Evidence of meeting #21 for National Defence in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was aircraft.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

André Deschamps  Commander, Royal Canadian Air Force, Department of National Defence

8:50 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative James Bezan

Good morning, everyone.

We're going to continue with our study of readiness under Standing Order 108(2). Joining us today from the Department of National Defence is the commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Lieutenant-General André Deschamps.

Welcome, General. First of all, I want to congratulate the air force on the great results in Libya, the fantastic show of force in theatre, achieved under the command of General Bouchard. We're looking forward to your opening comments. You have the floor.

8:50 a.m.

Lieutenant-General André Deschamps Commander, Royal Canadian Air Force, Department of National Defence

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, committee members, I am pleased to have the opportunity to discuss the Royal Canadian Air Force's readiness with you today.

Success in operations, my number one priority, rests on a foundational pillar of readiness, that is, our ability to act and to deliver the right air effect at the right time and at the right place. It demands that our capabilities exist in various states of readiness. Since no two national or international operations are ever the same, the question becomes how we ensure that our country has the right stuff to respond quickly and effectively. It boils down to a mix of the right people with the right training, the right doctrine, and the right equipment.

In terms of readiness, the RCAF generates relevant, responsive, and effective air power to meet the defence and security challenges of today and tomorrow. In other words, we equip, train, and sustain air power to carry out operations for the force employers who actually employ our people and assets to conduct the missions. These force employers include Canada Command and NORAD for continental operations, and Canadian Expeditionary Force Command for operations oversees.

The strategic, operational, and tactical effects that we achieve nationally and internationally are the ultimate test of our readiness. We have passed that test with flying colours.

As we approach the end of an extraordinary year, we look back at an unparalleled number of domestic and international operations, including engagement in combat operations in two separate theatres.

Operation Mobile was one of our most recent demonstrations of our readiness. The morning after the United Nations passed its resolution on Libya, our CF-18 Hornet fighter jets were en route to Italy to take part in the operation. CC-150 Polaris air-to-air refuellers and CC-177 Globemasters loaded with personnel and equipment followed immediately. And a few days after leaving Canada, our aircraft were in the skies around and over Libya, working side-by-side with our coalition partners.

During our mission, we also had Aurora long-range patrol aircraft, Hercules refuellers and Hercules transport aircraft in the air, as well as a Sea King helicopter embarked with our frigate in the Mediterranean. All of our airmen and airwomen fulfilled their duties with the professionalism that has been the hallmark of our RCAF service through the years, and I was extraordinarily proud to welcome them home last month.

The rapidity with which we responded was due entirely to our readiness. Our equipment was ready. Our highly professional people were trained and ready. And our logistical support was robust. Moreover, during this period, our air wing in Afghanistan was still active, delivering air power to the Canadian and allied commanders under extremely demanding situations.

Around the same time that Operation MOBILE began, we deployed six CF-18s to Iceland to carry out an air policing mission under the auspices of NATO.

In August, we deployed Griffon helicopters and crews to Jamaica to conduct search and rescue training and to support the Jamaica Defence Force during hurricane season.

Closer to home, we responded to threats from Mother Nature. We evacuated residents of several communities who were in danger from wildfires in northern Ontario and evacuated others from flood threats in the Richelieu Valley in Quebec. We continued to deliver on our domestic no-fail task of protecting Canadians from air threats through NORAD. And we continued to fulfill our very demanding search and rescue mandate, assisting Canadians in peril.

In this extremely busy—I might even say unprecedented—period of activity, we delivered excellence in every area of responsibility. In fact, there was a point this spring where every one of our operational capabilities, in varying numbers, was committed to operations. Throughout my career, I have never seen this level of engagement.

In addition to ensuring our people and fleets are ready to carry out missions such as those I have described, we have certain tools at hand to aid us in ensuring that we can turn our readiness into action effectively and efficiently. In particular, I want to make note of a true success story, the Canadian Combined Aerospace Operations Centre or, as we call it, the CAOC.

The centre is located in Winnipeg.

This entity was established a little more than five years ago and is having a significant, positive impact on our ability to deliver operational effect at home and abroad. The CAOC supports our air component commander, enabling him to exercise centralized command and control, and facilitate decentralized execution of air power at home and around the world.

