What's Canada Buying? January 16, 2013

• “The Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Labour and Member of Parliament for Halton, on behalf of the Honourable Bernard Valcourt, Associate Minister of National Defence and Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency) (La Francophonie), (yesterday) announced a significant subcontract that will play an important role in providing the Canadian Army with a new and improved fleet of Light Armoured Vehicles III.  Parker Hannifin Canada of Milton, Ontario, has been awarded this $3.04 million subcontract by General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada in support of the Light Armoured Vehicle III Upgrade Project …. The Light Armoured Vehicle III Upgrade Project, one of four Family of Land Combat Vehicle projects announced by the Government of Canada, will capitalize on existing and evolving technology to improve the protection, mobility and lethality of the Light Armoured Vehicle III fleet.  The project will modernize a portion of the existing fleet to ensure it remains a highly protected, operationally mobile and tactically agile combat vehicle that will remain the backbone of domestic and expeditionary task forces, extending the life span of the Light Armoured Vehicle III to 2035 ….” - more here.
• Drones controlled from planes?  Mark Collins on “New RCAF Chief: Innovative Thinking on Maritime Patrol, Drones“
• F-35 Tug o’ War  Oh dear….  “A report to Congress last week said that Lockheed Martin Corporation failed to meet its test goals for the F-35 even though it had 18 percent more test flights than planned. And the report from the Pentagon’s testing director, Michael Gilmore, says the F-35 still faces problems with the helmets needed to fly the plane, software development and weapons integration.  The 18-page report to Congress detailed the problems and said they demonstrated a “lack of maturity” in the $390 billion program, the Pentagon’s most expensive ever.  The program is a little more than a third of the way through its testing. Lockheed Martin continues to express confidence in the program and touted the successes in 2012 in a press release sent out shortly after the report was released to Congress on Friday ….” - Lock-Mart’s more optimistic take here.
  
• Remember this call for “information on the Sniper Observation & Targeting System“?  Some change in dates for the “Industry Day” – more on the latest bid document amendments here.
• “The Department of National Defence – Canadian Forces School of Search and Rescue (CFSSAR) is seeking a qualified service provider to instruct “Ab-Initio/Basic” and “Advanced” mountaineering rescue and rigging (not confined space/industrial rescue) in support of Search and Rescue Technician (SAR Tech) occupation training ….”
• Wanted:  someone to create digital CF members for ergonomics research  “…. Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), Toronto, ON, has a requirement for Digital Human Modeling (DHM) software that will create a digital avatar in a virtual workspace to perform tasks and ergonomic analyses. The requirement consists of:  Digital Human Model (DHM) software, software support, floating licenses for multiple users, and training.  DRDC has a project to develop a Comprehensive Ergonomics-based Tools and Techniques (CETTs) that support clothing, equipment, and workspace design and acquisition for the Canadian Forces.  CETTs will provide the required capabilities to answer ergonomics-based questions that involve operators in constrained and unconstrained environments performing static, quasi-static, and dynamic tasks and movements such as Griffon Helicopter crew and neck pain issues, Leopard 2 tank driver accommodation and survivability, and the development of Joint Supply Ship launch and recovery boat design criteria. Some of these questions can only be answered in a virtual world using digital humans performing in virtual environments ….”
  

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