National Defence Committee on Jan. 26th, 2026

[Lgen Jamie Speiser-Blanchet]

The remotely piloted aircraft system project is under way, and we are still working towards an initial operational capability in 2028, which would see the first one coming to Canada in approximately 2027. Right now, everything is on schedule. The next work, as we prepare for the capability, is about the personnel required, so we're looking at what the training requirements are to generate the forces to operate and, of course, sustain the SkyGuardians.

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

In the context of their communications, especially satellite communications, are those hardened against EMPs, or will they be?

[Lgen Jamie Speiser-Blanchet]

Do you mean against electromagnetic pulses?

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

Yes.

[Lgen Jamie Speiser-Blanchet]

We will have the appropriate protection suites and electronic systems measures.

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

Is that a yes, then?

[Lgen Jamie Speiser-Blanchet]

Yes.

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

Perfect.

I know we've talked about continental defence, a term that itself implies a more geostrategic context because obviously there's defence against something. A lot of Canadians see the defence of Canada as a sort of castle on which we fix our defences without much regard for the external context. I think it has to be looked at in a geostrategic context.

Looking at it through that context, first of all, have we learned lessons from the Ukraine war?

[Lgen Jamie Speiser-Blanchet]

Of course, we have learned many lessons from the Ukraine war. In fact, it is driving our analysis of how we will be operating more effectively in the future geostrategic environment, how we present military forces and what that means.

The proliferation of drones is something that, of course, all of our allies are learning from. There are also a lot of lessons that have to do with how we engage our defence industrial base and how we better incorporate the ability to leverage innovation and more rapid production and acquisition. There are many lessons, and we are absolutely working as quickly as we can to implement what is possible.

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

Would you say that we have benefited from our close association with Ukraine and our defence of Ukraine in gaining those lessons?

[Lgen Jamie Speiser-Blanchet]

I believe it is safe to say so. We are working closely with our Ukrainian partners and—

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

I'm sorry. My question may have been a bit unclear.

What I'm saying is that we are not passive observers to this war. We are actually engaged in it, in some sense. What I'm asking is, because of that engagement, are we actually learning something, or are we learning it from watching it as passive observers?

[Lgen Jamie Speiser-Blanchet]

My understanding is that we are learning from that engagement.

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

Thank you very much.

With regard to the F-35, a statement by the Americans has been referenced that says they will have to take over that aspect of the defence of Canada if we do not buy the F-35. I want to talk a bit about that.

In the war games we went to with senior military personnel, we saw that when the F-35 is used in a battle space, the other side doesn't even get a turn, because by the time the munitions released by the F-35 hit, the F-35 is back out of range again, never having been seen.

I had an opportunity to speak to another lieutenant-general in the air force—and that's a very small club—at a recent conference. I asked him to give me just one point on the reason we need the F-35, and he made two of them. One was an integrated comms and targeting system that is essentially a point-and-shoot system, which no other aircraft we have has had. The other one is, to me, definitive: The minute you drop a missile or an external fuel tank on a Gripen, it becomes visible to whoever can see it. The F-35 is not in that same context.

Confirm this for me. We can not operate the Gripen in a forward operating position in the Arctic with any chance of success relative to the F-35. I understand that an F-35 pilot can look from inside the cockpit and see what external radar can see and can trim the wings, trim the speed and so on to optimize the stealth capability. I'm looking for confirmation that the F-35 can operate in a forward operating position, whereas the Gripen is going to have a lot of trouble doing that. Is that a fair statement?

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Can you reply quickly? We're running out of time.

[Lgen Jamie Speiser-Blanchet]

I can confirm that the F-35 was selected due to advanced stealth capabilities, data and sensor fusion and increased lethality. It has, with its advanced radars and detection systems, the ability to remain undetected and see further distances to essentially engage before being detected, and also the ability to integrate massive amounts of information from the battle space through the cockpit and to think more in terms of doing a lot of those calculations for the pilot. All of these things have led to the F-35 being selected and being what would be necessary against adversary fifth-generation threats.

