[OoC: I borrowed equipment stats from the September 2007 post called 'The Proposal' as I liked the way you did it and I was going to do it anyways. Thanks for the template. Hope you don't mind.]<br><br><br><br>
'Neglected no More'<br>
March.12th/2014<br>Prime Minister James McColl<br>Canada<br><br>
------------------<br><br>McColl was surprised at how fast Girard and Ansdale got back to him on the military 'wish list' he had set them. The list was huge understandably, but it was in keeping with Canada's doctrines. The PM had called for a meeting of the most important cabinet members and general staff for March. 12th.<br>
<br>Finance Minister van der Werden was quite successful in wracking up necessary funds for the university and military initiatives, earmarking nearly $15 billion for this year alone. He had also managed to increase the surplus by cutting some unnecessary government initiatives.<br>
<br>Among the people attending the meeting were the Finance Minister, Defense Minister John Ansdale, Foreign Affairs Minister Julia Bachman, Industry Minister Jacques le Mieux, and Public Works Minister Perrin Gassou. The top military brass were all present, including Jean Pierre Girard, the Chief of Defence Staff and various other Admirals and Generals.<br>
<br>The PMO had developed a healthy and respectful working relationship with the various arms of the government over the last few months, and that included the Defence Staff. McColl had wanted to be sure that his image as a slightly centre-left politician was not tarnished by people who stereotyped lefties as anti-military. Already, critics were working on the government, but they had so far managed to avoid the worst of it.<br>
<br>McColl had arrived 15 minutes early, and greeted everyone as they came through the doors. The guards saluted everyone as they came through, and then they all sat at a round table in the room. The meeting room was in the Centre Block on Parliament Hill, so they were right at the heart of government. The people assembled in this room represented the leadership of the nation.<br>
<br>McColl began with general greetings and news from around the world, and then the real work began. He handed the show over to the Chief of the Defence Staff, Girard. Lieutenant General Jean-Pierre Girard had made the army his career. At age 72, he sat on the pinnacle of the armed forces, and was still going strong. A driven man, he had fought in Korea, peacekept [as an officer] in Yugoslavia and Lebanon, and had, for the last 3 years, served as CoDS.<br>
<br>He began with an update of the current state of military expenditures. "Well gents, I'm sorry to say I wish I could have a little more pride in our armed forces. The state of the military is not so great as an understatement. To start with, we only spend 1.6% of our GDP on defence, so in that regard, we have been behind all our allies for nearly three decades. The United States spends in the 4% category, while the Europeans and Australians are at the 2% mark. I suggest we increase our spending to a minimum of 2%, which will amount to about $30 billion per year, up from $22 billion-ish. This should give us a good boost in our ability to defend the nation if it comes under attack as well as giving us a little more power to project overseas to peacekeeping and other duties."<br>
<br>At that point the PM spoke up, "Sorry to interrupt, Eric, do we have enough this year and for the coming years to incorporate that increase in the budget?"<br><br>"That we do, sir. In fact, if we needed to, theres room in the budget for another $5 billion on top of that. A warning though, that cuts the surplus right down to the hundreds of millions."<br>
<br>"Alright, Eric, I want you to give the military a $12billion increase per year from now on, so that puts us at what? $34 billion now. That seems to be a better number, that way, you can keep a healthy surplus of a couple billion. You may continue General."<br>
<br>"Thank you sir. Now that we have that sorted out, I'd like to move on the matter of equipment procurement. General Voyeux has details on the air force, if you please General."<br><br>Voyeux was a long-time air force man. As head of Air Command, he probably knew it better than anyone else here. "Thank you general. The air force has two overarching problems at this point. Firstly, our aircraft are ancient. The CF-18's are nearing the end of their operational lifespans in the next few years. I suggest we phase them out and start replacing them with F-35's. The F-35 is a multipurpose fighter aircraft developed in the last 10 years by a coalition of western nations, us included, in the Joint Strike Fighter program. It has comparable performance to the new Sukhoi's, Eurofighter Typhoon, and Dassault Rafale. We actually only have 60 combat operational aircraft, and that number will decrease as time goes on. The rest are either for training or useless.<br>
We need ideally 200 aircraft to completely cover our entire airspace."<br><br>"That's not to mention of course our transport aircraft, which are actually 5 years past the end of their service lifetimes. We MUST acquire more of them. The ability to transport troops, supplies, and equipment is crucial to any military operation, whether inside Canada or overseas. For too many years, we have relied on the Americans for transport, I believe it's time we took matters into our own hands, which will needless to say make things easier for us." He paused. Everyone seemed to digest this quietly.<br>
