[War] Canada: "The Proposal"

[Michael Downey]

"The Proposal"
Prime Minister R. Leon MacIntyre
Canada
14 March 2013
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*Note: These events take place immediately following the US-Canadian
Summit in Washington

<Ottawa>

Very quickly the Prime Minister had communicated to his offices back
in Ottawa the course and progress of his talks with the President of
the United States. Most had applauded the deal on cattle and bemoaned
the stonewalling of any relevant moves on pharmaceuticals.

The item that generated the most buzz in the upper echelons of the
Canadian government were the expectations the Americans in Canada's
military. Given that the military was slowly becoming a hot button
issue on Ottawa, likely even more so now, and that a build-up would
cost a lot of money (and spending money was something no government
liked to do) it was decided that a special meeting should be held
among members of the Cabinet.

The Cabinet of Canada functioned more like the Politburo of the Soviet
Union then it did the American Cabinet; ministers were more often than
not high ranking members of the Liberal Party caucus, unlike their
American counterparts who were unelected bureaucrats.

This particular circle of men and women who were currently filing into
an opulent conference room at the Central Bloc were the 'inner
cabinet' of the government. They were the ones all largely responsible
for the election victory of the Liberal government and the chief
policy and ideological architects of the Liberal Party. Prime Minister
MacIntyre was the 'primus inter pares' of this group, but he was not
their king, as past PMs had fancied themselves.

So Government House Leader Felipe Dechard did not see it at all
treasonous or treacherous for he and the others of the inner cabinet
to meet and discuss the events in Washington.

In all there were six of them including Dechard; Charles Daudelin the
Foreign Minister, Vernon Garneau the Defence Minister, Rebecca Belford
the Chief Whip, Eric Lancaster the Public Safety Minister and Pierre
Saint-Gelais the Health Minister. The only two not in attendance were
the PM himself and Steven DeMonte, Finanace Minister and Deputy PM.

In addition to these ranking politicians was Army Lieutenant-General
Sandra Newcastle, Chief of the Defence Staff. She was there in a
purely advisory role; Garneau, like the majority of Defence Ministers,
was not and had never been a soldier. He was a former board members
for BAE Systems and was greatly connected in the global defence
industry. Though he was undisputed expert on the technological side of
things, it was Newcastle that would provide this circle with a more
military perspective.

"Let's get started," said Dechard as he snapped the top of his bottled
mineral water. With MacIntyre and DeMonte in DC, he was the most
senior man present and would chair the meetings. "Vernon, has the
Department of National Defence come up with a draft proposal of what
we will be doing with the CF?"

"I have," said Garneau, opening his briefcase and quickly slid
identical folders to each everyone. 'Top Secret' was written on the
cover of each folder. "When writing this report we took into
consideration two important questions; Number one, what role should
Canada play in the defence of North America and number two, how will
we prepare Canada's military for the demands of peacekeeping in the
21st Century?

"To begin, general operational funding. The proposal by the Pentagon
that we set our yearly military budget to 2% of the GDP is, in my
opinion, a very logical and reasonable suggesting. In fact on average
our principle allies, not counting America, such as France, Britain
and Australia spend an average of 2.4% on defence. Given that we are
entering into a period of expansion, a budget of 2% seems reasonable?"

The last part was posed as a question, and there were no objections.

"Alright then, we will begin with the expansion of the Army,"
continued Garneau. "General Newcastle?"

"Thank you Defence Minister," nodded Newcastle before using her PDA to
bring up the display on the projection screen on the far side of the
room. "The proposed expansion calls for a division of new troops
consisting of three full-strength brigades. We will model these
brigades as we do our current formations, with each containing one
armoured, mechanized infantry, and artillery regiment each, plus air
transport and service support formations. Ideally we would like the
capacity to have two brigades operating anywhere in the world at any
given time with a third brigade ready for surge deployment with only
limited preparation.

"In terms of equipment, there are several things that we will be
needing. One, the RCAC could use some new tanks. Our Leopard 1s are
way beyond their operational lifespan and are obsolete. Our current
inventory of Leopard 2s, while an excellent and highly capable design
even now, are all second-hand units purchased from Norway or Germany
and are close to 30 years old. And with three new armoured regiments
being organized, we will need to not only replace our Leopards but
outfit those new regiments as well. We're looking at about 300. The
RCAC has expressed a great deal of interest in the GIAT Leclerc MBT in
use by France and the UAE. It's a very new, very modern tank that
compares quite favourably as a successor to our Leopard 2s."

"I can have Ambassador Gardner speak with the French President about
an arms acquisition," noted Daudelin.

