:
Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members of Parliament.
Thanks very much for the honour of appearing here today. It is my pleasure to discuss the North American Aerospace Defence Command, and Canada's contribution to the defence of North America in cooperation with the United States.
Our NORAD mission, in simple terms, is to watch the skies above our continent, and be ready to quickly and effectively respond to imminent security threats. NORAD is a binational Canada-U.S. command that continuously provides detection, validation, and warning of air-breathing threats to our continent, and appropriate aerospace defence measures to respond to hostile actions against North America. As part of our NORAD envelope of responsibilities, your Royal Canadian Air Force maintains the highest readiness levels of any command within the Canadian Armed Forces; therefore, RCAF readiness is fundamental to NORAD readiness.
As we speak, some 430 servicemen and women from the Canadian Armed Forces and the U.S. Air Force monitor the aerospace approaches to Canadian territory, identify all tracks in and around Canadian airspace, and stand ready to intercept and control aircraft that may be of concern to Canadian and North American security. Based at the operational headquarters for the Royal Canadian Air Force in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Canadian NORAD region, or CANR, is one of the three NORAD regions. The other two regional headquarters are located at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, and Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida.
Since the terrorist attacks of 2001, CANR has been heavily committed to Operation Noble Eagle, NORAD's ongoing internal air defence mission. As part of Operation Noble Eagle, we monitor all domestic air traffic and respond to virtually any airborne threat that may put Canadians in harm's way. As commander of 1 Canadian Air Division, I am responsible for providing CANR with combat-ready air forces to meet Canada's commitment to the defence of North America and maintaining the sovereignty of our continent's airspace.
Our posture is scalable depending on threat levels. In peacetime, most of our people are located in Winnipeg, where the air division headquarters is situated; at 22 Wing North Bay, where the Canadian air defence sector headquarters is located; and our two fighter force wings in Bagotville, Quebec, and Cold Lake, Alberta. Our country's vastness requires our two fighter wings to additionally rely on deployed operating bases and forward operating locations scattered across the country, including the north. These auxiliary locations extend the reach of our fighters by providing forward areas for basing, refuelling, and maintenance. To ensure our forward operating locations are capable and ready, we routinely conduct exercises and operate out of them. One such example was Operation Spring Forward in April 2014, which was the largest deployment to our forward operating locations since the end of the Cold War. This exercise involved Canadian and Alaskan NORAD assets working in coordination to enhance our interoperability.
Over and above our infrastructure requirements, which include our network of radars, our CF-18 Hornets also rely on support from NORAD air-to-air tankers during extended missions. Tankers and their associated crews and squadrons, of course, encompass several additional infrastructure staffing and logistical requirements, which are essential to NORAD operations.
NORAD is far more than a close working relationship between the U.S. and Canada. Rather, it is a full-fledged binational command, and arguably the world's most intimate military arrangement between two allies. It's effectively nurtured by professionals from the Canadian and U.S. militaries working in lockstep at our respective headquarters 24 hours a day and 365 days a year to help keep our two countries safe from potential threats.
As you may know, USAF personnel within Canada serve under my command. If you've been to our headquarters in Winnipeg, you know that beside my office is the office of the USAF general who serves as my deputy commander for operations. By virtue of the NORAD agreement, Brigadier-General Hyde is an integral part of the RCAF force employment planning and execution. In much the same way, our Canadian general serves as a deputy commander of the NORAD headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs.
A well-known illustration of how our integration works is that on 9/11, it was none other than the Canadian general in Colorado Springs, working as the duty commander, who orchestrated the scramble of U.S. Air Force jets in response to that crisis. Lieutenant-General Ken Pennie held command over U.S. personnel and assets in the same way the USAF general in Winnipeg commands our personnel when he is on duty.
As part of our interoperability, we regularly exchange NORAD-related intelligence and resources as well. This allows our two countries to share the burden of responding to emerging airborne threats, depending on the availability of resources on both sides of the border.
Examples of our reciprocity include when two Canadian-based CF-18 fighters intercepted and visually identified two Russian Bear long-range bombers flying in international airspace north of Alaska, or when two U.S. F-15s out of Portland, Oregon, responded to an air emergency near Vancouver in 2012.
Most recently, U.S. Air Force personnel and aircraft deployed to 5 Wing Goose Bay in Labrador for Exercise Vigilant Shield, where together we practised a variety of defence scenarios.
Our enduring alliance with the U.S. is something my colleagues and I actively practise on a daily basis. Canadians who believe international cooperation brings peace and stability can regard NORAD with pride. But pride in our alliance demands also a measure of vigilance. The global security landscape continues to evolve rapidly, which is why NORAD's force posture is now routinely reviewed. Our force posture must have the capability to engage a variety of symmetric and asymmetric threats.
