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The Vanguard Podcast

Welcome to the Vanguard Podcast, a weekly radio show discussing news, trends, and event coverage for the Canadian Defence Industry. Vanguard is Canada’s oldest trade journal of record that provides a forum for Canada’s security and defence community, discussing strategic perspectives and overviews of government and military policy and practice, through interviews with leading practitioners and contributions from renowned experts, including representatives from industry. Intersecting strategy, technology and policy, Vanguard explores emerging trends and best practices to help enhance Canada’s holistic approach to defence and security, both domestically and internationally.
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Now displaying: September, 2017
Sep 27, 2017

In this episode, Marcello Sukhdeo talks about Vanguard’s Game Changer series focusing on our latest Game Changer Jim Quick from AIAC and U.S. policy directs the American military not to defend Canada if it is targeted in a ballistic missile attack.

Sep 19, 2017

In this episode, the Russian President is opened to the idea of having UN peacekeepers in Ukraine, also the U.K. Prime Minister asked U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene in a court dispute between Boeing and Bombardier. And lastly, North Korea issued warnings of “forthcoming measures” against the United States after the latest round of sanctions was announced.

 

Show Notes

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled his willingness to look into the idea of deploying UN peacekeepers to eastern Ukraine and not only along the conflict line separating Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists, but also in other areas where monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) work.

 

The Kremlin said Putin made the comments in a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on September 11.

 

In a statement, the German Chancellor said Putin "agreed to remove the previous limitation of deployment of the planned UN mission" after Ms. Merkel pointed out that "changes in the mandate were necessary."

 

On September 5, Putin called for the deployment of lightly armed peacekeepers to protect OSCE observers monitoring the conflict in eastern Ukraine. But he indicated that the peacekeepers would operate only along the front line separating Ukrainian government forces and separatists.

 

Boeing and Bombardier

 

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May asked U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene in a court dispute between Boeing Co. and Canada’s Bombardier Inc.

 

Ms. May made the request during a call with President Trump on Sept. 5 and comes at a time when the UK government seeks to protect jobs at a Bombardier plant in Belfast.

 

It is expected that the UK Prime Minister will discuss this matter with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a visit to Ottawa on Sept. 18.

 

The U.K. Department for Business said in an emailed statement that their "priority is to encourage Boeing to drop its case and seek a negotiated settlement with Bombardier."

 

North Korea

 

In an attempt to punish North Korea for its latest nuclear test, the UN Security Council approved new sanctions, targeting the country’s textile industry and limiting its import of crude oil.

 

After this latest round of UN sanctions was announced, North Korea issued warnings of “forthcoming measures” against the United States.

 

North Korea said it successfully conducted its sixth nuclear test on Sept. 3. The latest test was said to have been a hydrogen bomb designed to be mounted on a newly developed intercontinental ballistic missile that has “great destructive power,” state media said following the announcement of the test.

 

North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations lashed out at the UN’s latest “illegal and unlawful” sanctions against his country, calling it a “grave challenge to international peace and justice.”

 

The North Korean ambassador went on to warn the U.S. that it will suffer consequences for the approved sanctions.

 

“The DPRK is ready to use any form of ultimate means,” he said. “The forthcoming measures by DPRK will make the U.S. suffer the greatest pain it’s ever experienced in its history.”

Sep 12, 2017

Another delay for CSC and aerospace companies call on PM to move on Super Hornets

In this episode of Vanguard Radio, Canada sends a CC130J to Texas to aid in Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, another delay for the Canadian Surface Combatant project, and Canadian-based aerospace companies are calling on the Prime Minister to stop blocking the purchase of the Super Hornet fighter jets.

 

Show Notes:

 

A Royal Canadian Air Force CC130J Hercules left Canada recently for the Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, carrying humanitarian supplies including baby formula, blankets, cribs, and similar items to aid in Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.

 

The Government of Canada offered to assist with relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and the offer was accepted by the US.

 

Hurricane Harvey has caused a mandatory evacuation of approximately 750,000 people with an additional 1.1 million people who are under a voluntary evacuation order along the Gulf Coast.

