Though the Canadian military is seeking a billion dollars in cost savings of its own, it is committed to buying the equipment it needs to remain relevant and interoperable with the U.S. military, Gen. Tom Lawson, chief of the defence staff for the Canadian Armed Forces, told an audience yesterday at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event on the two countries’ relationship.
Much like the United States is now doing, the Canadian government went through a strategic review several years ago and chose to reduce its budget by 10 to 15 percent, Lawson said, adding that “one of the first tasks I got from the prime minister upon taking this position was the direction to maintain everyone in the numbers that I have in the regular force and reserve forces, all of the capacities and capabilities we have now, but find a billion dollars–that’s about 5 to 7 percent of our entire budget–and take out of the backrooms, the administrative processes to reinvest in the operational part of the forces.”
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| Photo: Gen. Tom Lawson, chief of defence staff for the Canadian Armed Forces |
Lawson said the Canadian Armed Forces has identified several hundred million dollars in savings over a couple years and is working to identify the remainder of the cuts, but he noted that the government has been clear in its support of purchasing military vehicles as outlined in the 2008 Canada First Defence Strategy.
“This includes a replacement for fighter aircraft, it includes a replacement of several vehicle fleets for the Army, and it includes a series of ships–including arctic offshore patrol ships, joint support ships and a new combat surface combatant,” Lawson said.
Lawson, who prior to his current position served as deputy commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), said there are also several acquisition opportunities Canada would like to pursue to advance its and NORAD’s early warning capabilities. The Distant Early Warning line–that area which a system of radars monitors for incoming weapons or aircraft–doesn’t cover all of Canada, he said, “so the back few bedrooms of our house really are unalarmed by the alarm system we’ve got in place right now.”
Lawson said that unmanned aerial vehicles could be a good solution to covering the area north of the DEW line, because it is difficult for people to access and inhospitable to ground infrastructure, but “the unfortunate thing about it is you quickly run into communication problems as soon as you get above 60 degrees north, 65 degrees north, and can no longer see the satellites that are in geostationary orbit over the equator,” he said. “Therefore what you need, really, when you talk about infrastructure, is less about towers on the ground or buildings on the ground and more about the constellation of satellites that provide you this communication link.”
He said tethered aerostats could be an alternative to UAVs with satellite communication.
“It’s of great interest to us, and I think likely we will find a mixture of manned aircraft and unmanned vehicles and tethered vehicles to provide us that capability,” he said.