Symmetric, or state-sponsored threats, are considered the most dangerous. In terms of conventional aerospace warning and control missions that are relevant to my command, the potential threat would be in the form of foreign, long-range aviation and/or bomber fleets.
Given the current geopolitical climate, the probability of a military aviation attack is actually low. Capabilities exist to cause us harm, but there is currently no known intent. In a situation where hostile intent is a reality, this would constitute a threat where strategic warning is measured in minutes to hours, and our ability to react is limited to what we have at hand. This explains the requirement to maintain very high readiness levels, even in peacetime. It also explains why NORAD continuously tracks and responds to numerous aircraft of interest close to the airspaces of Canada and the United States.
Asymmetric threats, in the context of NORAD, are those posed by such activities as terrorist organizations' use of an aircraft. The September 11 attack is of course the most tragic example of this, and these threats remain a valid concern with serious security consequences. As a result, we must be ready for scenarios involving aircraft being used to bring harm to populated areas.
That's why regular operations, such as Operation Noble Eagle, are ongoing exercises to ensure we remain trained and capable to accomplish our mission. Since the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, when our nations began to place greater emphasis on surveillance and control of Canada and the U.S., NORAD has responded to more than 3,500 possible air threats and intercepted more than 1,400 aircraft in Canada and the United States.
This serves as a fine example of the crucial partnerships we have nurtured with organizations including federal aviation and law enforcement agencies in both of our countries. NORAD's legacy for the past 56 years has been underpinned by unwavering dedication and determination by our professionals. You can expect nothing less from our men and women in the years ahead.
With our collective vigilance, we can ensure the skies above every community across our vast nation remain secure.
Thank you very much.
I look forward to responding to your questions.
:
Mr. Chair and honourable members of Parliament, thank you for the honour of appearing here today.
As the commander of the Canadian Forces Base Bagotville and 3 Wing, I would like to provide you with an overview of the work my team does every day as part of the NORAD mission.
Canadian Forces Base Bagotville is strategically located near the city of Saguenay, Quebec. From our facilities we are able to cover all of northeastern North America and rapidly respond to all threats to our security as described earlier by Major-General Wheeler. To achieve this, 3 Wing depends on a group of experienced, well-trained pilots and technicians who are on standby 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our operations centre is in consistent contact with different North American surveillance locations and Canadian NORAD region command to respond rapidly in case of an alert. We can thus deploy CF-18 fighters where they are needed and even up to the northern borders of our country thanks to the in-flight refuelling capability of the Royal Canadian Air Force and our American allies.
The NORAD mission is 3 Wing's priority. I would even go as far as to say it's our reason for being. As needed, we can dedicate all of our resources to protecting Canadian territory. For example, following the events of September 11, 2001, we placed all of our CF-18 fighters and personnel on alert and deployed them to three strategic locations to increase the country's level of protection as ordered by Canadian NORAD region command.
At all times 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron's role is to train pilots for NORAD missions and to ensure that our fleet of fighters is ready to meet Canada's needs.
And 12 Radar Squadron is also an important part of the North American line of defence. Normally the squadron's radar is one of the many components used for surveillance of the territory. When there is an alert or major event, 12 Radar Squadron can be rapidly deployed. This was the case during the Montebello summit in 2007 and in 2010 during the Vancouver Olympics and the G-8 summit in Toronto. During all of these events we provided security through surveillance of restricted airspace thanks to a high level of preparation and continual training of the members of 12 Radar Squadron. If needed as well, 12 Radar Squadron can also temporarily replace damaged or unusable NORAD radars.
In order to carry out its role safely, 3 Wing also counts on 439 Combat Support Squadron, a helicopter squadron dedicated to search and rescue missions. Its primary role is to support our fighter pilots in case of problems but the squadron members are often called in to help civilian authorities with search and rescue missions right across eastern Canada. Of course, the work of the three squadrons is supported on an ongoing basis by an extremely dedicated team of over 1800 military members and civilians at 3 Wing committed to our primary mission, which is NORAD.
For over 70 years, 3 Wing Bagotville has made it its duty to maintain a high level of operational readiness thanks to a continual preparation of its personnel and equipment. The transformation of a once symmetric threat into an increasingly asymmetric one represents a significant challenge in terms of defence. The emergence of threats inside the very territory protected by NORAD forces us to consistently change how we do things. We are therefore always vigilant, doing everything required to adapt to this new reality.
I think it is appropriate for me to conclude my statement with the Latin motto of 3 Wing, the mantra by which every member of 3 Wing lives every day, which is agmen primum libertatis, at the vanguard of liberty.
Thank you very much for your attention. I'm looking forward to answering any questions you might have.
Obviously under the Canada First defence strategy, NORAD is one of our main missions. It's a no-fail mission for us and we are but one of the sectors. So we join with CONR down in the continental United States NORAD region and ANR, the Alaskan NORAD region, to survey it, put out surveillance, and obviously ensure that no enemies or suspect aircraft fly within Canadian airspace. We provide sovereignty to Canadian airspace.
