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Navy may hire private firms to do patrols
By The Canadian Press
Ottawa - Canada's navy is looking at hiring private companies to conduct air sovereignty patrols along the east and west coasts due to budget cuts and equipment shortages, the Ottawa Citizen reported Saturday.
The air force usually provides the navy with a number of Aurora surveillance planes to conduct such missions, but it has had to cut back on the number of flying hours because of a lack of money and aircraft.
"Notwithstanding excellent working relations with the Air Force, maritime air support is dwindling," the navy concluded in its Maritime Command Impact Assessment for 2003, which was obtained by the Citizen.
A variety of options are being looked at, including having the navy hire a private firm to provide planes for coastal patrols. Such missions are used to keep tabs on ships in Canada's waters as well as environmental problems offshore.
"There's no doubt the reduction in the flying hours has caused us some challenge with producing our recognized maritime picture and we have to explore all options," said navy Capt. Dave Gardam, director of maritime policy, operations and readiness.
On the east coast, the navy has an arrangement with the Department of Fisheries to obtain surveillance information from aircraft conducting fisheries patrols.
Those planes are provided by private firms on contract to the Fisheries department. One of the options being looked at by the navy includes expanding that arrangement.
In the past decade, the navy has seen a 54-per-cent reduction in the number of Aurora flying hours allocated to support its efforts.
This year, the air force is providing 700 hours of Aurora flying time for the navy on each coast. It can increase those hours if there is an emergency or major incident.
Air force officials say part of the problem is that the Aurora fleet is being modernized and to do that as many as five of the planes are withdrawn from the flight line for the upgrade.
In addition, regular maintenance also takes some of the other planes out of service.
In total, the air force operates 18 Auroras and three other similar patrol planes.
Money problems have also limited the amount of spare parts available for the Auroras. As well, flying hours for all of the air force's planes have been reduced for budget reasons.
Contributing Auroras to the war on terror also limited the number of flying hours available for other duties but those planes have since returned from that overseas mission.
Gardam said the navy is also looking at boosting the amount of information it gathers about activities along the country's coasts through a variety of other methods.
Those include the use of a new high-frequency surface wave radar, developed by defence scientists in Ottawa, which can monitor ship movement several hundred kilometres out to sea.
By The Canadian Press
Ottawa - Canada's navy is looking at hiring private companies to conduct air sovereignty patrols along the east and west coasts due to budget cuts and equipment shortages, the Ottawa Citizen reported Saturday.
The air force usually provides the navy with a number of Aurora surveillance planes to conduct such missions, but it has had to cut back on the number of flying hours because of a lack of money and aircraft.
"Notwithstanding excellent working relations with the Air Force, maritime air support is dwindling," the navy concluded in its Maritime Command Impact Assessment for 2003, which was obtained by the Citizen.
A variety of options are being looked at, including having the navy hire a private firm to provide planes for coastal patrols. Such missions are used to keep tabs on ships in Canada's waters as well as environmental problems offshore.
"There's no doubt the reduction in the flying hours has caused us some challenge with producing our recognized maritime picture and we have to explore all options," said navy Capt. Dave Gardam, director of maritime policy, operations and readiness.
On the east coast, the navy has an arrangement with the Department of Fisheries to obtain surveillance information from aircraft conducting fisheries patrols.
Those planes are provided by private firms on contract to the Fisheries department. One of the options being looked at by the navy includes expanding that arrangement.
In the past decade, the navy has seen a 54-per-cent reduction in the number of Aurora flying hours allocated to support its efforts.
This year, the air force is providing 700 hours of Aurora flying time for the navy on each coast. It can increase those hours if there is an emergency or major incident.
Air force officials say part of the problem is that the Aurora fleet is being modernized and to do that as many as five of the planes are withdrawn from the flight line for the upgrade.
In addition, regular maintenance also takes some of the other planes out of service.
In total, the air force operates 18 Auroras and three other similar patrol planes.
Money problems have also limited the amount of spare parts available for the Auroras. As well, flying hours for all of the air force's planes have been reduced for budget reasons.
Contributing Auroras to the war on terror also limited the number of flying hours available for other duties but those planes have since returned from that overseas mission.
Gardam said the navy is also looking at boosting the amount of information it gathers about activities along the country's coasts through a variety of other methods.
Those include the use of a new high-frequency surface wave radar, developed by defence scientists in Ottawa, which can monitor ship movement several hundred kilometres out to sea.
ACK!
Of course, if you hit enough explosive, even a recon Humvee or Bradley (or Abrams) won't do you much good.
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