National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, members of the committee, let me first thank you for giving me the opportunity to join you to discuss NORAD in the context of the developments in North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capabilities and the readiness of the Canadian Armed Forces. I wou

National Defence committee  With respect to the NORAD requirements, 65 is adequate, as NORAD only uses some of the 65. I am satisfied that the numbers required for NORAD—and, again, those numbers are found in plans that we have—and the need for NORAD mission requirements are addressed adequately. When we t

National Defence committee  I am not following that project, so I can't comment.

National Defence committee  I would have to come back to you with the specifics and numbers. I don't have them available now, but I will take note of it, sir, and will make sure that you get the information. With respect to the FOLs, they are part of our NORAD configuration to counter a threat in the north

National Defence committee  Of course.

National Defence committee  I think the precise answer would be better delivered by General Hood who has the control and the full visibility on that, but I think it's about the same time. That is a good thing in the sense that to replace our Airbus, for example, we first need to know what the next fighter i

National Defence committee  We have two strategic air-to-air refuellers on standby at all times. They're located in the United States, both on the west coast and the east coast. They are provided for us to use whenever we need them, especially when we have to travel long distances to go north and intercept

National Defence committee  Yes, sir.

National Defence committee  We do, but not frequently. When we host U.S. fighters, they are NORAD-apportioned U.S. fighters, and we'll do it in the context of a NORAD exercise for FOLs.

National Defence committee  They would be for that aircraft, and for that matter there would be some security requirements that we would have to abide by for any aircraft of that generation that would follow the F-18. I'm not sure that we would have mandatory infrastructure costs related to the aircraft, bu

National Defence committee  We are married to mandatory mission requirements. So what's important for us—and I understand the debate—is that for the NORAD part of the mission requirements, we need an aircraft that has advanced sensors to detect, track, and support the engagements of advanced threats. We nee

National Defence committee  In terms of NORAD?

National Defence committee  We are talking about the number of planes, of radar equipment?

National Defence committee  There's no commander in the world that's satisfied with all the resources he has. That's all I can say. We mitigate as much as we can. We make plans. We do not ask ourselves that question.

National Defence committee  This goes to the binationality of the command. Canadians are integrated into the command decisions with respect to the execution of the NORAD mission. Whether it's in Alaska, in Canada, or the United States, there is a Canadian general officer who is a part of the command, if he