Mr. Chair, I'd like to thank you for the invitation to appear before you to discuss procurement within Canada as it relates to national defence.
I'm Troy Crosby, assistant deputy minister materiel at the Department of National Defence. It's my role at DND to ensure that members of the Canadian Armed Forces have the services and required equipment—equipment that is safe, fit for purpose and available—to enable the CAF to accomplish the missions assigned to it by the Government of Canada.
The commitments made in Strong, Secure, Engaged continue to be our focus as we make progress on the 362 projects of the Defence Policy, 39 of which are currently in definition and 117 in implementation, while 156 are in close-out or have already been closed.
Additionally, work is under way on NORAD modernization and for the support of ongoing operations.
There remains a large volume of complex work still ahead of us. Of the 77 capital projects that the materiel group is currently leading, 22 are in definition phase, including the logistics vehicle modernization and remotely piloted aircraft systems projects, which are nearing the end of competitive selection processes.
Among the 55 major capital projects being led by the materiel group that are already in implementation—the project phase following contract award—are the future fighter capability project; the armoured combat support vehicle project, which has produced more than 90 vehicles to date, not including the 39 already donated to Ukraine; the fixed-wing search and rescue replacement project, which completed polar navigation testing this summer; the strategic tanker transport capability project, which will deliver a second CC-330 Husky later this year; and the Griffon limited life extension and Cormorant mid-life upgrade projects.
We continue to take important steps. Twelve months ago we had the third of six Harry DeWolf-class Arctic and offshore patrol ships, and recently in September we had the fourth. In the same month, we also completed the assembly of the 123 structural blocks for the first joint support ship.
Construction of the second joint support ship is already well under way, and preliminary design review for the Canadian surface combatant was completed in December 2022 with a view to reaching full-rate production in 2025.
Despite all of this progress in our procurement projects, there is still room for improvement in how we plan and implement the ongoing maintenance of operational capabilities of equipment already in service to keep pace with rapid technological change.
To accomplish this, we need to adopt a less transactional approach to our relationships with industry in order to realize improved outcomes for CAF readiness.
Mr. Chair, thank you for this opportunity to address the committee. I look forward to answering questions.