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From Jane's Defence Weekly
Canada's commitments in Afghanistan and the urgent need to replace equipment are increasing the pressure as officials mull defence budget cuts. Sharon Hobson reports
This is a revised version of an article published on 24 May.
The Canadian military is engaged in its biggest recapitalisation programme in decades, not only because of its commitment in Afghanistan but also because so much equipment is in urgent need of replacement. These twin imperatives are putting enormous stress on the procurement department's project managers and causing frustrations with the acquisition process. At the same time, there are concerns about defence budget cuts.
Like most members of the NATO alliance, Canada is decreasing military spending as part of the effort to keep government debt manageable. In its most recent budget, the government announced that annual defence spending would continue to increase as originally planned through 2011-12, allowing the Canadian Forces to fulfil their remaining commitments to the war in Afghanistan. The government will cut CAD525 million (USD506 million) from the military budget in 2012-13, representing less than 3 per cent of the total, and will trim the budget by CAD1 billion annually after that.
A senior official in the Department of National Defence (DND) told Jane's the budget cuts will have no impact on the military's re-equipment programmes: "Our operating budgets are frozen - as with all departments - for three years. We'll have to see how that works out in terms of cash phasing for some of the upcoming projects.
"They may change, but I don't know. Nobody in the building knows."
Since 2004, the government has signed acquisition contracts worth more than CAD17.3 billion for capital equipment for the Canadian Forces and promises to spend another CAD50 billion over the next 20 years. Not only is the value of the contracts a dramatic change from the previous 15 years, when the DND was decimated by budget and personnel cuts, but also the new equipment has arrived at an unusually rapid pace.
The complete (very long) article here: http://www4.janes.com/subscribe/jdw/doc_view.jsp?K2DocKey=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2010/jdw43211.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDW&
Canada's commitments in Afghanistan and the urgent need to replace equipment are increasing the pressure as officials mull defence budget cuts. Sharon Hobson reports
This is a revised version of an article published on 24 May.
The Canadian military is engaged in its biggest recapitalisation programme in decades, not only because of its commitment in Afghanistan but also because so much equipment is in urgent need of replacement. These twin imperatives are putting enormous stress on the procurement department's project managers and causing frustrations with the acquisition process. At the same time, there are concerns about defence budget cuts.
Like most members of the NATO alliance, Canada is decreasing military spending as part of the effort to keep government debt manageable. In its most recent budget, the government announced that annual defence spending would continue to increase as originally planned through 2011-12, allowing the Canadian Forces to fulfil their remaining commitments to the war in Afghanistan. The government will cut CAD525 million (USD506 million) from the military budget in 2012-13, representing less than 3 per cent of the total, and will trim the budget by CAD1 billion annually after that.
A senior official in the Department of National Defence (DND) told Jane's the budget cuts will have no impact on the military's re-equipment programmes: "Our operating budgets are frozen - as with all departments - for three years. We'll have to see how that works out in terms of cash phasing for some of the upcoming projects.
"They may change, but I don't know. Nobody in the building knows."
Since 2004, the government has signed acquisition contracts worth more than CAD17.3 billion for capital equipment for the Canadian Forces and promises to spend another CAD50 billion over the next 20 years. Not only is the value of the contracts a dramatic change from the previous 15 years, when the DND was decimated by budget and personnel cuts, but also the new equipment has arrived at an unusually rapid pace.
The complete (very long) article here: http://www4.janes.com/subscribe/jdw/doc_view.jsp?K2DocKey=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2010/jdw43211.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDW&
