The Mulroney question

#Cdnpoli - 

It took a shortage of parkas, winter tents and basic all round cold weather gear for it to finally sink in.

Six years after the Harper government declared the Arctic to be a new operations area for the Canadian military, the army has struggled to find enough parkas, cold-weather tents, lanterns and heaters to equip forces that take part in its annual summer exercise.

The "critical equipment shortfalls" were so bad last year, the head of the army approved a request by area commanders to buy missing gear themselves, say internal briefing documents.

University of Calgary Associate Professor, Rob Huebert, who pays keen interest to Canadian Arctic operations was, well, shocked. (Emphasis mine)

"The most likely scenarios they need to respond to are a ship going aground and an airliner going down up there. I mean, that can occur any day now, and so to say we don't have enough equipment, even to keep our own troops warm, says a lot about the priority the government places on the Arctic."

And then the Mulroney shot.

"Are we back to Mulroney's time period, when it was a lot of talk and no action?" said Huebert.

Actually, Mr. Huebert, the current crop of self-adoring Conservatives are much worse. The Mulroney gang didn't parade about in uniforms they hadn't earned or take salutes to which they were not entitled. 

Another military procurement screw-up

Most Canadians can be excused for not having a clue about the Close Combat Vehicle (CCV) Project. It is, after all, only worth $2 billion.

This particular project, which is intended to provide the army with either a tracked or wheeled (who knows?) infantry fighting vehicle capable of accompanying the Leopard 2 main battle tank into combat, has been a cock-up from the word go.

DND requires that the CCV be a military-off-the-shelf equipment (MOTS). In other words, something that already exists and is in use by other armies.

So, when the various international companies who make such a vehicle submitted their bids, all of them were disqualified.

Why, you ask? Insufficient mine/IED armour protection. Except that everything that was MOTS qualified did not meet the armour requirement. Why? Nobody makes it.

So, drop that proposed procurement and issue a new Notice of Proposed Procurement (NPP). The original number of 138 vehicles was reduced to 108 plus options on 30 more. The underside armour requirement is suddenly removed from the revised NPP but the overall armour, speed and turret requirement remains.

DND insists that the vehicles and the turrets be MOTS. (From the 2010 revised NPP)

The CCV must be an integrated, supportable, existing or upgraded version of a Military Off-the-Shelf (MOTS) BASE VEHICLE and MOTS TURRET, each of which is in production for and/or in service with another military recognized by DND as of the closing date of this Solicitation of Interest and Qualification (SOIQ).

And ... we'd really like the armour we want, y'know.

So, the most qualified candidates with the system closest to what DND/PWGSC wanted ... stayed home. Others competitors submitted MOTS vehicles for evaluation, as is. In short, not quite what DND wanted.

Here's the problem in a nutshell: DND is insisting on a MOTS vehicle and gun turret, but DND would like it modified to create some kind of super-duper armoured delight and they want whoever is delivering such a thing to take all the risk and mix-and-match bits and pieces to create a wonderful Canadian creation which was originally something else so they can say they purchased off-the-shelf.

And, in terms of military hardware like Infantry Fighting Vehicles, its a very small order and not worth the trouble or financial difficulties for most companies.

So, for the second time under the Harper government, this project is getting another restart.

You can count on fewer vehicles in the order, (the price goes up as the years go by), and more finger painting exercises by DND/PWGSC boffins and, if these vehicles are so desperately needed, a continuing deficiency in the Canadian Army's order of battle.

The Harperistas are doing a heckuva job!

No trucks, no mobility, no army

In 1982 the first of over 2,700 Bombardier-built Medium Logistics Vehicle Wheeled, (otherwise known as MLVWs), were delivered to the Canadian Army. Replacing the worn out "deuce and a half" fleet of the 1950s, the MLVW fleet was expected to provide 15 years service before being replaced by something just as capable. In fact, the MLVW, which looks like a US M35 truck but is markedly different, is now well over 25 years old and the army has no choice but to get rid of them. Now, before they start killing soldiers.

The MLVW fleet is now suffering from uncontrollable corrosion (rust out), a problem which plagued them from shortly after delivery, a dangerous braking system (air over hydraulic with no secondary system which was arguably poorly designed from the start), and just plain age. They were, after all, purchased by the Trudeau government and should have had a replacement scheduled to appear during the Mulroney era.

That didn't happen. And it didn't happen during the subsequent Chretien government.

With severe austerity measures finally withdrawn Paul Martin promised a new Chief of Defence Staff that the armed forces would see new equipment - medium logistics vehicles included. Then minority government flipped into Harper's hands. By 2006 a project to replace the existing fleet of MLVWs was announced.

That's virtually all that happened. The only deliveries from that 2006 announcement are a number of off-the-shelf militarized transport trucks (MilCOTS) made by Navistar. They do not meet a stringent military specification and are not a particularly field ready vehicle. Furthermore, Navistar produced them in Texas while closing the Chatham, Ontario truck plant and laying off 500 Canadian workers. 

With the army looking at having to support domestic operations with the less capable Navistar MilCOTS (none of which have armoured protection) and the notoriously awful Light Support Vehicle Wheeled*, the logistics equipment so necessary for almost any operation, from combat to domestic disaster relief, is in jeopardy.

The original 2006 announcement by then Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor included the promise that new Standard Military Pattern Trucks to replace the MLVWs would start delivery in 2008. That's come and gone. And now, the Harper government has stopped the project cold with an announcement that the eight pre-qualified original contenders (from six different companies) would be disqualified and the bidding process will be restarted.

There are several rumours drifting about. One is that the money to pay for a MilSpec vehicle simply isn't there and that the requirement to purchase equipment for the ground mission in Afghanistan left the army's envelope empty. Another is that there is some serious squabbling going on between uniformed army officers and the political animals as to what constitutes a combat logistics vehicle. The army naturally wants something that can do any job it is called upon to do; the politicos want something to put on display. Still another rumour is buzzing about which suggests that the government would be happy with more MilCOTS which are little more than upgraded dump trucks and highway transport vehicles but a lot cheaper than a hard military 6x6 that will last for more than 5 years.

The problem could be that trucks just aren't that sexy. Unlike getting your photo taken in the cockpit of a mock-up F-35 or being hoisted from an exclusive fishing lodge into a SAR helicopter in front of your rich friends, there isn't a whole lot of flash attached to an ugly truck.

Speaking of helicopters ... Peter (Airshow) MacKay promised that Sikorsky would deliver an interim CH-148 Cyclone operational flight training helicopter to the navy by the summer of 2011. (Several years behind schedule). To date no Canadian military air worthiness certificate has been granted to any CH-148 and no operational flight training on the Cyclone has been carried out.

So much for Harper and his hillbillies streamlining the defence procurement process.

* The LSVW is a procurement of the Mulroney government, specifically then defence minister Kim Campbell. When the prototype was tested by army personnel they were happy with the vehicle. The delivered product however, was something different. Built by Western Star in Kelowna, it was a cheaped out fix to a large need and has been roundly criticized for a plethora of deficiencies.