2023-06-07 16:00:00
OTTAWA – Canadian soldiers are deployed close to the Russian front line without adequate helmets, as was the case during the war in Bosnia in the 90s.
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“In 1994, when I landed in Croatia to join the United Nations Protection Force, we had to exchange our helmets with the soldiers coming home… It was on the charter bus that brought us to Bosnia,” recalls Rob Talach, an infantry reservist for 35 years.
Since then, nothing seems to have changed as the soldier shared his experience publicly on LinkedIn in reaction to a CBC report which revealed on Monday that Canadian soldiers deployed in Latvia are buying themselves modern ballistic helmets capable of protecting their ears from extreme noises they face.
They are some 800 members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) deployed in this Baltic country at the moment. They lead a NATO tactical group there whose mission is to protect the eastern front of the alliance, as close as possible to the border with Russia.
Canadian Armed Forces
Canadian soldier participates in an exercise in Latvia
Defense has the funds to make the purchases that our soldiers need. Proof of this is that she is unable to spend the money allocated to her each year. In 2021, of the five billion dollars allocated to it, one billion remained on the table.
15 years of waiting for a purchase
“It is directly linked to the problem that we have known in the Forces for a long time: the supply is very, very long,” explains Bloc Québécois MP Christine Normandin, who sits on the House of Commons Standing Committee on Defense.
The office of the Minister of Defense, Anita Anand, assures that “ensuring that the Canadian Armed Forces have modern and effective equipment remains a top priority for our government”.
But on Saturday the newspaper explained that the supply of our soldiers is so slow that it puts us at risk, especially in the sector of advanced technologies, such as cyber defense and artificial intelligence, which evolve extremely quickly. A reality that worries the Minister of Innovation, François-Philippe Champagne, himself.
JEAN-SIMON HUBERT / QMI AGENCY
Francois-Philippe Champagne
“It sometimes takes up to 15 years to design, launch, acquire and implement a new system,” said Christian Leuprecht of the Royal Military College, in parliamentary committee.
Result, “what is bought is often obsolete at the very moment when it is ordered, deplores Mrs. Christine Normandin. It is not equipment that is up to date and the soldiers see it, there are other troops who have equipment that is more up to date.
Canadian material sold to others
Lieutenant-Colonel Jesse van Eijik deployed in Latvia shares his frustration, in an email obtained by CBC: “It is worrying, bordering on embarrassing to see the differences between the equipment we have and that of the Danes”.
The situation is all the more frustrating as the equipment available to the allies is easily accessible on the market, including in Canada since the Danes have, for example, modern weapons designed here, says Lieutenant-Colonel Eijik.
Our allies are indeed fond of Canadian innovations. In the cyber defense sector alone, Canadian industry sells three times more to our Five Eyes allies than to National Defence, the president of the Canadian Association of Defense and Security Industries told the parliamentary committee. , Christyn Cianfarani.
“Our allies value our cyber security sector more than Canada itself. There is something wrong,” she insisted, calling on Ottawa to review its military acquisition system urgently.
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