"Second, we need new APCs," went on Newcastle. "As our Army is
designed to be a highly expeditionary force, given our heavy
participation in peacekeeping, we must be able top operate in any
number of environments with any number of roles. Now while we may be
building up our armed forces, we still cannot afford to have a wide
variety of single-purpose vehicles to do a variety of tasks. Or, not
to the degree that the Americans have. Because of these we are looking
at making a purchase of the Boxer MRAV, or multi-role armoured
vehicle, in use by the European Union. It's a very flexible design
that can be outfitted with mission-specific modules. We're looking at
about 700, to replace our fleet of AVGPs and M113 tracks.

"Mobility is critical to any military and air mobility is paramount.
We only have eighty transport utility helicopters in use by the RCAF,
the Bell 412 or the 'Griffon' as the CF refers to it. Now again, this
is an issue of an older design that is few in number. We want to give
the Army its own fleet of UH-60M utility helicopters, the latest
production variant of the US Army's 'Black Hawk' design. With the army
now boosted to two full divisions in size, we'll need about 150 of
these at least. On top of that, we have a lack of heavier helicopters
which can ferry larger cargo at longer ranges than medium aircraft
like the Black Hawk or Griffon can. We will thus request we also be
given the funds needed to purchase 25 NH90 TTH helicopters from the
European Union."

"Opinions?" asked Dechard.

"It seems a reasonable enough course of action," offered Lancaster. He
was the only other soldier, a past member of the Royal Canadian
Regiment, among them after Newcastle and the second most senior
security expert. "It's not like the Canadian Army is never in use.
We've fought in every major NATO and UN operation since Korea and done
dozens of peacekeeping operations. Of all the branches of the CF, it
does the most work and takes the most punishment for it."

No objections were raised and they seemed to have a consensus.

"Okay," said the House Leader. "How about the RCAF?"

"The RCAF is in very dire straights," admitted Newcastle. "We only
have eighty fighters, sixty of which are combat fighters. The other
twenty of been converted into trainers. We barely have enough aircraft
to effectively cover Ontario and Quebec, let alone the second largest
airspace in the world. For some time now, back as early as 2004, we
have been participating in the JSF development project with the United
States and United Kingdom. I would like to see the RCAF equipped with
the F-35A Lightening multirole fighter. It is very comparable to the
Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale and Sukhoi Berkut. Ideally, we
would be taking an order of 200 fighters. That is enough to both
patrol our own airspace effectively and have squadrons operating
overseas.

"The other area the RCAF is lacking in is strategic lift. This is
something the Pentagon has been complaining about for years. We are
far too heavily dependent upon the USAF to actually get our men to
where they need to go outside of mainland Canada. Our purchase of four
C-17 Globemasters in 2007 was a good step, but now we need a larger
fleet of slightly smaller lifters. Originally we were going to
purchase 17 C-130s, but that did not materialize. Now the RCAF is
seriously considering purchasing 15 Airbus A400s. They are more
expensive than the C-130 but are more capable, and newer; they only
became available in 2009, while the C-130 is a product of the 1950's.
We should be making a highly modern force with equipment that will
last us twenty to thirty years, not older designs that will become
obsolete in ten."

This time the looks were more reluctant. The need was apparent, true,
but there was something less…. Human about the Air Force. The Army was
made up of young kids with very human faces out fighting the Taliban
and giving out water and food to poor people in some distant country
that you saw on CBC, while the Royal Canadian Air Force was a bunch of
big iron birds landing on some runway somewhere.

But how could they argue with the decrepit state of their fighter and
lift forces? Though the hesitation was apparent, no one voiced
objections.

"General before you begin your brief on the status of the Navy,
General Newcastle, I would like to make it known that I do not support
the idea of Canada acquiring nuclear attack submarines," explained
Saint-Gelais in his twangey Quebecois accent. "I have looked at what
we would be paying the United States to build us these ships. At the
very least it will be 1.65 billion American dollars. That is, as they
say, real money. Now I understand and agree that the military needs
improvement and expansion, but I question the cost of this particular
purchase."

"I think I must agree with Pierre, though for different reasons," said
Lancaster. "I'm not a Navy man but I can tell you that apart from
aircraft carriers and ballistic missile subs, nuclear attack subs such
as the Virginia-class are among the most powerful weapons of war ever
created. Able to sneak anywhere in the world and attack with a
devastating array of torpedoes and cruise missiles. The Virginia-class
can even perform advanced intelligence gathering operations and
deliver special forces teams. Should we not stop and think that having
such powerful tools at our disposal might be a bit too MUCH power?"