As a result, we can exchange information rapidly and accurately throughout the air force and the Canadian Forces, with other government departments, and with our allies. The CAOC allows us to effectively allocate and rapidly re-group and re-task capabilities to force employers and thereby better support operational commanders.

Now, it goes without saying that airplanes are fast, that is, faster than any land- or sea-based capabilities. Therefore, the inherent nature of air power allows us to respond rapidly. Our agility and resilience are important organizational values that are foundations of our readiness.

So what is the state of readiness of the RCAF?

All of our capabilities have a high-risk component that enables us to respond rapidly to developing situations. In fact, the air force maintains the highest overall readiness of the three environments. Most of our forces are either ready for or conducting operations. I want to give you a few examples of our readiness in our aircraft fleets by way of illustration.

Our CF-18 Hornets maintain high-alert states to support NORAD and Canadian airspace control. They could be airborne in minutes on any given day. Our readiness assignment for the Globemaster III ranges from 24 hours' notice to 21 days for humanitarian assistance missions. Our CP-140 Aurora long-range patrol aircraft maintain readiness to respond within 12 hours for domestic operations conducted under the auspices of Canada Command. Our tactical transport communities, which include our helicopters, maintain a number of platforms at high readiness by region for domestic emergency response, ranging from 30 minutes to 24 hours' notice to move. For example, the C-130 Hercules readiness is the shortest, at 30 minutes for search and rescue, 24 hours for domestic operations, or 3 days for unforecasted support to the Canadian Expeditionary Force Command.

Maintaining this level of readiness requires a significant level of planning, effort and resources. Moreover, as we look to the future, we will be challenged to maintain our readiness. We need to ensure that our ability, creativity and innovation—the factors that enable our readiness—are institutionalized.

We have always been able to adapt to new technologies, procedures and techniques, largely because of our flexible, highly competent, and extremely knowledgeable airmen and airwomen.

For instance, our personnel at the air wing in Afghanistan acquired a very sharp focus in high intensity multi-fleet combat operations. In this operational petri dish, the learning curve was tremendously steep; but our people adapted wonderfully, often learning in days or even hours what might normally take months or years. Our lessons learned from Afghanistan are being analyzed and institutionalized to guide our doctrine and training for years to come, and thereby further strengthening our readiness.

In addition, we have made tremendous investments in our human resources over the past decade. We have revamped several of our occupations to ensure career structures are optimized, that training, experience and tasks are aligned, and that opportunities for career advancement are improved.

Moreover, we are creating efficiencies in personnel training and seeing promising improvements through the use of technology such as networked virtual training in simulated environments. We are also transforming the training system for our technicians: training more students in less time but graduating them with an even greater degree of technical competence. We need to continue to carry out this type of self-examination and refinement in the years to come.

With regard to our aircraft fleets, we are facing tremendous opportunities, but many will challenge our ability to maintain readiness. Very soon we will integrate the Cyclone into our fleets. We will have personnel availability challenges, training challenges, as well as the growing pains that can be part of bring any [Inaudible--Editor] into operation. The new CH-47F Chinook will bring similar challenges, although our experience in Afghanistan should facilitate its entry into service.

In late 2016, we expect to start taking delivery of the F-35 Lightning II, our next-generation fighter.

We know that some of the threats faced by the CF-18 Hornet in the 20th century have faded, some have continued and new ones have emerged. There is no reason for us to doubt that we will continue to see similar fluidity and evolution in threats as the century unfolds. Acquisition of the fifth-generation F-35 will enhance our readiness, giving us the flexibility to face the threats we know and, just as importantly, the threats that have yet to emerge.

In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, we face many challenges every day in the Royal Canadian Air Force, but we see these as opportunities to strengthen the institution. Supported by a robust operational command system, relevant equipment, effective training and education, and rich operational experience, our airmen and airwomen are willing to take on whatever domestic and global security challenges our nation may face, today or tomorrow.

The Royal Canadian Air Force is ready.

Thank you again for the opportunity to speak with you about readiness; I look forward to your questions.

Thank you very much.

I'm open to your questions.

9 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative James Bezan

Thank you, General.

We're going to go with our first round of seven minutes.

Ms. Moore, you have the floor.

9 a.m.

