Harper's Tough Talk on Defense and Russia is just empty words

[Derek 2.0]

I just read a revised schedule that had it as the last ship to go in, next fall.

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

[Army Guy]

Some other examples of poor material condition of the forces.

B veh (Logistical vehs) fleet reduction program:

This program was started for a number of reasons mainly due to the state of these vehs, vehs rusted out, lack of spare parts to fix them, Cancelation of new replacement project, although it is now being looked at now, with no repalcement due in until 16/17.

Project entails reducing the whole fleet by 50 % which includes LSVW 1 1/2 ton, MLVW 2 1/2 ton, HLVW 7.5 ton trucks with exception of the LUVW ( jeep) and HSVW 7 ton COTS orginally purchased for the Reserves. that includes every unit, reserve or Reg force, Supply depots, the whole fleet.

Some redistribution has been done, so units can do very basic logistics, at a 50% or more reduced capacity....what that means is units can not resupply, or move equipment that the unit needs to stay operational. like items such as ammo and rations. it means units either rent civilian trucks or do twice as many trips with what is left. The 50 % of vehs that are reduced are moved into bone yards, to be scavaged for parts to keep the other 50 % moving. Although it seems to be working for now, once the parts run out the good 50 % will be slowly placed in the bone yard due to lack of parts. this is already happening.

WIthout an operation logistical fleet, your army does not move, nor can it sustain itself for more than a few days.....

LAV III up grade project:

GM is still ongoing with trails, Up Grade is perhaps not what is going on, these new LAV 6.0 we are getting are practicaly a new veh, the veh is slice in half along the length of the veh with a completely new bottom and supension placed on,new power pact, everything has changed except the turrent.

most people would say that is great news, it would be if GM had all the bugs worked out, since we agreed to upgrade and not buy the new LAV 5 vers it is not working out well. due to the addtional wieght of the vehs, almost the wieght of our old leopard tanks, close to 34 tones and at 100 kms an hour it is very important to slow down..... the brakes do not work all that well, well they do but only for less than a 1000 kms....along with the tires which also only last about 1000 kms....GM is working on a solution but it is driving up the costs...oh did i mention these vehs are in full production right now, and will have to go back to be refitted with what every solution that GM comes up with....Good idea wrong exicution....should have purchased new lavs... also keep in mind that there was not enough LAV III to go around in the first place, the new ones does not address that problem....alot of Mech Inf Bn only have 0ne rifle company out of 3 out fitted with LAV III, the rest get moved by truck or bus....also note that there are 3 Inf Bns in each Brigade group, only 2 of them are Mechanized the 3 rd is a LT Inf Bn, that was a legacy project from aways back because we did not purchase enough LAV III so DND said fine we will make one LT BN ( truckbourne or Air mobile) ....and out of that BN one Company will be a JUMP or PARA company..... These Bn are suppose to be equiped with Trucks (see B fleet reduction) or BV 206's which the replacement project was canceled....again the problem is not enough to equip the entire BN.

New Leo IIA4 :

great tank, but it is being plagued by lack of spare parts, and the fact that while they were purchased as A-4 alot of them are not arginally A-4, but tanks that were brought up to that standard, which means some systems are not the same. so replacement parts are complicated that much further. not to mention some of them are A-6 tanks with different parts altogether....Again we did not purchase enough to have a full tank regt in each Brig of which we have 3 in Canada.

It does not just stop at equipment there is a shortage of manpower, Infantry Bn's have been cut back in numbers, most are very under manned,today it would take 3 companies to fill one full rifle company....what this means on paper you have a Brigade group with 3 Inf BN's or approx 2400 fighters, today you'd be lucky to fill 13 to 1400 but as as a cost savings matter the reserve postions have been cut from most Base postions and back filled by reg force pers,alot of Inf guys filled these positions. so Inf numbers for the whole forces are good, and yet in the Bn there are very short....like i said some Bn would or could only field one complete Rifle company plus maybe a few Platoons....No additional recruit is happening because of budget restraints....

this is not just a Infantry problem it is across the board....

Infra structure:

DND infra structure comprises almost 2/3 of all the Governments depts infra structure....and it is in sad shape, and many buildings have been torn down as they could not be fixed due to lack of funds....there is a shortage of space across the board, with very little in new projects going on....If any government wanted to start with fixing the military that would be a good place to start....before any increases in manpower or new equipment is purchased they have to have a place to park it, maintain it, ect...

I guess my piont is DND needs some serious attention. and the few pionts i brought up are just the tip of the ice berg

[Topaz]

Since NATO is the police of the world, ever wonder what its budget is and how much countries give to it? Here's a list..... http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gates-criticizes-nato-how-much-does-us-pay/

[-1=e^ipi]

Are you saying NATO are idiots to set a target for funding their members' military of 2% of GDP? Are you suggesting Canadas' military is just as capable consuming 1% of GDP as it would be if it was consuming 1.4% as it was before Harper cut it? I'm really not sure what your objection is to all of this. I had seen you as a supporter of the military but it seems that support falls away to nothing compared to your support for the Harper Conservatives.

