Energy News  
Canada announces 20-year plan to rebuild military

by Staff Writers
Ottawa (AFP) May 12, 2008
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Monday a 30-billion-dollar plan to re-equip Canada's military, to boost its recruiting and to bolster Canada's defense industry over the next 20 years.

The initiative will include major combat fleet replacements of surface combat ships, maritime patrol craft, fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft, fighter aircraft, and land combat vehicles and systems.

Canada will also increase its troop numbers to 70,000 regular soldiers and 30,000 reservists, for a total increase of 11,000 troops.

"If you want to be taken seriously in the world, you need the capacity to act -- it's that simple," said Harper.

The new spending "will strengthen our sovereignty and security at home and bolster our ability to defend our values and interests abroad," he said.

Past administrations, the prime minister lamented, responded "to the increasing problems of rust-out and obsolescence of equipment as one-off purchases as the budget allowed, or as conditions ... have commanded."

"We've built in an escalating budget framework to allow us to replace over the next 20 years the full range of national defense equipment, and to rebuild the personnel of the forces," Harper told a press conference.

The long-term procurement plan is also hoped to provide defense firms with a clear outline of Canada's military needs, in order to help them better plan to help meet those needs, Harper said.

Previously, the government has indicated it wanted to encourage local defense firms to increase their arms exports.

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
The Military Industrial Complex at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


Military Matters: A time to cut -- Part 1
Washington (UPI) May 12, 2008
At a recent book party for Winslow Wheeler's new history of the military reform movement of the 1970s and 1980s, I was asked for my views on the prospects for genuine reform. I replied, "So long as the money flow continues, nothing will change." Chuck Spinney, a reformer who spent decades as a polyp in the bowels of the U.S. Department of Defense, agreed.







  • China faces 7.3 million tonne LPG shortfall in 2010: report
  • Analysis: Turks eye carrying Kazakh oil
  • Higher fuel prices may mean less pollution
  • E-Fuel Unveils World's First Home Ethanol System

  • Finland to decide on new nuclear reactors in 2010: govt
  • French contemplate bid for leading UK nuclear utility
  • EDF buys land near British nuclear sites: report
  • Most Finns against new nuclear reactors in Finland: poll

  • Beijing working to clear the air
  • Methane Sources Over The Last 30,000 Years
  • Changing Jet Streams May Alter Paths Of Storms And Hurricanes
  • Viruses Keep Us Breathing

  • Brazil launches sustainable development plan for Amazon
  • Mangrove destruction partly to blame for Myanmar toll: ASEAN chief
  • Greenpeace welcomes move to save Indonesia's forests
  • Asia's rainforests vanishing as timber, food demand surge: experts

  • Keeping Yields, Profits And Water Quality High
  • Chinese firm to grow rice in Tanzania: company
  • Surging food prices bite across Asia
  • China aims to keep grain output above 500 mln tonnes in 2008: report

  • Tesla's electric sports car aiming at Europe market
  • Truck Fuel Economy Leader Is Best Solution To High Price Of Diesel
  • EU official says car pollution targets unworkable: report
  • Microsoft, Hyundai agree on joint development of new system

  • China's new jumbo-jet firm no threat to Airbus, Boeing: state media
  • China unveils new jumbo jet company: report
  • NASA And JAXA To Conduct Joint Research On Sonic Boom Modeling
  • Analysis: Can airplanes go green?

  • Nuclear Power In Space - Part 2
  • Outside View: Nuclear future in space
  • Nuclear Power In Space

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement