, said she couldn’t speak about specific projects such as AOPS or the Canadian Surface Combatant, but she noted that the association had been raising concerns to the federal government about the significant influx of foreign-made steel into the Canadian market.
Canadian producers continue to be undercut by countries with a history of unfair trade practices, Cobden said. In 2022 alone, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of steel came from countries with active anti-dumping cases against them.
In addition, Canadian steel producers are actively trying to reduce climate emissions as well as facing a carbon tax as part of government efforts to fight climate change, but offshore steel producers don’t face the same rules and surcharges.
As a result, domestic firms are losing market share to high carbon, offshore steel at an unprecedented rate, Cobden said. “Our view is that the government needs to ensure they are purchasing green steel. (Canadian firms) have some of the greenest steel.”
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I am inferring entirely from Chinese based products I have bought at a consumer level, but the declared quality control and the actual quality don't seem to have to meet, to be exported. Considering the economic benefit of buying Canadian for government contracts (given they are in the same general ballpark in terms of cost) is a bit of a no-brainer.
Using climate as a reason to encourage Canadian industry... hey, whatever floats your boat.
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The military announced last week that about 7,700 Armed Forces members will no longer receive the top-up starting in July, when it will be replaced by a new housing benefit that commanders say will better assist those who need the most help.
