Speeches

March 6, 2002

Speaking Notes for
General Raymond Henault
Chief of the Defence Staff
At the Manitoba Aviation Council
Annual General Meeting
and Conference
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

Good afternoon, everyone.  It’s always a real pleasure to find myself back in my hometown of Winnipeg, and in Manitoba, and amongst a great number of colleagues, friends and family.

I am also very happy to be able to talk about the Canadian Forces, and even happier to speak about flying -- which has been a passion for me ever since childhood.

To me, there are few greater pleasures than flying, whether it’s helicopters or fixed wing flying.  Thankfully, I still get the odd chance to do some flying, most recently our Griffons in Bosnia and the Sea Kings in the North Arabian Sea, at Christmas time.

And while, as a general rule, I like to speak about all elements of the Canadian Forces, I’m going to zero in on the Air Force today, because, after all, aviation is what we’re all here to talk about.

But before I do that, let me just highlight and thank all the military members in the audience tonight for their ongoing great work on behalf of the Canadian Forces, and those stationed in Winnipeg and Manitoba for their outstanding support to the campaign against terrorism.

The Air Force has significant numbers of helicopters and aircraft deployed to Southwest Asia, and the 2^nd Battalion of the PPCLI is in the process of deploying a company from Winnipeg to its important task in Kandahar.

But now, to the essence of my presentation: the Air Force.

Like the other elements of the Canadian Forces, the Air Force doesn’t lack challenges.  All three services are dealing with a high operational tempo, resource constraints, recruiting and retention challenges and a rapidly changing security environment.

But there are some very positive things happening too.  The Air Force has far-reaching equipment modernization programs.  We are making innovations in the way we do business.  And we’re finding new ways of exploiting new technology.

Avant d’aller au coeur du sujet, je veux vous donner un aperçu de ce que nous faisons, dans la Force aérienne -- c’est-à-dire, son rôle et son mandat.

Le rôle des Forces canadiennes est de maintenir des forces polyvalentes, aptes au combat, en vue d’accomplir un grand nombre de tâches à l’échelle nationale et internationale.

For the Air Force, here at home, our tasks include search and rescue, monitoring and controlling Canada’s territory, airspace and maritime areas of jurisdiction; and helping other government departments in areas like fisheries, drug interdiction, disaster response and environmental protection.

Internationally, our responsibilities include contributing to NATO airborne warning and control, plus continental defence responsibilities as part of NORAD and other cooperative defence arrangements with the Americans.

The Air Force is also committed to providing a wide range of capabilities for potential employment in missions overseas -- from actual combat to airlift of troops and equipment to facilitation of humanitarian aid. 

I mentioned a moment ago that the Canadian Forces’ operational tempo has been high in recent years.  This has affected all the elements of the Forces, including the Air Force.

In addition to meeting our commitments at home, the Canadian Forces have been active on the international scene.  In just the last decade, our people have been busy in missions from Rwanda to Sinai and from the Golan Heights to Haiti. 

The Air Force has been an integral part of all our missions.  For example, during the NATO air campaign over Kosovo in 1999, our CF-18 pilots flew close to 700 combat sorties. 

Et le rhythme de nos opérations n’a pas diminué au cours de la dernièrne année.

Par example, nous avons été très actifs lors de la mission de l’ONU au Timor-Oriental.

Nos aéronefs Hercules et Airbus ont assuré le transport du personnel et de l’équipement vers cette région, alors que nos Sea King ont été chargés de la reconnaissance le long des côtes et du transport aérien local du personnel et de l’équipement.  

On a également eu recours aux Airbus et aux Hercules, l’an passé, pour soutenir les troupes canadiennes engagées dans la mission de l’ONU en Éthiopie et en Érythrée.

Today, as you know, the Canadian Forces are still busy around the globe.  Let me give you some examples of the Air Force’s role in these operations.

Our troops from the Army, Navy and Air Force continue to maintain a significant presence in Bosnia-Herzegovina with our NATO allies, where our aircrews are providing essential support. 

