FAVS 2025: Canada outlines military priorities

BAE Systems and GDLS have signed a teaming agreement to offer the BvS10 Beowulf ATV for the Canadian Army's DAME project. (BAE Systems)

Colonel Daniel Fontaine, the Canadian Armed Forces' (CAF's) director of Armoured Vehicle Program Management, outlined his country's military priorities on the second day of SAE Media Group's Future Armoured Vehicles Survivability (FAVS) 2025 conference held in London from 17 to 19 November.

He said Canada requires an army with divisions for the first time in decades, one assigned to defending Canada, as well as manoeuvre, support, and training divisions, with enhanced fighting forces, lethality at range, and persistence at scale. Speaking of procurement in batches and reducing delivery times and increasing capabilities, Col Fontaine outlined a structure with long-range precision fires, manoeuvrable indirect fires, air defence, Arctic mobility, and integrated command-and-control (C2). He listed the CAF's priorities as short-range air defence, anti-tank guided missiles, counter-unmanned aircraft systems, loitering munitions, electronic warfare, integrated C2, as well as mobility and protection. Regarding mobility, Col Fontaine spoke of the CAF's Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV) receiving a new powerpack.

Asked by Janes at the end of his presentation how soon Canada would decide on its High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) procurement, Col Fontaine noted that it had been approved by the United States. He also spoke of Saab promoting the Gripen combat aircraft in Canada as an alternative to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The US Department of State approved the possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of M142 HIMARS and related equipment worth up to USD1.75 billion to Canada, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced in a press release on 1 October.