The Defence Policy Statement

Sustain the Force, Expand the Force, Transform the Force

In addition to the good news in the Federal Budget for the Air Force, the impact of the Defence Policy Statement (DPS) is equally as positive for the Canada’s Air Force and its ability to better serve the Canadian people.

The Government of Canada’s DPS will provide the framework within which we will be able to sustain, expand and transform the Canadian Forces to better meet the new and emerging security challenges of the 21st Century.

While details of its impact on the Air Force will emerge over the coming months as the CDS’s Vision is defined, we want to emphasize that this DPS is the result of the collective effort of the leadership of the Canadian Forces and is what the Air Force both needs and wants. This policy is consistent with many core elements of the Air Force Vision, such as the generation of expeditionary forces.

Shaping the vision

Armed with the DPS, a team of select personnel be working on shaping the CDS’s vision for the Canadian Forces. They will be looking at areas such as Command and Control, Capabilities and Force Generation. This is expected to have little impact on our recently released Air Force “Strategic Vectors”, although we may need to review some areas to ensure it remains aligned with the Canadian Forces Vision.

It will, however, have a greater impact on our Aerospace Capability Framework. Every community within the Air Force will benefit. All of our capability areas will be enhanced through this process, without emphasis on platforms.

Canadians will see a very different Canadian Forces emerge over the upcoming years. While the Air Force has been working alongside the Army and Navy in the past, whether it be with CF-18’s, Auroras and Sea Kings supporting maritime operations, Griffons and CF-18’s supporting army operations, or the venerable Hercules fleet supporting Canadian Forces operations around the globe, we are going to see an even more integrated force emerge in the future. This is a natural progression. In this day and age, if you want to achieve any significant military effect, it requires the fully integrated strengths of all services.

We are ready

We are ready for this. We are modernizing our CF-18s and Auroras and are bringing new helicopters online to work more effectively with maritime, land and special forces. We are conducting an airlift capability study, which will cover the full-spectrum of airlift requirements, to ensure we make the right choices for the Canadian Forces.

As a country, we have to be ready to respond to challenges to our security concerns with the right people, the right equipment and the right capabilities. The defence review, and the vision that goes along with it, will provide us with the direction we need to transform and prepare the Canadian Forces to do just that.

What will emerge is a new Canadian Forces with new capabilities, more integrated, expeditionary and cohesive, ready to deploy whenever and wherever the need emerges. A force that will need to respond to security concerns in a world that has changed since September 11, 2001. That reality is going to significantly change how we organize, train and equip ourselves. And it will be the excellent strength of our people, with the same fine qualities which took us through the challenges of the past, which will bring us through this transformation; a transformation which will see our aerospace forces play an even more significant role in protecting the security of Canadian interests at home and around the world.