Since September 11^th, the Air Force has had additional CF-18s assigned to NORAD to ensure the security of continental airspace.

And in terms of the international campaign against terrorism, you may interested in hearing some of the details of the tremendous contribution the Air Force is making in and around Afghanistan.   

Our Airbus and Hercules aircraft are conducting strategic and tactical airlift, our Aurora aircraft are employed in surveillance operations and our Sea King helicopters are providing vital support for our Naval Task Group. 

To give you an idea of the Air Force’s contribution in practical terms, as of last week:

Our Airbus aircraft had moved more than 4.3 million pounds of freight and logged 367 flight hours;

Our Hercules aircraft had moved some 843,000 pounds of freight and flown 235 hours;

Our Aurora aircrew had conducted 50 missions and logged 450 flight hours;

And our Sea King helicopters had flown over 740 missions and clocked some 2,000 hours in the air.

Whether they are in the Navy, the Army or the Air Force, one thing is clear: the men and women serving in Operation APOLLO are important players in the campaign against terrorism.  We can all be extremely proud of them and the terrific job they are doing.

That gives you a sense of just how much your Air Force has been doing to meet its responsibilities as part of a combat capable, multi-purpose force.

So how do we ensure that we continue to be able to meet these responsibilities today and down the road?

I think one of keys to success lies in modernization.

And modernizing is exactly what the Air Force is doing.

Remaining modern in our line of work definitely means keeping up-to-date with new technology.  And in the Air Force, there are a number of short-term and long-term projects designed to ensure that Air Forces stay up-to-date.

Some of the modernization projects involve the purchase of new equipment, while others involve major upgrades to current equipment. I’ll give you an example of each, starting with the recent purchase of 15 Cormorant helicopters.

These are being acquired for search and rescue, one of those tasks here at home I mentioned earlier. We have received four of these helicopters to date, and are now putting them through some rigorous testing and evaluation.

We expect the Cormorants to be operational later this year; at that point, the Air Force will be able to begin retiring its Labradors. 

Quite simply, the new helicopters will give Canada one of the most effective search and rescue capabilities in the world.  And in a country the size of ours, that represents a good investment for Canadians.

In the case of our CF-18s and our Aurora aircraft, we have determined that strategic, incremental modernization of these aircraft will best match the Air Force’s needs and resources. 

Under the CF-18 modernization project, the Air Force will be adding new mission computers, new radios, improved radar, a defensive electronic warfare suite and advanced technology weapons. 

These avionics updates, along with structural upgrades to the aircraft, will ensure that the CF-18s remain supportable, interoperable and operationally capable right into the 2017 – 2020 time frame. The CF-18 is already an excellent aircraft, but with these improvements it will be able to compete with even the most sophisticated adversary.

An extensive incremental modernization program is also under way for the CP-140 Auroras, which play an important role in the surveillance of our coastlines.

Among other things, we are updating the sensors and the communications systems to ensure their long-term capability. 

This project will make the Aurora operational for another twenty years.  At the same time, it will develop the aircraft into a primary source of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information for the Canadian Forces.

Although it is practical and cost-effective to upgrade much of our air assets, eventually some of it has to be replaced.

Which brings me to the subject of the Sea Kings.  I expect all you are familiar with the debates surrounding this particular aircraft.

Sans parler des débats, je tiens à souligner le rôle clé qu’ont joué les Sea King dans le cadre de nos opérations, ces dernières décennies. En effet, au cours des vingt-cinq dernières années, les Sea King ont été les appareils le plus fréquemment déployés de la Force aérienne. 

Et encore aujourd’hui, ils contribuent de façon importante à l’opération APOLLO, la campagne contre le terrorisme.

Clearly, these helicopters have served the Canadian Forces well, but the time has come for them to be replaced by a new maritime helicopter.  This is the number one priority for the Air Force, and it is expected to be our largest project this decade.