<br>"I agree completely," that was Minister Ansdale, "I'm sure it's not only the Americans who are tired of ferrying us around. Our own troops and logistics are constantly complaining that they have to work around the yanks' schedules."<br>
<br>"That is, of course, what happens when you neglect heavy lifting capacity for as long as we have." said Voyeux. "If I may continue?" Nods around the table. "Very well. Airbus has the A400 strategic lift aircraft, which will supplement the four C-17 Globemasters we currently operate quite nicely. It is a newer aircraft, and has a more capable performance. That being said, they are slightly more expensive. The air force has had its eye on the A400 since it came out in 2009, and we would need 15 to cover all our needs." Another pause. When no one spoke up, he continued. <br>
<br>"Mobility is another crucial point for the 'forces. I propose we acquire heavy and medium transport helicopters for battlefield and logistics transport. The Americans are now using the latest design of their famous 'Black Hawk' helicopter, which is the UH-60M utility helicopter. The Europeans are now using the NH90-TTH heavy lift; both of these designs in the right quantities will give the army the lifting capacity it needs. The Defence Staff proposes that we acquire 150 UH60's and 25 NH-90's. These will replace the Griffons we are currently using, which is a design that first went into production in 1981. All the aircraft will give us equipment lasting for a good 20-25 years. The other major problem we have is a lack of service personnel. No one really wants to go into the air force unless you're going to be a pilot. We need more people. Thank you gentlemen." Voyeux sat as everyone looked thoughtful, the politicians among them wondering how much this would cost, and the military types that they couldn't believe this was finally happening.<br>
<br>"Thank you, Pierre." That was PM. "I agree as I'm sure everybody else does that the Air Force, and not only them but the whole service, has been neglected for the last 25 years. This is a great thing that we're sitting down and doing something about the problems the CAF face. However, please realize that these changes will take up to several years to materialize. Girard, on the army, if you please?"<br>
<br>Girard stood up and went to the projected screen at the front of the room, which changed from the air force presentation to that of the army. "The situation of the army is not so bad as that of the air force. The time the conservatives spent in office did not completely go to waste. The current Regular Force stands at 85,000 active duty troops and the Army Reserve is at 40,000. First off: I propose we increase our troops levels to 100,000 Reg Force troops and leave the Reserves where they're at. That could be partially accomplished from converting Reserve units into Reg Force, although that would only account for 5,000 of the 15,000. We could then recruit more for the reserves, as they are a popular side-job for young people, that shouldn't be too hard." <br>
<br>"Secondly, our small arms are getting out of date, with the C7 rifle the most pressing. It is based off the M16A2, and entered production back in 1982. We need a more modern rifle. I recommend we start developing our own new rifle, compatible with NATO standards of course and that we give the contract out to domestic defense manufacturers. We should start from scratch, so that we have a completely unique design, which we could then market out to other countries."<br>
<br>"For vehicles, our C2 Leopard Main Battle Tanks are based off the Leopard 1A5, which were developed, again, in the 1980's. The French have an excellent design called the GIAT Leclerc MBT. It has been in production since 1991. It has a larger calibre main cannon and an auto-loading system, which we like. It compares quite well to our current Leopard 2's and other modern armour. We'd be looking at 250 to supplement our current Leopard 2's, of which we have 100. That would give us a very respectable armoured force, and we'd be ordering directly from the manufacturer, not second hand, so they will last us for quite a long time. Modern armour design has not changed much since the 1990's, so the apparent age of the design should not be a problem. The Leclerc is part of a newer generation of armour." Girard took a drink from his glass of water. Julia Bachman took the opportunity to share a joke, and everyone laughed.<br>
<br>He continued on gamely, "Regarding our APC's and secondary vehicles. The LAV-III's we have right now are good vehicles, but again, we lost so many in Afghanistan, the 550 or so we currently have just aren't enough. We need to get back to pre-Afghanistan levels, which means ordering new ones. Seeing as they entered service in 1999, we wont be needing to replace them for a long time, although perhaps initiatives to update and create variants might be started. General Motors still has the capacity to build more, so I recommend we buy another 200. The Germans and Dutch have developed a new APC called the Boxer MRAV, or multi-role armoured vehicle. Those can replace our old M113's and AVGP's. As for our support vehicles, they too need replacing. Many of them are 40 or 50 years old, and obviously are long obsolete."<br>
