Lockheed unveils Hercules team
Executives from Lockheed Martin spent the third week of March travelling across the country unveiling part of the team of Canadian companies that will provide maintenance and support for the CC-130J fleet. The road trip, which kicked off in Ottawa with short speeches from Tony Frese, program manager for the CC-130J project, and Industry Minister Tony Clement, included stops in Quebec, Nova Scotia and British Columbia.

While the length of the initial in-service support deal surprised some – just six-and-a-half years from award in December 2009 to June 2016 – Clement said the industrial and regional benefits package associated with the new Hercules contract would be “an important catalyst for high-quality, advanced technology business” in Canada.

The contracts announced over the week total about $617 million; the eventual amount of IRB deals should match the cost of CC-130J fleet, approximately $2.3 billion.

Among the companies confirmed to date are Cascade Aerospace, IMP Aerospace, CAE, Standard Aero and the HAAS Group. Negotiations with others are ongoing, Lockheed Martin said.

Oshkosh, General Dynamics take aim at TAPV
Oshkosh Defense and General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada have sign an agreement that will make them one of the leading contenders for two of National Defence’s wheeled vehicle programs, the Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV) and the Standard Military Pattern (SMP) portion of the Medium Support Vehicle System (MSVS).

In line with DND’s requirement for logistics support, the Oshkosh-General Dynamics team is also offering systems integration and testing support for the vehicle as well as logistics, training, technical manuals, and spare parts management.

Shortly have the partnership announcement the government released a SOIQ (Solicitation of Interest and Qualification) for the TAPV, seeking an initial purchase of approximately 500 vehicles, with an option for up to 100 more.

The TAPV program will replace the armoured patrol vehicle and the Coyote reconnaissance vehicle, while the MSVS program will replace the medium logistics truck fleet.

In Brief
Boeing handed over the 79th – and final – upgraded CF-18 Hornet aircraft to the Canadian Forces in March, completing the second phase of a nine-year, two-phase modernization project. The first phase, completed in 2006, included upgrades to the Hornet’s avionics, radar, radio and weapons capabilities. The second phase included a data link system to ensure interoperability with the U.S. and other allies, a joint helmet-mounted cueing system to improve weapons targeting, new colour cockpit displays, and an upgraded chaff-and-flare dispensing electronic warfare system. Total cost for the project was valued at US$586 million. After Boeing completed upgrades on two prototype aircraft, L-3 Communications MAS installed the upgrades on the remaining 77 aircraft. L-3 Electronic Systems developed the upgraded crew station displays…

A Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone helicopter arrived at CFB Shearwater in February to begin several weeks of testing with the Canadian Navy. The long awaited replacement for the Sea Kings was seen making practice landings on the deck of HMCS Montreal in Halifax Harbour…

AgustaWestland has awarded Northstar Aerospace a $7 million contract to manufacture rotor heads for the Lynx helicopter at Northstar’s plant in Milton, Ontario…

Montreal-based CAE will provide a training simulation solution for the Canadian Forces’ new fleet of 15 CH147F Chinook medium-to-heavy lift helicopters. The $250 million contract, to be completed in two phases, includes a weapon system trainer, tactical and deployable flight training devices, an integrated gunnery trainer, and laptop and desktop-based CAE Simfinity virtual simulators…

The U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command has placed a USD$41.5 million delivery order modification with General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada for spare parts in support of RG-31 Mk5E vehicles. In February, General Dynamics received a manufacturing contract for 250 of the RG-31s, part of the U.S. Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle program…

Norwegian-based Kongsberg Gruppen AS announced plans in March to open an Ontario facility for a new product related to its Protector Remote Weapon Stations family, a mounted system already in use by the CF on its LAVs. The first phase of the project includes a $30-50 million investment, involving 25-30 employees…

DND has awarded SELEX Galileo, part of the Finmeccanica group, a £10M contract for its Digital Gun Management Systems, a variant of the UK 105mm L118 Light Gun LINAPS (Laser Inertial Artillery Pointing System), to be used on the M777 lightweight towed howitzer. The M777s have been deployed in Afghanistan since 2006.