Yearly Archives: 2012

48 posts

Irving Shipbuilding parts ways with Steve Durrell

A very brief and terse news article from CBC News has revealed that President Steve Durrell has left Irving Shipbuilding.  This development is prompting great speculation about the internal stresses […]

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The Oceans: Our New ‘Wild West’

[Moderator’s Note:  This article was published previously in the Halifax ChronicleHerald. It is reprinted here with the permission of the author.] Vice-Admiral Dean McFadden, retired commander of the Royal Canadian […]

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Expeditionary Operations: Is Syria next?

Word is reaching me that two Canadian infantry battalions, 3rd Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry Regiment and 3rd Royal Canadian Regiment, have received ‘warning orders’ to prepare for operations and possible […]

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Lawson not a guarantee for F-35 selection

After the initial flurry of comments following the appointment of Lieutenant-General Thomas Lawson as Chief of Defence Staff, some more measured observations about the duties and responsibilities of the position […]

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Canadian Forces preparing for uncertain future*

*Moderator’s Note: This article originally appeared in the Halifax Chronicle Herald on 07 January 2012.  It is reprinted here with the permission of the author. There are Canadians who delight […]

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Who do we believe?

There is an article in the press that suggest completely different views on when the first operational H-92 ‘Cyclone’ helicopter (CH-148 in Canadian military terms) will be delivered to the […]

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“Canadian Drones” by Denis Stairs*

*Moderator’s Note: This article appeared originally under the same title in The Ottawa Citizen on 17 May 2012. It is reprinted here with the kind permission of both the author, The Ottawa […]

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Naval Transformation Announcement*

* Moderator’s Note: This message was sent out last week by email to all naval addresses in conjunction with the announcement of major changes to the national-level CF headquarters structure. […]

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What could one 10,000-ton ship carry?

After my recent posts describing the SC and HX eastbound convoy systems, I received an email that said, in effect, “What was the big deal about loosing one ship out […]

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Whither the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship?

Lee Berthiaume’s Postmedia News article on 8 May, entitled “Armed Arctic vessels face delay in latest procurement setback,” reports a further three-year delay in procurement of these ships. If true […]

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The ‘HX’ Convoy System

After my post describing the ‘slow’ SC convoys, I received many requests for information about the other series of east-bound convoys, the ‘fast’ HX series, which many Canadian warships escorted […]

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MSOCs – Guardians of the world’s gateways*

* Moderator’s Note: This article was originally published in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald on 03 December 2011. It is reprinted here with the permission of the author. Eight of Canada’s provinces […]

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