Regarding "Expeditionary Ships", todays Ottawa Citizen:
Canada needs warship to fulfil top general's dream
Hillier hopes to create 'Task Force Maple Leaf' for humanitarian missions or all-out wars
Chris Wattie
National Post
February 14, 2005
TORONTO - Canada's top general says he needs a big amphibious expeditionary warship to realize his plans for a Canadian task force to take our navy, army and air force anywhere in the world for everything from humanitarian missions to all-out wars.
Gen. Rick Hillier outlined his ambitious plan for the Canadian Forces in an interview with the National Post yesterday, a plan that will require a top-to-bottom reorganization of all three services and an infusion of new soldiers and equipment.
"We're talking about taking army task forces, navy task groups and air capability ... and have it ready to deploy either in Canada, or around the world, as an entity that says 'Canadian' on it -- a Task Force Maple Leaf, if you will," Gen. Hillier said, adding with a smile: "I like that name."
Gen. Hillier, who was sworn in as chief of defence staff less than two weeks ago, said he'll need a big, new vessel to carry up to 1,500 troops, heavy equipment and new air force heavy-lift helicopters to international hotspots, and he will need it soon.
"What we're going to clearly need is the ability to project our men and women and the capabilities that they bring with them around the world," said Gen. Hillier. "We'll have to find something different that allows us to do that. We're still looking, the whole options are out there."
The general said his staff is considering expanding the navy's Joint Support Ship program to fill that role, but is also looking at larger and more expensive vessels to become the flagships of a future Canadian expeditionary force.
"What we need is something that is going to allow us to project power across the shore, from here to our next theatre of operations, whether that's in the north part of Canada, or on the coast of Canada, or around the world," he said.
"Whether our Joint Support Ships can be shaped to give us that capability is the first question we will ask."
The Joint Support Ship program, a $2.1-billion plan to build three or more vessels by 2011, will combine the roles of a tanker for refuelling other warships at sea, a transport for ground troops and their equipment and an offshore command post, or hospital.
But each of the vessels, which are still on the drawing boards, will be able to carry only 200 soldiers and a limited amount of equipment. Their flight decks would be able to accommodate only four medium-sized helicopters.
So Gen. Hillier said Canada may have to acquire a ship like the Royal Navy's HMS Albion, an 18,500-tonne, 176-metre-long amphibious assault ship that can carry up to 700 Royal Marines, their equipment and armoured vehicles.
Gen. Hillier wouldn't say how much money his over-burdened troops will need from this month's federal budget to begin making his planned expeditionary force a reality, but in his first speech as head of the Canadian Forces last week he was pointedly critical of military underfunding.
He acknowledged his plans are "a little bit pre-emptive" of the government's defence policy review, expected to be unveiled this spring to outline the future direction of the military.
But he doesn't want to wait before acting and intends to start putting his proposed task force together almost immediately.
"We'll build one task force as soon as we possibly can," he said. "I want to get there sooner rather than later, I'll tell you that."
Gen. Hillier admitted the Canadian Forces' top generals have "a lot of work to do" before his expeditionary force becomes a reality and said the details of his plan have yet to be fleshed out. "I have a vision of where we need to go here, but to be able to describe it in specific detail, I'm not quite ready to do that yet," he said.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2005