"These are nuclear subs, not nuclear weapons, Eric," noted Garneau.
"Powerful weapons? Yes. But we face nations that could be powerful
enemies. In the North we have Russia slowly creeping into Arctic
territory that is ours. And they have nuclear subs at their disposal,
a huge tactical advantage over us. We don't even HAVE submarines,
period. The Upholder-class boats the British sold us don't even work
anymore. Half of them had to be taken out of service almost three
years after we got them due to technical problems. And what about
China? Are they not building up their nuclear sub fleet? Newcastle,
what are the new subs class they've been working on?"

"Type 093," said Newcastle. "The NATO reporting code is Shang-class."

"Yes, exactly. China is producing new subs. And it could be as little
as two years before Russia starts producing Severodvinsk-class boats.
Furthermore, what if Russia and China start collaborating on sub
development? It may have fallen through this time, what about next
time? With Russian technology and Chinese financing, they could build
more advanced subs in greater quantities than they are now."

"I should point out that we have not engaged in hostilities with
Russia over the Arctic yet and are a long way from doing so,"
countered Lancaster. "And we have good relations with China as well.
And say we do have to fight one or the other, the US Navy has more
than enough nuclear submarines to protect us. Given that we are
spending billions of dollars improving every other aspect of our
military, it is not an unreasonable expectation on our part for the
Americans to defend us against such threats. Anyway, what about diesel
subs?"

"They are cheaper," admitted Garneau. "And faster to build. But our
coastline is large, and our Arctic territory makes it difficult to
surface regularly in the North. Diesel subs have to periodically
access air, and have more limited range based on fuel. Nuclear attack
subs are limited only by food stocks and do not need to surface for
months at a time. They have a distinct advantage, especially if we
have to defend ourselves against Russian encroachment in the Arctic."

"I still think it will cost to much," mumbled Saint –Gelais.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe we need such weapons?" asked
Garneau of Lancaster. "You said it yourself, cruise missiles,
intelligence gathering abilities and the capacity to deliver special
forces. Peacekeeping is become more dangerous and more intensive.
Often we don't simply have to keep two foes apart, we have to actively
fight and eliminate one or two of the warring sides. Remember
Yugoslavia? The African Union's mission in Sudan? They only ended when
the Serbs were beaten and the Sudanese rebels were forced back."

"If I may offer a suggestion," said Daudelin. All eyes turned to him.
"If we were to buy diesel subs, what type would we likely get?"

"Germany's U212-class are supposedly the most advanced," replied Garneau.

"Okay. My proposal is that we hold a design competition between the US
Navy's Virginia-class subs and the Deutsche Marine's U212-class. The
RCN will place an observer aboard each ship and report as each sub
does sea trials. After that we'll stage a war game exercise between
both ships, and whoever gets the best two out of three wins the
contract."

At the very least it was a delay tactic. Even those among them who saw
a use for nuclear submarines realized that the rest of the CF
expansion was more important. Better that the rest of it get passed
through Parliament and then the final decision on the sub fleet be
made at a later date.

"Moving onto the rest Royal Canadian Navy," said Newcastle. "We'll be
purchasing four Zumwalt-class Destroyers to replace our Iroquois-class
Destroyers and fourteen Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships to replace
our Halifax-class frigates."

"What is the ultimate cost of all this?" asked Saint-Gelais. Newcastle
tapped her PDA once again and the display changed.

"Some of the costs are not finalized pending diplomatic negotiations.
But here it is."

4 Zumwalt-class Destroyers at 3 billion=  12 billion
14 Freedom-class LCS at 200 million=  2.8 billion
300 Leclerc MBTs at 4.3 Million=  1.29 billion
200 F-35As at 40 million= 8 billion
700 Boxer MRAVs at 6 million= 4.2 Billion
150 UH-60Ms at 5 million= 750 Million
25 NH90 at 19 million= 475 million
15 Airbus A400s at 135 million= 2.025 Billion
Total: 31.54 Billion USD.

"Now these figures may change depending on how much the French and EU
joint companies charge us for the tanks, A400s and MRAVs. We're basing
this list on standard prices as they were now. With the increase in
orders, we might get a bargain price as we are with the Pentagon. Add
another five billion for recruitment and training, the entire cost
will be 36.54 billion US Dollars."

"Payment will be done in phases," explained Dechard. "If Parliament
agrees to the build-up, seven billion dollars up front followed by six
billion dollars a year for the next five years. Obviously this does
not include our submarines; a separate payment plan will be devised
for them once we make a decision to go nuclear or diesel."
---

Actions:
1) Outline equipment and manpower requirements for the Canadian Forces
2) Submit the requirements to Parliament for approval, followed by the
actual spending bill after all the needed political wrangling is
complete.
3) Issues a competition for the Royal Canadian Navy's next generation
submarine; the RCN is consider either the American Virginia-class or
German U212-class. If both parties agree, hold sea trials with an RCN
observer aboard each boat.
4) Set Canadian defense spending to 2% of the GDP