Recent announcements about the two top positions in North American Aerospace & Defence Command underscore how U.S. promotions and senior command appointments are more politicized than they are in Canada, a situation enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.
May 30
(DND News)
The Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of National Defence issued the following statement today related to the One-Year Anniversary of the Independent External Comprehensive Review on sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces.
May 30
(BRIAN LEE CROWLEY)
Chinese election interference is a hot topic in Canada today. Yet, while it is indeed a matter of enormous importance, it is one that must be placed in the context of the new Cold War against the West.
May 23
(HUDSON ON THE HILL)
Canada continues to dodge NATO calls for defence spending. There is a long-standing complaint that Canada continues to fall short of the alliance’s stated goal that its members’ defence spending should equal a minimum of 2% of gross domestic product.
Jun 01
(Ken Pole)
Two new appointees to the top command positions at North American Aerospace Defence Command headquarters in Colorado bring different but complementary skillsets to the 65-year-old partnership.
May 31
(Ken Pole)
Defence Minister Anand used a keynote speech today at the opening of CANSEC, the Canadian Association of Defence & Security Industries trade show in Ottawa, to underscore the importance of supply chains as the government modernizes the Canadian Armed Forces. Industry notes procurement is a 2-way collaboration requiring trust.
May 31
(FrontLine News)
Today Seaspan Shipyards announced it has cut steel to build a ‘Prototype Block’ and marking a critical step in its Polar Icebreaker Program. Seaspan is designing and building the first heavy Polar Icebreaker in Canada in more than 60 years. Lessons learned from building the Prototype Block will help improve the quality and efficiency of the process when production of the vessel begins in late 2024.
May 31
(FrontLine News)
Using both indoor and outdoor booths at CANSEC, Rheinmetall is showcasing its latest and most innovative advancements including water treatment, new fabrics, satellite communications. land Vehicle crew training, strategic fires and effects information, night vision system modernization and heavy equipment replacement.
 Beretta Defense Technologies / Stoeger Canada |
 Collins Aerospace |
 Cleeve Technology Inc. |
30 May 2023 –
Chinese election interference is a hot topic in Canada today. Yet, while it is indeed a matter of enormous importance, it is one that must be placed in the context of the new Cold War against the West.
27 April 2023 –
The CAF is in crisis mode, attempting to deal with a lack of personnel and equipment, efforts to change its culture, operational pressures and reputational challenges. This huge machine cannot rapidly ramp up from dereliction when needed – it's time for Canadians to begin to recognize service to country as important, and give it the priority it deserves.
29 March 2023 –
The federal budget plans a 3% reduction in across-the-board spending and new spending is squarely focusing on domestic economic issues. The defence policy review, announced a year ago, will likely be stalled while to government turns its attention to domestic needs.
22 January 2023 –
Will the issue of heavy armour support for Ukraine unite or divide the allies? Will Germany's post-WW2-guilt overpower its modern leadership role in global stability? Is a willing coalition of European neighbours enough to stiffen the German spine?
7 June 2023
(Breaking Defense)
Less than three years after receiving the equivalent of US$39 million in funding, a consortium of 13 entities in seven European countries has delivered a common-architecture Modular Unmanned Ground System to the European Commission. “This project set a great example of cooperation and high-level results which we can expect also from coming European Defence Fund Projects,” an official in the Estonian Centre for Defence Investments said in a statement issued June 6 by Tallin-based Milrem Robotics.
7 June 2023
(CP)
As of June 6, a total 424 wildfires were burning across Canada, more than 250 of which are considered out of control. This is according to a briefing by seven federal cabinet ministers who said the current fire situation, being fought by civilian and military responders, is one of the most severe on record and that the long-range forecast is for continued abnormal fire activity.
7 June 2023
(Breaking Defense)
Iran’s assertion that will establish a naval alliance with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations “defies reason,” says a U.S. Navy officer with the 34-nation Combined Maritime Forces fleet, which includes rotations of Canadian warships and aircraft. “The number one cause of regional instability claims it wants […] to protect the very waters it threatens,” says Commander Tim Hawkins, pointing out that Iran has attacked or seize 15 internationally-flagged merchant ships in the past two years.
6 June 2023
(Defense News)
Video shot from aboard HMCS Montreal during a recent transit of the Taiwan Strait with a U.S. destroyer shows a Chinese warship cutting close across the destroyer’s bow. Defending the tactic, China’s defence minister Li Shangfu says other countries should “mind your own business.”
6 June 2023
(Breaking Defense)
The U.S. Army has pulled the plug on a six-year experiment with autonomous truck convoys, conceived as a way to keep troops out of harm’s way. Oshkosh Defense in Wisconsin and Robotic Research in Maryland have been contracted to wind down the project as the Army reconsiders its options.
6 June 2023
(NY Times)
The Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric plant in southern Ukraine, which feeds coolant water to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear station, was breached by an apparent explosion June 5. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia, which took control last year of the facility on the Dnipro River near Kherson, for a “terrorist” act which has caused widespread flooding.
5 June 2023
(Military Times)
Fighter jets and U.S. tanks promised to Ukraine won’t be ready for a spring counteroffensive against Russia, says General Mark Milley, Chair of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. While training on M1 Abrams tanks has just begun, training on allies’ F-16s is still being negotiated and Milley’s French counterpart says upgrading Ukraine’s capabilities is a mid-to-long-term goal
5 June 2023
(AP)
Russia said today that it had thwarted a “large scale” Ukrainian attack June 4 at five points in the eastern province of Donetsk, one of four regions Russia annexed last fall. Defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said 40 armured vehicles, including 16 tanks, were destroyed and 250 troops killed but there was no corroboration by Ukraine
5 June 2023
(BBC)
China’s new defence minister, General Li Shangfu, warned June 4 that war with the U.S. would be an “unbearable disaster” for the world. During the Shangri-la Dialogue summit in Singapore, he accused the U.S. of having “a Cold War mentality” and “greatly increasing security risks” but said the two countries should seek common ground.
4 June 2023
(CP)
Defence Minister Anita Anand, in Singapore June 3 for the Shangri-la Dialogue on intergovernmental security, announced June 3 that Canada is reinforcing its military presence in the Indo-Pacific region by deploying a second Royal Canadian Navy warship as well as increasing Canadian involvement in international exercises. The RCN currently has the frigate HMCS Montreal and the support ship Asterix deployed in the region.