Vincent J. Curtis
15 Dec 2016
A decade ago, NATO alliance members, Canada included,
pledged to spend two percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product on
defense. Only the UK and the USA have
consistently met that goal. President
Donald J. Trump has said that unless other NATO members start pulling their
weight in respect of defense spending, the United States may not come to the
defense of an attacked NATO country that failed to pull its weight.
It does Canada no good to pull out of NATO as a means of
avoiding US pressure to spend more money on defense. In the first place, Canada cannot pull out of
NORAD, which is a bilateral continental defense alliance with the United
States. In the second, the purpose of a
defensive alliance is to reduce defense spending across the board. Leaving NATO would require Canada to look
after all its defense needs outside of NORAD, such as sovereignty in Arctic
waters. Departure would entail an
increase of defense spending anyhow.
Canada simply needs to put on its big-boy pants and start
acting like the important nation she has become. Canada’s contribution to world peace will
come about partially by becoming militarily stronger. Defense spending is cheap insurance, and if
it keeps Trump off our backs in respect of trade, then it will be doubly worth
the money.
The difference between what Canada spends annually on
defense and two percent of GDP is roughly $20 billion. Over the four years of a Trump
Administration, Canada needs to find a home for $80 billion in defense
dollars. These are not hard to find.
The RCN needs to be completely recapitalized, and $40
billion could easily be spent on that.
Canada should be aiming for a 25 ship surface combatant fleet consisting
principally of frigates, but also a couple of battlecruisers (or missile
cruisers if a ‘battle’ cruiser seems too warlike), supply ships; and icebreakers
for the far north would round out a blue water navy. Beneath the waves, the four submarines of the
Lemon class – I mean the Victoria class – could also absorb a few
billion to get them finally operational.
That leaves $35 to $40 billion to spend on capital equipment
for the RCAF and the army in years three and four. Placing an order now for 120 to 150 F-35s
would absorb the best part of $20 billion, and the purchasing war stocks of
expendables and capital upgrades of bases would consume the rest of year
three’s capital expenditure.
In year four, it would be the turn of the army. What capital upgrades could the army
use? Let’s start with rifle sights. New, digital rifle sights enable Recruit
Bloggins to hit small targets out to a thousand meters with 90 percent plus
probability of a hit with minimum training.
The system, called Tracking Point PGF, is presently being solid already
mounted on rifles and is expensive, but a precision marksman per section should
have one immediately. As the system
matures it will be affordable to replace Elcan sights with them.
Compared with other armies, Canada’s army is utterly deficient
in rotary aviation. And I don’t just
mean AH-64E Apache Guardian helicopters – you know the ones that can kill tanks
from multiple kilometers away, and terrorists as well? I mean drones that kids across the street
play with. How hard can it be to equip
ground units – infantry, armour, and especially artillery with small drones
that enable spotters to find the enemy at great distances and quickly without
exposing themselves? Even body cameras
can be acquired and used to look around corners to provide a picture of what’s
waiting for the lead man.
Canada has a terrific facility in its Mechanized Training
Center at CFB Wainwright. The army has
also employed SAT ranges as a means of simulating combat for soldiers. What about virtual reality? How hard can it be to equip a company or a
battalion or even the entire reserve system with virtual reality trainers as
successors to the now old and mostly non-functioning SAT trainers?
The tactical ground communications system is centered on the
TCCCS radio system that was essentially obsolete the moment it was fielded. Cell phones in urban areas provided parallel
lines of communications for guerrilla forces, whereas the TCCCS system allows
only one channel of communication, to be used serially. Given all the new cell phone and satellite
technology, surely some communication system can be developed that empowers
every soldier on the battlefield to communicate with any other soldier other
than by shouting. The aural system by
which the soldier receives tactical instructions from his commander can be one
of those that not only amplifies quiet sounds around him but also
electronically dampens sounds above 85 dB – protecting the soldier’s natural
hearing.
We are deficient beyond imagining in artillery as compared
with Russia and the United States.
Realistically, we could triple the number of M777 guns in inventory and
still be below our proportionate needs.
These ideas barely scratch the surface, and none of them
involve increasing the operating costs of the CAF over the four years. All of these expenditures are capital. To that extent they are temporary. Expansion of the operating cost of the CAF,
if necessary, can await a second Trump term.
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A version of this article was published in the Feb 2017 issue of Esprit De Corps magazine.
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