Derek 2.0

As I did in the previous Scottish independence thread several years back, I’ll still go with “nay” winning……granted closer than I would have thought, I think largely due to the mishandling by the unity side…… One interesting story I’ve heard though, in the event of an “aye” vote, the nuclear deterrent will be moved rapidly to the United States (temporally), so as to remove a major SNP bargaining chip in the divorce proceedings......

Yes, I know....I’ve been aboard her post RIMPAC 2014.

Yes, I understand the program, but the provided picture, as mentioned, doesn’t demonstrate if other capabilities that would interest Russian naval aviation are currently aboard Toronto………Capabilities that would elevate the ships ability to operate safely in high-medium threat environments versus a medium-low threat environment, information pertinent to the Russian Black Sea fleet if hostilities were to commence with NATO.

I'm not sure the purpose of your link.......It doesn’t denote Toronto’s current EW and SIGINT suites for instance….

As I said though, the Toronto has received some predeployment work, post the blog entry you provided (summer of 2012), what is unclear, is the extent of the work.........

I don't have anything newer than last Winters review of the management action plan, coupled with the clarification of the MHP and the follow on effects to HCM/FELEX…..Hence why I asked you for a source of your information.

With all due respect, what degradation would the PRes see from having to use leased trucks to accompany their MILCOTS? What is the difference? Green paint? Some of those concerns will be addressed by TAPV...... Easy solution……….cut the third battalions to nil, using the personal to flush out the remaining six battalions, stand-up a 4th company in each remaining battalion and send the Paras to CSOR…….this would be a good start in reducing manpower & money leeching headquarters……..perhaps even a base or two…. The reluctance in reducing officer top heavy HQs is an army failing though.

Seems a rather dated source and doesn't account for changes over the last couple of years.....

Doubtful they have anything with the potential to threaten a Hornet at high altitude……..with that said, to contribute to an air offensive with fighters, we’d require forgoing our current NATO commitment in Romania.

That’s not the full story. FWSAR was born under the previous Liberal Government and was progressing with the change of Government, but the process was delayed numerous times by manufactures citing the Government allowing the RCAF to tailor their requirements to one type of aircraft (C-27 Spartan)…….this, coupled with the official opposition, forced a Government reset well a minority….. Fast-forward to 2012, and the Government had the opportunity to purchase newly produced (and yet unused) aircraft (again the C-27J) from the USAF’s garage sale at a greatly discounted rate…..this deal fell through when the Italian maker of the C-27s for the USAF threatened to withhold contractor support…….So with the souring of the once favoured selection, the process was reset once again with a broader scope………allowing larger aircraft (Lockheed C-130J), tilt-rotors (Bell/Boeing V-22 Osprey) and aircraft with jet engines (Embraer KC-390)………….. Presently the bids have been submitted with the winner to be selected next year…………And despite the “horror stories” in the media, the RCAF’s ability has not been affected negatively to carry out its mandated SAR requirement….

??? How does that relate to: Again, what is the meaning of your post?

You said: What was the intent with the above quoted passage? What (AirBus) tricks would former Prime Minister Mulroney have taught Prime Minister Harper with regards to Lockheed? You stated the above quoted passage, explain your intent.

I never alluded to the former PM........you're the one that said: So care to clarify..........or do you have deep pockets that afford you the ability to libel the current PM, the former PM and two multinational corporations?

Likewise, Russian warships, when they can deploy, have done much the same........with the Russians deploying several times within the last year, their lone Carrier battlegroup with a Kirov (nuclear armed) battlecruiser skirting the UK......

Freedom of the Seas and the Montreux convention says otherwise………and of course several NATO allies reside upon the Black Sea. As to “controlling it”, the entrance to the Black Sea is encompassed by a NATO member, a NATO member that besides its own large air force, also has a significant USAF presence within its country.

Are you suggesting the Prime Minister has committed some form of wrongdoing and/or Lockheed is breaking Canada’s bribery laws?

Do you have an online source? And of course, what will the refit entail?