<br>At that point, the meeting was interrupted for a washroom and stretch-the-legs break. Five minutes later, they were all back at the table, ready and focussed.<br><br>Admiral Matthew Charpentier took over from the CoDS for the Navy briefing. "Alright everyone, onto the Navy." He grinned, and they all smiled knowing smiles. "The Navy has three overwhelming problems confronting it. A: A lack of personnel, B: An AGED fleet, and C: Major funding shortfalls. I'll go through each point starting with A of course. Many of our ships leave port with only a 4/5 complement. That is needless to say a danger both to them and the ships. A lack of properly trained crew means they are overworked, and means more things can go wrong. We need enough crew to operate our vessels without multi-tasking. I've seen this first hand." <br>
<br>Charpentier paused, and took a quick sip of water. "B. I'm not sure if it ever occurred to anyone in the old government, but our ships are *OLD*. The Protecteur class of supply ship entered service in 1969!" He sounded incredulous that politicians had let this go unnoticed. "Our Iroquois Class destroyers entered service in 1972, and the Victoria Class subs that we bought off the Brits were built in the 1980's. The most modern ships we have are the Orca Class training vessels for our cadets and new recruits, being 2006. Our Halifax Class frigates are excellent ships no doubt, but they are nearing 20 years of age as well, coming into service from 1992 to 1996."<br>
<br>"So what exactly are you getting at, Admiral?" That was Foreign Affairs Minister Julia Bachman, who was beginning to wonder why she had been invited to this meeting.<br><br>"What I'm getting at, Minister," and he put a look into his eye as he said it, "is that we should be acquiring new ships. Maritime Command has come up with plans, with the cooperation of the Public Works and Industry ministries, to jump-start our faltering national ship-building business with naval construction and acquisitions. We'd like to replace the Protecteur Class as soon as possible, with four new ships, which we call the 'Saguenay Class' for preliminary purposes. One of them ideally would be winter ice-capable for use in the Arctic." <br>
<br>That got a set of raised eyebrows from Foreign Affairs Minister Bachman, but nothing more. Charpentier continued without noticing. "To replace the three Iroquois destroyers, we are proposing a revisionary 'Tribal II Class' as tribute to those who sacrificed for the country in the Second World War. This would be a 6 ship class, of which 2 would again be winter-ice capable for Arctic uses. As for our frigates, we would like to acquire 4 more, winter-ice capable of course for as you might guess, use in the Arctic. We do have ideas for a cruiser type vessel, but nothing concrete at this time."<br>
<br>That again got raised eyebrows from Bachman, and also from Eric van der Werden, who hadn't known anything about this before-hand.<br><br>"Rest assured," Charpentier had picked up on van der Werden and Bachman that time, "these are longer term plans. If we do at all go for cruisers, it won't be for some time to come." He did have a wishful look in his eyes when he said that. "Talking about funding. Over the last few years, funding has been either siphoned off to other projects or maintenance duties. That means that ships are leaving port less and less often. That also means our crews are getting less sea time, and that has led to an erosion of our recruiting efforts, as well as crew and team building experience. Hopefully with the new budget, we can rectify these problems. Thank you for listening ladies and gents." The admiral sat.<br>
<br>Eric van der Werden spoke at that moment with a strained voice. "So, how the hell am I expected to pay for all this? Hmmm? It will cost billions. The largest defense acquisitions made at one time probably ever in Canadian history. Not to mention the pubic will freak. This is appalling."<br>
<br>Industry Minister Jacques le Mieux just smiled grimly and said in his heavy Quebecois accent, "Well Eric, you're going to have to do whatever you can. Cut any unnecessary programs, like advertisements and such. Start phasing out positions in the bureaucracy that will become no longer needed fairly and in timely fashion. My department is willing work with Finance to initiate industrial policies. I know we campaigned on attracting some heavy industry back to Canada, and that will undoubtedly stimulate the economy. My best advice would be to stagger the payments over the next few years so its in manageable chunks." le Mieux had been the opposition finance critic a few years back, as well as a professor of economics at Concordia University in Montreal. Van der Werden was new to the post after a cabinet shake-up after the election.<br>
<br>"What are the costs of this modernization initiative going to be? We also need to come up with a name for it so we can refer to it. Undoubtedly the Americans among others will be wondering what the hell happened to make us do something like this, so I'm going to have to do some explaining." There were the raised eyebrows of Foreign Affairs Minister Bachman again.<br>
<br>Admiral Charpentier laughed darkly.<br><br>Girard garnered the attention at that point. He said, "I got my staff to run some cost analyses," Van der Werden snorted derisively. "We've come to a consensus on the cost and a name for the project: The CAF Modernization Initiative. Here's the numbers." His staff passed out a dossier several pages thick to each person at the table.<br>