To do that, we in Canada have what's called CADS, the Canadian air defence sector, which uses certainly the north warning system plus also all of the systems that come from Nav Canada and Transport Canada in concert to give them an integrated air picture. That air picture is then shared with our friends in the other sectors and it comes together to give us a full overall North American picture.
With that, we're pretty well capped. We have a good understanding and situational awareness of the airspace throughout Canada and down in the United States, and we can respond to any abnormal situation with our fighter aircraft.
Does that answer your question, sir?
:
Absolutely. I would suggest that it's not necessarily the state of readiness of the aircraft, but the state of readiness of the capability that uses the aircraft. It's a combination of personnel, aircraft, and other resources that puts together that capability.
Obviously, with the addition of the C-17—we never really did have a strategic air mobility aircraft before, and the old Hercs used to do that role—this has been a great investment and certainly supported our operations throughout the world, whether it be humanitarian assistance or support to our troops conducting operations in Kuwait. It's been very beneficial. The C-130Js, which are more of a tactical airlifter, have allowed us to do the work within the more confined spaces and not be committed to those strategic types of missions. Therefore, we now have a more complete and more flexible platform, with both aircraft very serviceable, doing what we need them to do.
With regard to the CF-18, we bought that aircraft in 1982, so it's not what you'd call a new aircraft. It's more like a K-car that's been converted. We've certainly added a lot of capability to it. When we bought it, it was top of the line. Obviously, over the years it tended to not necessarily follow technology. When we added that mid-life upgrade, it brought that aircraft back into comparison with the rest of the front-line aircraft, interoperable with our main allies and certainly extremely capable. We're very happy with that.
Of course, at the end of the day, like any other machine, it will need to be replaced, but right now, we're very comfortable with where we sit with the capabilities that the Hornet provides.
:
What's important to understand is that, while we often think of Bagotville for its 27 F-18s and 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron, which is the F-18 squadron, really we have a huge area of units, subunits, and divisions that support that. In fact, we have close to 1,700 folks supporting 27 F-18s, and just more than 30 pilots who are combat-ready for the mission. Really, we have an operational division, a logistics division, and an admin division.
We did talk briefly about 12 Radar Squadron and 439 Combat Support Squadron, as I alluded to in my comments at the beginning. We have the 3 Air Maintenance Squadron, which is in charge of all the maintenance of the CF-18s. We have 414 Electronic Warfare Support Squadron, which is a unit that is there to help train our fighter pilots in a challenging electronic warfare environment. We have the 10 FTTS, the Fighter Technical Training Squadron detachment, that trains our armourers and all the technical trades to better support the CF-18 fleet.
Obviously we have a reserves flight that takes care of our reservists who support all the divisions and units I just mentioned. We have one dental unit detachment at a hospital, a military police detachment, and a comptroller section, to name only a few. Aside from that, obviously from a support perspective I have the personnel support program, the Military Family Resource Centre, the deployment support centre, etc., and I could go on and on.
It's a huge business for everybody, though. Here in Bagotville the primary mission for 3 Wing is NORAD first. All these folks understand the key role they play to support the NORAD mission, which is really a priority here at 3 Wing.
:
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and through you first to Colonel Ménard, I can't allow the air force to have the upper hand with Latin, so
non nobis sed patriae, not for ourselves but for our country, which was my regimental motto.
I take some exception to what Ms. Murray said, in terms of characterizing certain things as cartoons. I served from 1978 to 2011 and lived through the decade of darkness. I had bad equipment, went from private to lieutenant-colonel, was driving the equipment, maintaining the equipment, and General, you're absolutely right: it's equipment and it wears out. We're very robust. The only thing I'm grateful to the Liberals for is that we learned to do a lot with nothing. Even today we're still 26% higher in budget than they ever were.
The Aurora, as you rightly pointed out, is one of the best aircraft going right now, in terms of surveillance and doing the job that it's doing, in the theatre it's in. We're very proud of all that, and the air force has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of our government in terms of the J-class Hercs and of course the C-17 Globemasters. We're very, very happy about a lot of those. And the Chinooks of course, have been an absolute godsend in particular to the infantry. We're very, very proud of the equipment and the record that we had.
But General, you're absolutely right. Things do wear out; they do need to change. We're in a lot of theatres of war, and I know from talking to many of my allies with whom I'm still very close that the name of Canada on the world stage amongst our military allies sits very high and very proud.
I thank you and Colonel Ménard for the work you have done in making sure Canada stays foremost in the minds of our allies. Thank you for that.
General, just given the developing air threats and the current operating environment that we have, what do you see as something that may be most threatening to us in North American airspace?