And statistics can be interpreted in many different fashions……….You are correct on expenses, ~60% of DND’s budget goes towards personal costs………One would think DND would cut costs there first, perhaps the elected Government should conduct a review of defence strategy…… In a sense…….as you acknowledged, there are differing factories to determine the end result of each members contribution…setting an arbitrary number results in Estonia receiving praise, and condemnation for Canada. Capable of what? Fighting a land war in Afghanistan at the current funding level or responding to policy required of it by the elected Government. I am a supporter of the military, I’ve spent over 30 years of my life involved directly and indirectly with/in it, coupled with my eldest currently attending RMC…………I’m also partisan in regards to the current Government, but have still criticized both (on this site in the various related threads also) the Government (and past Governments) and DND when I feel it’s warranted in my view. In this regard, I’m in favour of the Governments short term reductions, that aren’t causing irreversible harm (despite what the media mongers), well the Government is conducting a defense strategy review of our nation’s needs. This, coupled with the Governments short-medium-long term roadmaps for procurement and I see nothing of real concern on the horizon. Are there areas that need to be improved? Certainly, but as a fiscal conservative, throwing money at a problem alone rarely fixes said problem long term……….. Sure, and many more just like them........my opinion on the Armed Forces isn't formed by the media. Yet the current Government continued upon programs initiated by the previous Government, well initiating (and completed some) programs on its own, all aimed at renewal of our armed forces. In addition, the current Government has introduced capabilities to our armed forces that they lost during the decade of darkness, well adding capabilities that we’ve never had………..all well fighting a war on the other side of the planet, in a time of economic turmoil………I have no issue, by and large, with the Governments performance on the file, well acknowledging that aside from the period of ~1940-1960, no other Government has done better by the Armed Forces. Your comparisons aren’t apt though, during the cited “decade of darkness” there were multiple examples of our Armed Forces not being able to meet the objectives of the elected Government, a great many of these examples can be attributed to the poor material condition of the Forces………the only such examples that I can recall during this current Governments tenure, were the lack of rotary lift in Afghanistan, the recent fire aboard the Protecteur, and the poor material condition of the remaining Tribals………….

It appears that one of the lost ships from the Franklin expedition has been found: What I find the most interesting, with the aide of modern technology, the near 175 year old testimony of local Inuit was proven correct……… I hope this will rekindle some interest in the Canadian Arctic, well ensuring further funding towards resource, infrastructure and scientific development, leading to furthering our sovereignty in the North.

You might be (partially) correct……..the initial schedule was thrown out with delays to the MHP, all ships have received some upgrades during regular maintenance periods, but the complete upgrade requiring extended time in the graving dock hasn’t been completed for all the class……..the Toronto, being older than most, I would assume has gone through everything, minus the alterations for the MHP.

..........Or has been done for decades, by both sides, Russian Naval Aviation is attempting to collect electronic intelligence, doubly so with the post FELEX HMCS Toronto (now equipped with newer Search/Fire Control radars) from the upgrade program initiated and funded by the Harper Government.

Does GDP measure the finished product? North Korea and Estonia spend a greater percent of their GDP on defense than the United States and Canada, so does that mean North Korea and Estonia have more capable militaries? How is the current Government treating the military “poorly”? What has happened, post Afghanistan, the portion of the budgeted dedicated to the increased costs associated with fighting an actual war, and maintaining the equipment, conducting the pre deployment training etc. has been returned to general revenue………you consider no longer funding the war in Afghanistan as treating the military poorly? Have any of these cuts to DND, prevented the Forces from implementing the policy as dictated by the elected Government?

In a Democracy, military leadership serves and advises the elected Government…….When the military interjects itself into politics, bad things can happen…………If the now retired General has a strong position counter to that of the Government, he’s free to seek political office. None the less, the article again relies upon GDP, and uses Italy as an example of reduced spending levels…….of course “stats” don’t always tell the whole storey, the Italians are amongst the top of spending (in actual dollars) amongst NATO, and have a large navy (with aircraft carriers!!!), a large air force (one of the largest fighter fleets in NATO!!!) and a large (mechanized centric) army, well being one of the few NATO members that has the inherent capability to actually deploy their army abroad without reliance upon charted ships and (Russian) transport aircraft…. ….On the Inverse, Estonia is often mentioned as a contrast, since they meet the 2% figure, yet their air force is made up of a handful of surplus Soviet helicopters, their navy is made up of a couple of diving tenders and their army is only slightly better equipped than some North American police forces…. “Stats” don’t often tell the full story…..

Commercial shipbuilding is a dying industry in the “West” (sans South Korea and Japan), yet the United States, United Kingdom, the French, Dutch etc all still retain a domestic naval shipbuilding industry, all paying inflated prices in exchange for the strategic advantage of being able to repair and modify their own ships…………. What the National Shipbuilding strategy is intended to do, is keep two yards viable, instead of the pass practice of allowing various yards across Canada, typically in an adventitious political riding or province to “win” the contract……This is why for example 3 of our 12 Halifax Frigates were built in Quebec (and not by Irving in Nova Scotia), oddly enough 3 ships of the class have a slight difference in material condition…… Now I have no contention over the prices being inflated, but once the media compares apples to oranges between a ship built here and in Europe they are commuting a falsehood, in that much of the European industries are heavily subsidised, and their costs don’t show up as defense expenditures…..this of course is not true with ourselves……….likewise a European vessel will be the actual cost of procurement, where as our price will also include simulators and various other training aides etc…. Now the hope going forward with down selecting to two shipyards, one on each coast, the GoC will be able to continuously keep these yards in continual work with contracts for the navy/DFO/CCG, not only the currently planned purchases, but eventual replacements for currently “young” vessels, the mid-life overhauls of the ships to be built, and then their replacements etc………continuous, cyclic work to maintain a skill set, preventing the previous feast or famine approach.