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

Thank you so much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Thank you.

Ms. Sherry Romanado, you have up to five minutes.

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Through you, I'd like to thank the witnesses for being here today.

I want to start with Mr. O'Rourke. Could we talk a bit about the integration of the Coast Guard into the Department of National Defence and what that capability does to enhance our maritime awareness with respect to NORAD? Could you elaborate a bit on that and the integration of the Coast Guard?

[Neil O'Rourke, Director General, Fleet and Maritime Services, Canadian Coast Guard]

Thank you for the question.

There are really two big changes. There's the integration, obviously, of the Coast Guard moving over to National Defence, but there's also Bill C-12 and what's being proposed in the language with regard to the Canadian Coast Guard taking on an evolved role in maritime security. After Bill C-12's royal assent, should it get there, essentially we will be able to take safety information and legally share it with security, intelligence and defence partners to help with security and defence, including in the NORAD modernization.

To talk a bit about the integration itself, obviously we are part of the defence team now. There are a lot of different reasons we see this as a good fit. It's everything from Arctic operations to infrastructure to increased interoperability. I'll quickly highlight a couple of very specific examples of things we've already done.

As an example, in working with the air force, they have done crew changes for us. We typically, every four weeks, have to fly our crew to a location and bring the crew home. This is typically done through commercial airlines. Increasingly, it's becoming challenging to find availability, so the air force has already helped us out in this regard. That's a real change just in the last couple of weeks.

There's a lot of work around R and D and getting prepared for the possible eventuality of Bill C-12 receiving royal assent. We're looking at increasing sensor capabilities on our ships. Being able to leverage the work that DRDC and CAF have done and are doing is very beneficial.

For the last one, I'll talk about the exchange of expertise. The Canadian Coast Guard has world-leading expertise in operating in ice. That's something we are sharing with our RCN and CAF partners. As an example, we've already had RCN folks come to our Coast Guard Academy to take some of our ice navigator courses.

In the coming weeks, we'll be joining some of our CAF and RCN members with the Chilean navy. They'll be sailing to Antarctica. Two of our commanding officers with significant ice experience will be along to help coach and mentor both RCN captains and members of the Chilean navy.

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

I want to thank you for explaining clearly that right now the Coast Guard cannot provide security information to our allies without the change in regulation in the Oceans Act. Is that correct?

[Neil O'Rourke]

Yes, that's correct.

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

Thank you.

My next question is for Mr. Quinn. I'd be remiss if I didn't ask the question that I think a lot of Canadians are curious about.

Can you talk a bit about the situation with Greenland and why it's important that Canada stay firm with our partners on the defence of North America in the NORAD context? Could you elaborate about what is going on right now?

[Jonathan Quinn]

Absolutely. Thank you very much for the question.

First and foremost, as the Prime Minister has said, Canada supports “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Denmark, including Greenland, which must be respected in accordance with international law.” We'll continue to work with Denmark, Greenland and the United States, as we've been talking about today, to fulfill our shared responsibility for defence and security in the Arctic.

In terms of the notional framework arrangement that was discussed by President Trump and the NATO Secretary General on the margins of Davos, lots of details are still being worked out on that, including with all of the stakeholders involved. I think Canada would be supportive. One of the reported pillars of that arrangement would be the launch of a new NATO exercise operation in the Arctic, which Canada is supportive of. As one of the seven Arctic states that are also members of NATO, we would certainly expect to play an active role in the planning of that operation should it come to fruition.

We really agree with all of our allies that the Arctic is changing rapidly and that there are, as we've been talking about today, rapidly evolving threats to Canadian and allied interests in the region. All Arctic states need to work together and through NATO to secure the region and make sure our interests are advanced.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Thank you, Mr. Quinn and Ms. Romanado.

Mr. Kibble, we are running out of time. You may have a minute or so if you want to ask a few questions.