<br>The numbers were:<br><br>Army-<br><br>250 Leclerc MBT's: $1.075 billion.<br>200 LAV-III's: $200 million<br>500 Boxer MRAV: $2 billion<br>Development of new standard rifle: $500 million<br>Replacement of support vehicles: $500 million<br>
<br>Navy-<br><br>4 'Saguenay' Class Supply ships: $2 billion<br>4 new ice-capable frigates: $800 million<br>6 'Tribal II Class' destroyers: $5billion<br>3 Virginia Class nuclear attack submarines: $6 billion<br>
<br>Air Force:<br><br>200 F-35 A's and B's: $8 billion<br>25 NH-90's: $475 million<br>150 UH-60M's: $750 million<br>15 Airbus A400's: $2billion<br><br>Army Cost: $4.275 billion<br>Air Force Cost: $11.225 billion<br>
Naval Cost: $13.8 billion<br><br>Total Cost: $29.3 billion<br><br>"Tabernac! Is it just me, or am I seeing 'Virginia Class nuclear attack sub' on this sheet? What the frick?!?!" That was Public Works Minister Perrin Gassou.<br>
<br>At that point, the attention went back to McColl, who was sitting quietly with his head bowed and fingers pressed to his forehead. Everyone knew what that meant. After a few moments he felt their eyes and looked up. Smiling weakly as he rose, McColl then walked to the front of the room. <br>
<br>"My friends, as we have all just seen, our military forces are in all-together desperate straights. Thanks to 35 years of declining or static funding, not even keeping up to inflation, it has most unfortunately fallen to us to fix all these problems."<br>
<br>"Faced with the rise of China, recent events in the Far East," which of course was referring to North Korea, "and increased Russian activity in the Arctic, we are given the options of either rebuilding our armed forces or be increasingly marginalized in the world at large. We can expect continued violations of our Arctic waters by Russian and American nuclear submarines, a further loss of face with the Americans and other militarily powerful countries, and a loss of influence in international affairs if we fail in this regard."<br>
<br>"Of course, the Canadian military also faces a loss of face with our own citizens as well. The group we have in this room are the most influential people today in Canada. Canadians have, in the last few years, become less afraid of harnessing nuclear than they have in the past. I have talked this over with MARCOM, and they agree with me that it is time Canada acquired both nuclear submarines and began a project in cooperation with Sweden in stealth destroyer technology."<br>
<br>Julia Bachman's mouth dropped, and the rest of the room went very still. Everyone stared at the Prime Minister. They could not believe what they had just heard, especially coming from someone like James, who was anti-nuclear proliferation.<br>
<br>"I know, I know. This is sounding ridiculous to you all. I'm also far from happy myself." He smiled disarmingly. "But, and the head of CSIS concurs, it is time that we, accept our destiny as a part of the Western world, with defense obligations to the free world. But you also need take no further a look than at what nuclear submarines can do. Because the navy has experience with the Victoria Class we bought from the UK, we can more easily integrate that into our Arctic sovereignty program. The American Virginia Class can stay underwater for months at a time, and is one of the most advanced of its type. They would primarily be used for the Arctic and would not leave Canadian waters, at least for the first few years." <br>
<br>McColl paused for a second to sip some water, as his voice was getting raspy. "Of course, we would most certainly NOT be equipping them with nuclear missiles. That would be against everything we stand for. Instead, we would be using them for close in shore insertions, tracking within territorial waters, and deterrent with conventional cruise missiles. As for the stealth destroyer program, this is early days yet. Nothing is set in stone. I wanted to throw the idea out into the open for our minds to churn over. I haven't even talked to Sweden yet."<br>
<br>"There is one other thing I'd like to mention. I want Public Works, Industry, and the Navy to cooperate on placing a hydrophone and underwater sensor system in our Arctic waters. I think its time we showed the world Canada is serious about our Arctic territory. They need to stop trespassing and go through us if they need to pass through."<br>
<br>"I never thought I would personally have to deal with a situation like this. Our left wing voters will not be happy, and a reaction from the public is obviously to be expected. I want our people out there, mixing with the population, answering their questions, giving truthful, fair, and reasonable answers, and being visible. The last thing we need is to be secretive. I want this to be an open process, transparent. Understood?"<br>
<br>Everyone acknowledged. "Alright everyone, thanks for coming, and listening. This had to be done, regardless of whether we wanted to or not. Time is up, and every moment we waited would have cost more. This meeting is adjourned."<br>
<br>He sighed.<br><br>---------------------<br><br>Actions:<br><br>1: introduce new characters<br>2: character development<br>3: ascertain exactly how badly the CAF is doing<br>4: look at options<br>
5: decide that now is the time to act, authorizing equipment acquisitions across a broad spectrum and increase the military budget<br>6: show the world that Canada once again means business<br>