Tight budgets face Canada’s military this year

As they shake off the dust of a decade’s service in Afghanistan, Canada’s fighting forces enter 2013 facing a new reality of budget cuts, restructuring and a continuing dogfight over the next fighter for the air force.

Having eased out of a tough combat mission in Kandahar and into a lower profile role training Afghan troops, the Canadian Forces will be out of the country altogether by the spring of 2014.

With the slower tempo of operations, the federal Conservatives have made it clear they expect savings from the defence department, as much as $1.1 billion a year as part of a governmentwide initiative to reduce the deficit.

“There’s no question there’s a transformation afoot. We’ve seen the end of the combat mission and our transition into a training posture in Afghanistan with an end date of 2014 that is firm and fast,” Defence Minister Peter MacKay said in an interview.

But as the government looks for spending cuts, MacKay vowed, “we’ll do our part.”

On Sunday in Halifax, he suggested to reporters that the government was considering sending troops to Mali to help train an African force whose purpose would be to take on an offshoot of al-Qaida.

“We are not at a point where we would be making an announcement, but, as you know, training is something that the Canadian Forces is particularly adept at doing,” MacKay said.

In an interview, MacKay said the Conservatives spent heavily to re-equip the military, investing some $1 billion a year since taking office in 2006.

“We’re now looking at slower growth to match the slower operational tempo to match available resources. That’s part of this whole restructuring process we are going through,” he said.

Senior commanders have hinted at the new realities. Since 2010, the army’s budget has been cut by 22 per cent, according to Lt.-Gen. Peter Devlin, who heads the army.

“As you would expect, that has had an effect on people, infrastructure and training,” Devlin told a Commons committee this fall, adding that some budgets for training have been cut by almost half.

“We are also training to a lower level than we trained … for combat operations,” Devlin said.

The country’s top general, Tom Lawson, who is chief of defence staff, has already pointedly warned “there is very little fat.”

But MacKay is confident there are administrative areas that can be squeezed as Prime Minister Stephen Harper pushes for a cost-cutting restructuring of the forces.

“We’re putting more emphasis on that front-end and front-line capability. The performance of our soldiers is our priority. The administrative support is an area we have identified as an area where savings can be implemented,” he said.

For example, three separate military commands were folded into one, with 25 per cent fewer staff — about 130 fewer people — in the new command, known as the Canadian Joint Operations Command.

But as the military looks to retrench and regroup, MacKay notes that unpredictable events such as Libya in 2011, where Canada joined other NATO nations in aiding pro-democracy forces, as well as the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, where the military provided humanitarian assistance, reinforce the need to be ready to respond.

He also notes that the Canadian Forces are involved in 15 other missions around the globe, “albeit in some cases in quiet and rather modest contributions.”

In 2013, the military will be looking to continue to enhance ties with countries in Central and South America and across the Caribbean. MacKay said the Canadian Forces stepped up their presence in the region with training exercises and assistance to local armies.

“We’re really trying to increase our presence there because of the growing threat and growing violence in narcotrafficking,” MacKay said.

That was driven home in November when the frigate HMCS Ottawa helped the U.S. Coast Guard seize 1,086 kilograms of cocaine worth an estimated $29 million US from a fishing vessel off the coast of Costa Rica. Meanwhile, Canadian crews flying the CP-140 Aurora surveillance aircraft in the region last month helped seize another 4,300 kilograms with an estimated wholesale value of more than $116 million.

MacKay is also looking to improve ties with Pacific-rim nations, as Ottawa seeks to bolster trade ties in the region and against a backdrop of rising regional tensions.

“Simply out of realism and necessity, we have to up our game in the Pacific and that is our intent,” MacKay said.

As Canada’s military looks to find savings, it’s also trying to enhance niche capabilities while ensuring others, like its special operations forces — honed by experience in Afghanistan — don’t lapse.

MacKay said Canada’s top-tier JTF2 is recognized as among the best special operations forces regiments around the globe.

“In the volatile world in which we live, that special forces capability is extremely important in your arsenal of national defence and your ability to contribute internationally,” he said.

MacKay also sees a greater role for surveillance through satellite and drones.

Another high priority for 2013 will be protecting the government’s computer networks from hacking attempts.

U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta warned in October of a “cyber-Pearl Harbor,” the possibility of a computer attack on the country’s infrastructure that could derail passenger trains or chemical tankers, contaminate big-city water supplies and take power grids offline.

MacKay said similar fears exist in Canada.

MacKay enters the new year with the tortured selection of a new fighter jet hanging over his head.

The defence minister announced in 2010 that Canada would buy 65 Lockheed Martin F-35s, only to see that decision unravel in the face of sharp criticism from opposition MPs and the auditor general around cost and lack of a competitive process.

In December, the government finally announced it was going back to the drawing board and starting its selection process over again, which promises to play out through 2013.

An audit released at the same time revealed that even the $9 billion earmarked for new jets may not be enough, raising the possibility that the air force may get fewer fighters than planned.


Source: OTTAWA - www.therecord.com – 2 January 2013

Photo: The Royal Canadian Air Force Lockheed Martin F-35 Fighter Aircraft (Photo by Lockheed)


(2.01.2013)