Government Operations committee  That's fine, Mr. Chair. Regarding National Defence, we have provided all the documents we had in both official languages. We had them translated by Public Services and Procurement Canada, so I expect they were translated correctly. We have reviewed the redacted documents again to give the committee greater transparency.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. No direction was provided to me from the political side.

National Defence committee  There are indeed discussions. I'll turn to the chief, because he's an army guy who can probably give you a better answer than I could.

National Defence committee  I have a couple of points here, Mr. Chair. Number one, just to build on the chief's answer, NATO leadership recognizes the need to maintain a technological advantage; hence, the DIANA initiative. There is a European headquarters to this in London, U.K., and in Estonia. The North American headquarters will be in Halifax—although that still has to be officially blessed through NATO governance.

National Defence committee  I think I'll pass that one to Mr. Crosby.

National Defence committee  We're in contact with our allies and industry on ammunition, because the 155 millimetre is a hot commodity these days. With our allies we are working together to try to figure out the best way to maximize industry capability there.

National Defence committee  There are different variants there. I see the chief and Mr. Crosby both want to jump in. Go ahead, Chief.

National Defence committee  Canadian industry can, with some investment. You can view—

National Defence committee  You can view investment as long-term contracts or direct investment. Those discussions are under way. We would like them to produce that ammunition, and we would like them to produce it quickly. Time is not our friend on this one. I think the other one I would flag for you, Mr.

National Defence committee  The money referenced in the budget was a catch-up adjustment because of the capital cost of those things that were donated. In terms of how to best ensure that the tank fleet is maintained, really interesting discussions are happening with the manufacturers on spare parts. Spare parts and an ability to access those is a real challenge, both for the tanks that we own and also for the ones donated to Ukraine.

National Defence committee  When we decide to update a policy, we have discussions with the central agencies, of course, but we also provide data, which is even more important. We did a lot of economic modelling to account for each option, and we worked with our counterparts at the Treasury Board Secretariat to identify the best model to implement.

National Defence committee  There are a couple of things here. Number one, the deal is pretty fresh, Mr. Chair, so we will certainly engage with the centre in terms of expectations on honouring the commitments that were made as part of that deal. Contracting out, outsourcing, is always a hot topic when we meet with our union leadership.

National Defence committee  The department as a whole?

National Defence committee  No. Mr. Chair, the main estimates, generally speaking, year over year, as you've seen...a 2% increase.... We've talked about some of the challenges in terms of getting dollars out the door and moving projects along with our partners in industry at the pace we would like. However, do I have concern with the main estimates right now?

National Defence committee  I think there are two things. We should turn to our colleagues from CSE, as they are the true experts here; but, yes, defence has a cyber capability, and protecting our assets and communications in an increasingly complex world is part of the core job. There's lots of research going on in this area, as well.