NDP

Christine Moore NDP Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have several quick questions about the F-35s.

We have heard that there are plans to go ahead and purchase 65 jets. I'd first like to know how it was determined that 65 was an appropriate number. We have more than 65 CF-18s. As a result, we are reducing the size of our fleet of fighter jets.

Furthermore, what is the distribution plan for these various aircraft on the ground?

I'll let you answer that question. We'll continue with the others afterwards.

9 a.m.

LGen André Deschamps

Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair.

With respect to the number of aircraft, an analysis was done over the years. It was based on the prerequisites that were expected for the end of the decade, when the F-35s will be ready.

The aircraft has various technologies that are currently found on the CF-18s. I'm talking about the aircraft equipment, what it's capable of doing and how it is maintained. Technological advances enable us to get more flight capabilities with fewer aircraft. So we can keep the same number of skilled pilots, if we want, with a smaller fleet of aircraft.

In addition, the simulation available with the F-35 will enable us to use virtual training. Once again, we will be able to reduce the number of outings required to maintain the skills of our pilots. This is why the number is lower than 77, which is how many CF-18s we currently have. Actually, the technology allows us to have an equivalent capacity with fewer aircraft.

9 a.m.

NDP

Christine Moore NDP Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC

Before talking about the distribution of aircraft on the ground, I'd like to come back to the matter of simulators. Right now, Canada doesn't have its own simulator. So we will use subcontracting and will do business with the American armed forces.

Would having our own simulator be a major advantage? If not, would not having one be considerably detrimental to us?

9 a.m.

LGen André Deschamps

The training capacity is subject to the definition of the project. It's clear that, initially, the first pilots will be trained in the United States, our partner. That's where the institutions with the required capacity are. We intend to repatriate our training to Canada in the future, once we have the capacity and infrastructure needed to support a training model.

What will this model represent? It needs to be defined. It must be financially affordable, with operational support. We plan to have our own simulators in Canada. We also eventually expect to repatriate basic training to Canada.

9 a.m.

NDP

Christine Moore NDP Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC

Where will you instal the simulator?

9 a.m.

LGen André Deschamps

It would be at two bases, the ones in Bagotville and in Cold Lake.

9 a.m.

NDP

Christine Moore NDP Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC

Could you just tell me how the fighter jets will be distributed on the ground?

9 a.m.

LGen André Deschamps

Normally, the distribution would be equal. We will need to see how many aircraft will be available for operations and how many will be used for basic training. Once we have defined the basic training invoice, we will redistribute the aircraft equally between the two squadrons, in Bagotville and in Cold Lake. The training model has not yet been determined. So I can't tell you the number of aircraft. Normally, the distribution would be equal between the two squadrons.

9 a.m.

NDP

Christine Moore NDP Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC

So there aren't any fighter jets in the Arctic?

9 a.m.

LGen André Deschamps

As is currently the case, our aircraft can be deployed to our forward deployment positions. We have a number of bases in the Arctic, and we use them for operations in that region. Our operations are run from main bases in Cold Lake and Bagotville, and we deploy throughout Canada, be it to the south or to the north. The model will be the same.

9 a.m.

NDP

Christine Moore NDP Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC

The F-35 does not travel as fast as the CF-18s we currently have. We could see that they lost in simulated combat situations. I'd like to know what impact the speed of this aircraft will have on its fighting capacity and on its ability to meet operational requirements.

9:05 a.m.

LGen André Deschamps

Thank you.

The brochures published by companies that sell aircraft all indicate maximum speeds, such as Mach 2 or Mach 1.8. With the F-35, we're talking about Mach 1.8. The immediate reaction is to say that it is slower than other combat aircraft, but there is a fairly important distinction to be made. To attain the maximum speeds indicated in the brochure, these aircraft must be completely empty. So, in a combat situation, the F-35 can fly at its maximum speed. In retrospect, the other aircraft can do so only in the context of a test plan, in other words, without combat arms. When those are added, the speed of those aircraft decreases fairly considerably. This means that our F-35s will be able to operate at their maximum speed at all times, while the other aircraft must reduce their speed once they are transporting operational loads.

9:05 a.m.

NDP

Christine Moore NDP Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC

Are aircraft empty during simulated combat?

9:05 a.m.