Since the Government decision to proceed with the replacement of the Sea King, we have been analyzing our needs and considering the various purchase options available to us. 

At this point, the Department is refining the technical specifications for both the aircraft and the combat mission suite.  With the time and thought being put in to this project, I am confident we will end up with a top-notch replacement for the Sea Kings.

These are some of the near-term modernization issues the Air Force is addressing. At the same time, the planners are looking at projects further down the road to ensure our combat capability.

I’ll briefly outline several of these projects, starting with strategic airlift. 

Being able to deploy rapidly into theatre is an important part of combat capability.

We faced some challenges in deploying our troops and equipment into Afghanistan.  As some of you may know, we relied on the Americans and the commercial sector for strategic airlift.  This is not uncommon.  In fact, even the Americans have had to rely on private sector support on many occasions.

We regularly contract out for airlift, as do all our allies.  In fact, only two of our allies, the U.S. and the U.K., have a strategic airlift capability for outsized cargo.

Nonetheless, strategic airlift is an important part of our combat capability, and we are examining our options in this area.

Also, rapid deployment into theatre for our fighter aircraft depends heavily on our strategic air-to-air refuelling capability.  The Air Force is making progress on this front as well.

In fact, plans are under way to modify two of our CC-150 Polaris Airbus aircraft to provide them with a strategic air-to-air refueling capability.  Better still, we are saving money by joining with the German military as they refit a number of their aircraft of the same or similar type.

Another important long-term project is the Joint Strike Fighter.  This is an international program aimed at creating an affordable, stealthy, multi-role strike fighter.

Canada received a number of benefits from our investment in the first phase of the project, including access to leading edge technology and very useful technical data. On February 7, we formally signed on to the second phase of this project.

Among other things, our investment of $150 million (US) in the ten-year System Development and Demonstration Phase will assist our efforts to enhance interoperability with the U.S. and other allies. 

Our participation will also put Canadian companies in a position to gain significantly from Joint Strike Fighter-related contracts. 

In fact, it’s estimated that Canadian industry may realize some $500-600 million worth of contracts during this phase of the project, and up to $10 billion over full the life of the project.

The Canadian Forces are also looking at Unmanned Air Vehicles, or UAVs, as part of our overall strategy in improving intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.

UAVs and associated command and control systems would provide commanders with a more detailed picture of operational theatres.  This, in turn, means that our pilots and troops will be safer when they go into theatre. 

The American military’s use of UAVs has been very successful in the campaign against terrorism.  We have been invited to participate in their UAV evaluations, and we are working closely with them to ensure we make the most of this technology and the available resources.

While the use of UAVs looks interesting, at this point we are just beginning to refine our overall experimentation plan and goals.

So, those are some of our current and long-term modernization projects. Now I’d like to talk about some of our innovations in the way we do business.

Comme vous le savez sans doute, des contraintes financières ont forcé les Forces canadiennes à bien examiner tous les aspects de leurs opérations.

Nous avons été obligés de concentrer nos ressources sur nos capacités fondamentales et de nous assurer que chaque dollar dépensé offre un rendement optimal.

L’un des moyens employés pour atteindre ce but est de trouver de nouvelles façons d’établir des partenariats avec l’industrie en vue d’obtenir les services dont nous avons besoin. 

An excellent example of this new direction is the NFTC -- the NATO Flying Training in Canada project -- located in Moose Jaw and Cold Lake.  This project has delivered a totally modernized pilot training system.  From the computer assisted ground training to new airplanes to new simulators, NFTC is modern from the ground up.

In fact, it has become the worldwide benchmark for comparison to other new pilot training initiatives.

At NFTC, the aircraft, the aircraft maintenance and the technical support are all provided by Bombardier and a consortium of companies.  Industry also provides the ground-based training so that military pilots (Canadian and Allied) are not tied to classrooms.  But the actual flying training of the pilots is still the military’s responsibility and this ensures our overall control of the quality.

