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Canadian
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Strategic
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Editorials  &  Opinion  ~  2008 FWSAR  ACAN  –  CC-115  Buffalo  –  Utility  Transport  Aircraft  –  December  2008 Under  Fiscal  Constraints,  DND is wisely Focusing on Core Tasks: Billions to Italy  or  Stimulate the  Canadian  Aerospace  Industry? Fixed - Wing  Search - and - Rescue  ( FWSAR )  and  Utility  Transport  –  Buy  Canadian! Our  Minister  of  National  Defence,  Peter MacKay, announced  a Christmas surprise for the Italian aerospace industry.  Instead of  the  competitive  process  promised  by his Assistant  Deputy Minister  (Materiel), Dan Ross, Mr. MacKay prefers to give the FWSAR order to Italy directly through an $3B  Advance Contract Award Notice  for 17 C-27J Spartans built by Alenia in Turin (or under licence in the US ). Very nice for Italy but didn't  the  Harper Conservatives promise Canadian  economic stimulation? In the past, Canadian aerospace could  do better than wait for industrial 'off-sets' and other hand-outs.  Canada built the original FWSAR aircraft, the Buffalo  –  and we can again. Read  editorial  on  the  choice  between  supporting  Italy  or  Canadian  Aerospace Australian Defence Force  –  Afghan Mission  –  Land Vehicles  –  November  2008 Afghan  Mission  creates  Immediate  Needs  for  the  ADF Especially  Land  Vehicles  with  Protection  against  IEDs Edited  excerpts  from  two  articles  published  in  The  Australian  newspaper Defence  Minister  Joel  Fitzgibbon  focuses  on  equipment  for  current  Afghan  Mission  The UK's Special Operations Command troops, the SAS, will be  driving new  vehicles,  British-made  Supacat Jackals  ( known  Australian service, as the Nary in honour of  WO  David  Nary,  who died during a pre-deployment operation.)  Eight Nary trial  vehicles are scheduled  for  transfer  to the SASR  [ Special Air  Service Regiment ]  in November of  2008. Special  forces  have  been allocated  31 new  Nary patrol vehicles, which will replace  the SASR's current  fleet of  aging  Long Range Patrol Vehicles. Read  excerpts  of  the  articles  first  published  in  The  Australian  newspaper Defense Strategy  –  Counterinsurgency  –  Southern Afghanistan  –  August  2008 Counterinsurgency  –  Count  on  it :   Future  Forces  Require Agile,  Manoeuvre  Warfare  against  Non-State  Combatants Edited excerpts from the Defense Strategy paper by US Secretary Robert Gates Introduction  :  The  New  Strategic  Environment  facing  the  US  Department  of  Defense Over the next twenty years, physical pressures such as population growth, rivalry over resources, a race for energy reserves, chaotic climate change, and continuing environmental degradation [will likely] combine with social, cultural, geopolitical, and technological changes, to create a growing sense of uncertainty. It will be exacerbated by the speed and scale of these changes, and the complex and unpredictable interactions among these world- wide currents. Globalization and economic inter- dependence, while creating new opportunities, have also created a web of vulnerabilities, and have spread the risk [of conflict to far-flung regions]. Read excerpts of a new defence strategy by US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates Buffalo Replacement  –  Fixed Wing Search & Rescue  –  FWSAR Project  –  June  2008 Air Force must focus on core missions  —  Time  to calve off  SAR Local  Civilian  Agencies  may  prove  to be  more  Cost-Effective Dianne  DeMille ,  Editor ,  Canadian  American  Strategic  Review  ( CASR ) Regional  civilian  agencies  can do the job  more  efficiently,  more  flexibly,  at  lower  cost Our  nation  covers an  enormous  geographical  area  with  three  distinct  coastlines. The challenges of monitoring  the West Coast are very different from those on the East Coast. This means trying to coordinate a common fleet of military aircraft to perform a wide range of aerial search-and-rescue tasks which are decidedly non-military in nature. Time for a change. Using regional, civilian contractors would allow for a range of aircraft types and  sizes. No commonality of aircraft type between regions is needed – aircraft can be tailored to the specific requirements of a region or mixed-fleets employed for a layered approach to SAR as well as  day-to-day monitoring of  the sovereignty and security of  our maritime approaches (as is currently done by Provincial Airlines, above). Overview of the possibility of giving SAR responsibilities to civilian agencies