LGen André Deschamps

No. Normally we carry out simulations precisely to determine an aircraft's capabilities in all conditions. The simulations we have access to showed that the F-35 had an imposing advantage over the other aircraft currently on the market.

9:05 a.m.

NDP

Christine Moore NDP Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC

We've been told that there is currently an annual shortage of about 125 pilots, given that 20% of them are going to retire.

What strategy have you adopted to train more pilots to handle these upcoming retirements?

9:05 a.m.

LGen André Deschamps

For many years now, producing pilots has had its challenges. We were dealing with technical problems related to certain training fleets, which delayed our production. This year, we intend to just raise the curve. We hope to turn out a total of about 105 pilots a year. For years, there has been a shortage of about 250 pilots overall in the Canadian Forces. Positions should normally be filled by pilots. We hope to get this number to 125 over the years so we can start to fill the gap and absorb normal losses, like the ones caused by retirements and career changes. The current shortage of 250 pilots has existed for at least 10 years, but we are managing this situation regularly. It isn't posing any costly problems for the moment, but we are trying to fill these positions.

9:05 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative James Bezan

Thank you very much.

Mr. Strahl, you have the floor.

9:05 a.m.

Conservative

Mark Strahl Conservative Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon, BC

Thanks, Mr. Chair, and thank you, General Deschamps, for being here.

I just want to add my voice. It was a great honour for me to be in the Senate chamber for the event marking the successful Libya mission and to see General Bouchard honoured as he was. He is truly a Canadian hero.

My grandpa, Bill Strahl, also served with the RCAF at the end of World War II, so I've always had an interest in the air force. I was interested when the Norwegian Secretary of State for Defence was here. It was a one-off meeting, not pertaining in particular to our study on readiness, but he talked about the F-35. He made it clear that, from the Norwegian perspective, that there was no contest between the three planes they had run through the testing.

He said:

I asked my people there, our pilots, “Are we doing the right thing? What do you feel about the F-35s? Do you miss the F-16s when you are cooperating with Lockheed Martin and all the partners in Texas?” The answer from my pilots is that this is the best air fighter they ever have seen. All the test results so far are even better than they thought three years ago, when Norway selected the F-35s.

He goes on to say that the pilots from Norway believe this is the best thing that could happen to the Norwegian air force.

Perhaps I'm asking you to give the Canadian perspective. Do you share those sentiments about the F-35? Is it the best plane? What will it mean for our air force, in terms of future readiness?

9:05 a.m.

LGen André Deschamps

Thank you for the question.

Mr. Chair, I think it's fair to say that much like other air forces around the world that have looked at their future requirements and how they can meet those requirements, we've come to the same conclusion, through a lot of analysis and discussion with our partners, that the F-35 remains by far the most capable and sustainable platform available to us out there.

I understand that we're at the early part of the program and there are always those early developmental issues that will cause some concern, but we remain absolutely confident that the platform will mature and deliver unparalleled capabilities to Canada for decades to come.

9:10 a.m.

Conservative

Mark Strahl Conservative Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon, BC

You said in your presentation that we can't be sure what the future holds. We weren't sure what the future held when the decision was made to go to the CF-18s. I've done some reading and found that very similar criticisms were levelled against the CF-18—that it was Cadillac, that it couldn't operate in the Canadian environment—and obviously we've seen that is not true.

While we're not sure what the threats are, we do know that other nations—China, and Russia—are developing a fifth-generation fighter. Why is it necessary for Canada to have a fifth-generation fighter as opposed to a fourth-generation?

9:10 a.m.

LGen André Deschamps

Thank you for the question.

I think it's fair to say that it goes back to the premise of manned fighters versus other options. Most industrialized and modern nations have come to the conclusion that for their future national sovereignty and defence needs, a manned fighter remains the primary tool.

In addition, it's about understanding the challenging threat environment out there, that sophisticated systems on the ground and on the sea and in the air will threaten manned fighters. Therefore, advanced countries have been working hard to achieve fifth-generation capabilities, which is the only reasonable way of dealing with the very sophisticated threats that are evolving as we speak.

9:10 a.m.

Conservative

Mark Strahl Conservative Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon, BC

Could you speak as well of the necessity of this next generation fighter having stealth capability?