Canada plans to invest $7.3 billion to upgrade its Far North fighter bases and airstrips to accommodate the Air Force’s new F-35s, it said. the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday following a visit by US President Joe Biden.
It remains to be seen, however, whether the announcement represents the accelerated investment in continental defense that Washington was calling for before the two leaders met in Ottawa this week.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced that the first new Over the Horizon Radar Station (OTHR) on Canadian soil – intended to track low-flying threats such as cruise missiles – will be located in southern Ontario. . It will eventually connect to another future station in the Canadian Far North and to the American radar network that scans the skies for targets at extreme distances.
Last spring, Canada announced that it would invest $38.6 billion over 20 years to modernize the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The newly revealed investment comes from this pot of money.
US officials have privately and publicly pressured Canada to act more quickly in light of increasingly belligerent relations with Russia and China.
“NORAD is the only binational military command in the world, another way our partnership is exceptional,” Biden said in a speech in the House of Commons on Friday.
“It’s an incredible symbol of the trust we have in each other and the trust we have in each other’s abilities. »
WATCH | We will find “no more stable friend than Canada”:
During his address to Parliament, US President Joe Biden said that Canadians “can always count on the United States of America”.
Biden then praised the modernization of NORAD before saying he “looks forward to continuing to work in close partnership with Canada as we address these needs so that our people can continue to rest, knowing that NORAD is on the watch”.
Ahead of the president’s visit, which included a meeting with Trudeau’s cabinet, U.S. officials had signaled they wanted Canadian money earmarked for continental defense to be spent more quickly.
“There are quite a few infrastructure upgrades that need to be done in arctic runways, hangars, etc. said a senior US official, who spoke in the background ahead of Biden’s arrival.
“And our ongoing discussions with Canada, regarding the timing of their investments, are aimed at trying to ensure that the infrastructure investments that are part of Canada’s NORAD modernization announcement will be completed within a time frame that corresponds to when the F-35 aircraft are going to be delivered. »
Most defense spending deadlines unchanged
Defense Minister Anita Anand announced in January that the federal government had signed the final contract to purchase F-35 fighter jets to replace the Air Force’s aging CF-18s.
The final deal for 88 fighter jets – involving the Canadian and US governments and the plane’s manufacturer – will not see its first delivery until 2026 and the first squadrons of F-35s will not be operational until 2029, said senior defense officials at the time.
The Department of National Defense released a briefing document on Friday that included project timelines — many of which stayed close to or the same as earlier informal estimates.
Defense procurement expert Dave Perry, vice president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, reviewed the briefing paper and said the only timeline that has been significantly accelerated is that of the first OTHR radar site in Ontario, which is now expected to start operating by 2028.
He said he wondered if concrete steps would be taken to deliver this project on time and what resources would be invested to move it forward.
“It’s a pretty complicated system, from what I understand,” said Perry, whose organization has hosted conferences that have sometimes been sponsored by major defense contractors. “Without a proportionate plan to reach the target date,” the announcement is just “rhetoric.”
A second Arctic station should not be operational before 2032.
As for upgrades to the two main fighter bases and the purchase of air-to-air refueling aircraft to support the F-35s, those projects aren’t expected to be ready until 2029.
The air force has four airstrips in the north, at Inuvik, Yellowknife, Iqaluit and Goose Bay. Improvements to these tracks are not expected to be completed for 11 years.
“The planning process is underway to ensure that this infrastructure will meet the military requirements of NORAD and the Canadian Armed Forces in general, and we will consider multi-purpose opportunities where possible through engagement with Indigenous governments and partners and the North,” the defense briefing paper said.
Friday also saw no movement on one of the most immediate issues facing Canadian defense officials: the replacement of the rapidly aging government-owned chain of RADARSAT Constellation satellites. The federal auditor general warned last fall that satellites could exceed their useful life by 2026.
Replacements for these satellites – which are used by several government departments, including National Defense – are still under consideration.
The Liberal government promised dedicated military surveillance satellites in its 2017 defense policy. But as Auditor General Karen Hogan noted in her report last November, those systems aren’t expected to launch until 2035.
Hogan said she wanted to see “a contingency plan” from the government.
“North America is vulnerable”
The Defense Department’s briefing document, released on Friday, showed that the satellite replacement schedule has not changed.
Andrea Charron, director of the Center for Defense and Security Studies at the University of Manitoba, predicted ahead of the announcement that OTHR would be the top concern for defense planners.
“It will fill in a number of radar gaps,” said Charron, who recently co-wrote the book with James Ferrguson. NORAD: in perpetuity and beyond, one of the most comprehensive reviews of the binational defense agreement.
She said it’s no surprise that the United States is counting on Canada to increase investment and lead times, given the geopolitical climate.
“I think every president has asked Canada to do more, to spend more, to care more about the defense of North America and expand its capabilities,” Charron said.
“I think the geopolitical conditions are new and unprecedented and North America is vulnerable and we can’t afford to get out of this doing what we’re doing now. »
The vulnerabilities of the North American defense system are quite clear, she said, and “the United States … feels uniquely vulnerable now with not one, but two peer or near-peer adversaries.” We need to make sure that we are not ‘no longer vulnerable. »