 

Hurricane Harvey was the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Wilma in 2005, ending a record 12-year drought in which no major hurricanes made landfall in the country. Harvey caused at least 71 confirmed deaths; 1 in Guyana, and 70 in the United States. Harvey is considered the worst disaster in Texas history, and the recovery will take many years. Economic losses are preliminarily estimated at between $70 to $200 billion, with a large portion of the losses sustained by uninsured homeowners.

 

CSC delays again

 

The Canadian Surface Combatant program is heading into another delay, the deadline for the RFP for this program is now expected to be in November, moving from August. That means the decision on which off-the-shelf design to go with for the CSC project is being delayed until next year late winter or early spring.

 

Lisa Campbell, assistant deputy minister of defence and marine procurement, said the delay will not affect the overall timeline for the program.

 

"It's not going to affect ship construction, which is still planned to start in the early 2020s," Campbell told CBC News in an interview.

 

According to reports, the procurement plan was more complex than initially advertised and needed to be rewritten. Some of the 12 prequalified bidders complained about tight timelines.

 

Super Hornet

 

Ten Canadian-based aerospace companies are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to stop blocking the purchase of 18 Super Hornet fighter jets. These companies are arguing they stand to suffer from the government's unwavering support of Bombardier Inc. in a trade dispute with Boeing Co.

 

A letter sent recently by senior executives from firms such as L-3 MAS, CAE and GE Canada, reads, "Prime Minister, we ask for your co-operation as we work with Boeing to keep our collective growth and innovation story unfolding here in Canada. Our partnership is deep and enduring, but it needs your engagement."

 

The letter, which calls on the government to advance "aerospace for all of Canada," is the most recent development in an increasingly bitter dispute between the Canadian government and Boeing.

Sep 7, 2017

In this episode, a new directive on how CSE shares intelligence with Canada's closest allies, the new defence policy could end up costing Canada billions more and an interview with Jeffery Hutchinson, Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard. 

Show Notes 

According to a story from CBC News, the office of Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan is crafting a directive for how Canada's electronic spy agency, that is the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) shares its foreign signals intelligence with its closest allies, the Five Eyes partners. The Five Eyes alliance is made up of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

CSE's commissioner first advised the defence minister to issue such a directive in 2013.

Christopher Parsons, research associate at The Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, said the purpose would be to authorize and draw boundaries around what is permissible when gathering and sharing data.

While there have been concerns about how the U.S. executive has treated intelligence information over the last six to eight months, Parsons said the directive may have as much to do with the current government's review of national security issues.

"So there's bill C-59 tabled before the summer recesses. As part of that there is total reformation of the CSE Act. So that means the government is really looking at how things work in terms of the collection and dissemination of intelligence information at the moment," Parsons told CBC News.

The new defence policy

The new defence policy could end up costing billions more according to an article from the Canadian Press. Why? Because it doesn’t include one big-ticket item: modernizing North America’s early warning systems.

That sets up a potentially difficult decision: to spend even more on defence than already promised, or to cut back on some of the other promises made to the military.

The current network of long-range radars used by Canada and the U.S. to monitor airborne threats was built in the Arctic in the 1980s but is quickly nearing the end of its useful life.

National Defence’s top financial officer, Claude Rochette, says the department could not account for the cost because Canada and the U.S. have not decided what they actually need.

“It’s still a discussion that needs to be done before we get guidance (from government),” Rochette told The Canadian Press in an interview.

“When we have guidance, then we will start looking at the options ... then we will start looking at costing. But that is not covered in the funding.”

And for our last story, I would like to draw your attention to an Interview I did with Jeffery Hutchinson, Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard. This was published in the June/July Vanguard print edition. Now, we have the full interview on our website. Be sure to check it out.

In this interview I asked the Commissioner, his assessment of his new position, what is the focus and vision for the Canadian Coast Guard under his leadership, top challenges, fleet depletion and what is being done, his pressing needs in procurement. If you haven't looked at this yet, please head on over to VangaurdCanada.com and you will see the article on our home page or http://www.vanguardcanada.com/2017/08/29/interview-with-jeffery-hutchinson-commissioner-of-the-canadian-coast-guard/.

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