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From the Globe and Mail 14/09/2005
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050914.wgraham0914/BNStory/National/
By STEPHEN THORNE
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Canadian Press
Ottawa - Defence Minister Bill Graham will go to cabinet this fall with proposals to buy new equipment for Canada's military, some of which he hopes to have before he sends combat troops to Afghanistan in February.
"I expect this fall some time to be bringing forward to cabinet a proposition which will enable us to acquire the equipment we need to have, not only for this mission, but for other missions like it," Mr. Graham said Wednesday.
"It's unlikely, given the nature of military procurement, we would be able to acquire anything . . . for next February, although we might be able to acquire isolated pieces of equipment. Major purchases take longer."
Such isolated purchases could include new artillery pieces, which a military spokesman said are still before Treasury Board for approval.
The 1,200 combat troops slated to join U.S.-led operations in southern Afghanistan early next year will rely on the Americans or other coalition countries for resources they don't have, such as helicopter transport.
In fact, Mr. Graham's self-described "aggressive" procurement plan is widely expected to be heavy on the transport element - trucks, planes, helicopters, and possibly even ships to transport and maintain troops and equipment.
The government has already committed to spending about $600-million on 66 mobile gun systems - armoured vehicles with 105-mm cannons on top, known as Strykers in the United States. Mr. Graham's plan to go to cabinet comes as a result of the February budget's promise of a $12.8-billion increase in defence spending over five years and April's defence policy statement, which charted the military's new course.
The increases to the $13.5-billion defence budget amount to only $500-million this year and $600-million next year - housekeeping money.
But Mr. Graham and his chief of defence staff, Gen. Rick Hillier, have said in the past that the budget's carefully laid out defence spending plans are not set in stone and can shift if purchasing needs or opportunities arise.
There are currently 250 Canadian troops in Kandahar running a provincial reconstruction team. Later this fall, they will be shored up with armoured troops who are shutting down Canada's military operations in Kabul.
There are also an undisclosed number of Canadian special forces troops operating out of Kandahar, presumably alongside Americans. A 350-member command centre will also move in after New Year's.
Deputy Prime Minister Ann McLellan, who was in Afghanistan on Wednesday, said Canadian troops will likely be there for years.
The combat troops will be deployed hunting Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents, Mr. Graham confirmed.
"This is a multilateral mission," Mr. Graham said in a teleconference from Berlin, where he is attending a meeting of NATO ministers. "We will have the necessary equipment there so that our troops will be able to do the job.
"But we won't have all the equipment. Heavy helicopters, for example - we don't have any at the moment. They will be furnished either by the Dutch, the British or the Americans, or by other allies.
"Just like in all of our multilateral missions, we don't bring every single element to the party," he added. "Everybody brings different assets."
During the early stages of the war on terror three years ago, Canadian combat troops relied exclusively on U.S. Chinook helicopters to get them in and out of battle zones, as well as to re-supply them.
The arrangement proved unsatisfactory, with the Canucks inevitably shuffled to the bottom of the Americans' overloaded priority lists. On one mission, they began running out of food and water before they were re-supplied.
During NATO operations in Kabul over the past two years, some mountain reconnaissance missions were cancelled or cut short because German helicopters were unavailable.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050914.wgraham0914/BNStory/National/
By STEPHEN THORNE
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Canadian Press
Ottawa - Defence Minister Bill Graham will go to cabinet this fall with proposals to buy new equipment for Canada's military, some of which he hopes to have before he sends combat troops to Afghanistan in February.
"I expect this fall some time to be bringing forward to cabinet a proposition which will enable us to acquire the equipment we need to have, not only for this mission, but for other missions like it," Mr. Graham said Wednesday.
"It's unlikely, given the nature of military procurement, we would be able to acquire anything . . . for next February, although we might be able to acquire isolated pieces of equipment. Major purchases take longer."
Such isolated purchases could include new artillery pieces, which a military spokesman said are still before Treasury Board for approval.
The 1,200 combat troops slated to join U.S.-led operations in southern Afghanistan early next year will rely on the Americans or other coalition countries for resources they don't have, such as helicopter transport.
In fact, Mr. Graham's self-described "aggressive" procurement plan is widely expected to be heavy on the transport element - trucks, planes, helicopters, and possibly even ships to transport and maintain troops and equipment.
The government has already committed to spending about $600-million on 66 mobile gun systems - armoured vehicles with 105-mm cannons on top, known as Strykers in the United States. Mr. Graham's plan to go to cabinet comes as a result of the February budget's promise of a $12.8-billion increase in defence spending over five years and April's defence policy statement, which charted the military's new course.
The increases to the $13.5-billion defence budget amount to only $500-million this year and $600-million next year - housekeeping money.
But Mr. Graham and his chief of defence staff, Gen. Rick Hillier, have said in the past that the budget's carefully laid out defence spending plans are not set in stone and can shift if purchasing needs or opportunities arise.
There are currently 250 Canadian troops in Kandahar running a provincial reconstruction team. Later this fall, they will be shored up with armoured troops who are shutting down Canada's military operations in Kabul.
There are also an undisclosed number of Canadian special forces troops operating out of Kandahar, presumably alongside Americans. A 350-member command centre will also move in after New Year's.
Deputy Prime Minister Ann McLellan, who was in Afghanistan on Wednesday, said Canadian troops will likely be there for years.
The combat troops will be deployed hunting Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents, Mr. Graham confirmed.
"This is a multilateral mission," Mr. Graham said in a teleconference from Berlin, where he is attending a meeting of NATO ministers. "We will have the necessary equipment there so that our troops will be able to do the job.
"But we won't have all the equipment. Heavy helicopters, for example - we don't have any at the moment. They will be furnished either by the Dutch, the British or the Americans, or by other allies.
"Just like in all of our multilateral missions, we don't bring every single element to the party," he added. "Everybody brings different assets."
During the early stages of the war on terror three years ago, Canadian combat troops relied exclusively on U.S. Chinook helicopters to get them in and out of battle zones, as well as to re-supply them.
The arrangement proved unsatisfactory, with the Canucks inevitably shuffled to the bottom of the Americans' overloaded priority lists. On one mission, they began running out of food and water before they were re-supplied.
During NATO operations in Kabul over the past two years, some mountain reconnaissance missions were cancelled or cut short because German helicopters were unavailable.