This arrangement has numerous benefits.  Not only do we obtain first-class pilot graduates, but we do so while greatly reducing our training costs. This in turn frees up capital that can be used to meet operational needs.

The benefits of this program are not one-sided.  The NFTC provides concrete benefits to the defence industry and to the local economy -- benefits that can be counted in dollars and in jobs.

The industry team is obligated to create about 260 jobs in Western Canada.

While these jobs are mostly related to the training sites in Moose Jaw and Cold Lake, there are benefits for Manitoba in terms of business activity -- specifically, more than $32 million in business activity over the twenty-year life of the program.

Another civilian-military partnership project that we expect to deliver significant cost savings is the Contracted Airborne Training Services, something we call CATS.

This project moves us away from non-core activities and instead focuses our resources and attention on operational capabilities. 

And, it involves contracting with industry for a number of specific combat training functions.

 Contracting for these services means we won’t need to replace our Challengers and T-33s, and retiring these aircraft means a tremendous cost savings -- savings that can be directed towards sustaining and enhancing our combat capability.

The successful company will have to be able to replicate hostile aircraft entering our air space. It will also be required to provide target towing, electronic warfare training and testing of our radar and communication sensors’ performance.  The Navy, Army and Air Force will all be CATS customers.

Over 50 companies have expressed interest in all or part of the project, and some have joined forces in order to better meet the full range of CATS requirements.

The CATS initiative is one example of how we can partner with industry to achieve cost savings, particularly in the area of training services.

In fact, the Air Force can expect to see a revolution in the way we train our people.  Air Force training used to be about hours in the air, but environmental concerns and budget constraints, together with the focus on extending the lifespan of our aircraft have all meant a reduction in flying hours for our people.

With today’s technology, it is no longer a question of hours spent in an aircraft, but rather hours spent in a training environment -- including the aircraft, a networked simulator and a part-task trainer.

This concept is not new to those of you in the civilian aviation world, but for the military it represents a whole new approach to training.  Which means, of course, that there may be some resistance to the method.

Still, the more our people learn about the new simulation technologies, the more they see their benefits -- not just in terms of cost effectiveness, but also in terms of training effectiveness.

Along those lines, a major networking project we are now undertaking is the Canadian Aerospace Synthetic Environment.  The intent is to build a network foundation for all other Air Force simulation projects.

Training in a synthetic environment would overcome the need to move people and equipment, which is the major resource challenge to conducting live exercises.  In the not too distant future, I envision the Army, Navy and Air Force training and rehearsing together in a joint synthetic battlespace.  The value of such training enhancement is enormous.

We also have projects under way for simulation training on specific aircraft.

For the Aurora, the Flight Deck Simulator project will procure a high fidelity cockpit simulator offering state-of-the-art pilot training, while the Operational Mission Simulator will provide full mission suite training in a networked environment.

In addition, we are now in the process of seeking approval for the CF-18 Advanced Distributed Combat Training System, which would equip us with six high-fidelity networked CF-18 simulators established in mission training centres in Cold Lake and Bagotville.

These are just a few examples of the new ways in which we are doing business.  And I think we are succeeding at doing some things better; not just by doing them differently, but by doing them in a more cost-effective manner.

Comme j’espère l’avoir demontré, l’avenir de la Force aérienne est très prometteur.

Nous améliorons nos avions et nos hélicoptères, du nouvel équipement nous a déjà été livré, et des signes encourageants semblent indiquer qu’il reste beaucoup à venir.

Nous gérons nos ressources limitées de façon innovatrice, grâce à des partenariats avec l’industrie civile et à une meilleure utilisation de la technologie. 

All of which makes for interesting times.

Maybe some of you in the audience would like to consider signing up.  We are certainly in recruiting mode.

As Chief of the Defence Staff, I look back on my career with the Canadian Forces with real satisfaction.  I wouldn’t trade it for any other.

Great people, extraordinary experiences and tremendous rewards, including the chance to come back to Manitoba from time to time and catch up with old friends -- as the old saying goes, "there’s no life like it."