Aren't most of the 'cuts' from 1.4% to 1% due to less combat expenses since we aren't as involved in Afganistan? In that case, our 1% GDP military is just as capable as the former 1.4% GDP military.

[Smallc]

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

http://blog.halifaxshippingnews.ca/2012/06/halifax-class-mid-life-refit-update.html

[On Guard for Thee]

I trust all you mathmeticians have figure out by now that Harper just may in fact be posing a budget that will likely cut funding to healthcare.

[Smallc]

I doubt that there will be any change to the reduced increases.

[On Guard for Thee]

'Reduced increases": could that in any way be stated as "cutbacks" in your view?

[Smallc]

Not if you're attempting to be factual in any way.

[Argus]

Aren't most of the 'cuts' from 1.4% to 1% due to less combat expenses since we aren't as involved in Afganistan? In that case, our 1% GDP military is just as capable as the former 1.4% GDP military.

No, and no we're not.

[Argus]

I trust all you mathmeticians have figure out by now that Harper just may in fact be posing a budget that will likely cut funding to healthcare.

There is a topic where health care is under discussion. This is not that topic Go away.

[Smallc]

No, and no we're not.

Actually he's mostly right. Originally that money was to be returned to the military budget. It never was.

[cybercoma]

Actually he's mostly right. Originally that money was to be returned to the military budget. It never was.

Gotta build gazebos and buy orange juice.

[Argus]

Actually he's mostly right. Originally that money was to be returned to the military budget. It never was.

A lot of their equipment got pretty heavily used in Afghanistan, used up in a lot of cases. It was supposed to be replaced and wasn't.

And then there are the new supply ships, helicopters, fighters... all to replace rusted out or burned up equipment.

[Smallc]

Those are still being replaced....but I agree it's taking too long. That though is a matter of poor planning and incompetent procurement,

[Argus]

The RCAF had to raid a museum for equipment to keep one of its ancient search and rescue planes flying ten years after the Harperites promised to replace them. Some of the search and rescue aircraft are approaching 50 years old, but the government has postponed any replacements.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/09/15/royal-canadian-air-force-taps-into-new-source-for-spare-parts-an-aviation-museum/

[Derek 2.0]

The RCAF had to raid a museum for equipment to keep one of its ancient search and rescue planes flying ten years after the Harperites promised to replace them. Some of the search and rescue aircraft are approaching 50 years old, but the government has postponed any replacements.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/09/15/royal-canadian-air-force-taps-into-new-source-for-spare-parts-an-aviation-museum/

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….

[Derek 2.0]

http://blog.halifaxshippingnews.ca/2012/06/halifax-class-mid-life-refit-update.html

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

[Derek 2.0]

Some other examples of poor material condition of the forces.

B veh (Logistical vehs) fleet reduction program:

Some redistribution has been done, so units can do very basic logistics, at a 50% or more reduced capacity....what that means is units can not resupply, or move equipment that the unit needs to stay operational. like items such as ammo and rations. it means units either rent civilian trucks or do twice as many trips with what is left. The 50 % of vehs that are reduced are moved into bone yards, to be scavaged for parts to keep the other 50 % moving. Although it seems to be working for now, once the parts run out the good 50 % will be slowly placed in the bone yard due to lack of parts. this is already happening.

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?

also keep in mind that there was not enough LAV III to go around in the first place, the new ones does not address that problem....alot of Mech Inf Bn only have 0ne rifle company out of 3 out fitted with LAV III, the rest get moved by truck or bus....

Some of those concerns will be addressed by TAPV......

It does not just stop at equipment there is a shortage of manpower, Infantry Bn's have been cut back in numbers, most are very under manned,today it would take 3 companies to fill one full rifle company....what this means on paper you have a Brigade group with 3 Inf BN's or approx 2400 fighters, today you'd be lucky to fill 13 to 1400 but as as a cost savings matter the reserve postions have been cut from most Base postions and back filled by reg force pers,alot of Inf guys filled these positions. so Inf numbers for the whole forces are good, and yet in the Bn there are very short....like i said some Bn would or could only field one complete Rifle company plus maybe a few Platoons....No additional recruit is happening because of budget restraints....

this is not just a Infantry problem it is across the board..

Easy solution……….cut the third battalions to nil, using the personal to flush out the remaining six battalions, stand-up a 4^th 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.

[Smallc]

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

Unless you have something newer.....

[Derek 2.0]

Unless you have something newer.....

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.

[Smallc]

I understand that, but there still has to be at least one ship that didn't go in. According to two different websites, that ship is Toronto.

[Derek 2.0]

I understand that, but there still has to be at least one ship that didn't go in. According to two different websites, that ship is Toronto.

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.........

[Smallc]

As I said, she'll be the last ship in:

http://www.combatcamera.forces.gc.ca/netpub/server.np?find&catalog=photos&template=detail_eng.np&field=itemid&op=matches&value=65190&site=combatcamera

[Derek 2.0]

As I said, she'll be the last ship in:

http://www.combatcamera.forces.gc.ca/netpub/server.np?find&catalog=photos&template=detail_eng.np&field=itemid&op=matches&value=65190&site=combatcamera

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