Defence policy calls for more equipment

[404SqnAVSTeach]

That almost look like a new Defence Paper

A major new defence policy statement promises to double the military's overseas capabilities and makes broad commitments to new equipment, including destroyers and troop-carrying ships

February's federal budget had also set aside money for trucks, medium-lift helicopters and Arctic airplanes, while new mobile gun systems are also on the way

http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=870e9133-e17f-4fca-9387-da087a7c2e6d

 

[Sub_Guy]

This can work with the right planning, my lingering fear is that the sub programme will be tossed like a bad salad...........  We could look at picking up some of the San Antonio Class as I hear that there is a surplus of the ships from the yanks.  And for fleet replenishment we could go with something like the amsterdam, which has half the crew of the Protecteur class.  I just hope that getting the fleet up and running doesn't take as long to complete as the frigate program which took way too long. 

 

[McG]

Some very optimistic goals on sustainable deployment sizes.

 

[Sheerin]

Why only question is what will happen once the minority government falls?  When that happens I can see three possiblities.  Everything stays the same (ie: liberal minority), the liberals regain their majority, and the conservatives win a majority. 

so what happens?  And is it in the CFs best interest for the Martin minority to remain in power?

 

[Allen]

The Liberals won't be regaining a majority anytime soon.

If the election happens within a few months as everyone expects, the result will be another minority - Conservative or Liberal.

Either way, the gov't will be able to live with this new defence policy. If a Cons. gov't, there may be some minor revisions.

The less NDP influence on the new gov't, the better for the CF.

Not an ideal climate in which to release a policy paper, but given that we may have minority governments for years to come, they realize they have to go ahead & issue it - they can't hold off forever.

 

[jmacleod]

The Liberal Minority government is planning an election, have been since November 2004. Their
strategy is based on continuing analysis of constituencies in Atlantic Canada and Ontario. Only
two Liberal seats are vulnerable in the Atlantic region, Dartmouth HRM NS and Saint John NB.
The 416-905 area of Ontario will vote Liberal, most MP's will be returned. Some more Liberal
seats will vanish in Quebec, and Western Canada will remain out of the loop, except in BC
where the Liberals are playing the Santa Claus game - NDP is irrelevant in the planned national
election. My personal opinion is that the Martin government have no real interest in "Defence
Policy" and will delay and procrastinate any major equipment committment. It is no accident
that DND leaks have focused on the process of buying defence equipment - took PW&GS
Canada twenty years to buy a truck - (the MHP has been on going for nearly twenty years)
- the answer of course is a change in Government. A cynical observation, you bet. MacLeod

 

[aesop081]

The part about " 3 tiers of readiness" sounds an awfull like ATOF !!  Wonder if its gonna perform just as well.