CANADA AND THE DEFENCE OF NORTH AMERICA: NORAD AND AERIAL READINESS Report of the Standing Committee on National Defence Stephen Fuhr Chair SEPTEMBER 2016 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons SPEAKER’S PERMISSION Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. This permission does not extend to reproduction, distribution or use for commercial purpose of financial gain. Reproduction or use outside this permission or without authorization may be treated as copyright infringement in accordance with the Copyright Act. Authorization may be obtained on written application to the Office of the Speaker of the House of Commons. Reproduction in accordance with this permission does not constitute publication under the authority of the House of Commons. 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Also available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address: http://www.parl.gc.ca CANADA AND THE DEFENCE OF NORTH AMERICA: NORAD AND AERIAL READINESS Report of the Standing Committee on National Defence Stephen Fuhr Chair SEPTEMBER 2016 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION STANDING COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL DEFENCE CHAIR Stephen Fuhr VICE-CHAIRS Cheryl Gallant Randall Garrison MEMBERS James Bezan Jean R. Rioux Darren P. Fisher Sherry Romanado Mark Gerretsen Sven Spengemann Pierre Paul-Hus OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED Chris Bittle Hon. John McKay Rachel Blaney Marc Miller Todd Doherty Brad Trost Brian May Cathy Wagantall Karen McCrimmon CLERK OF THE COMMITTEE Philippe Grenier-Michaud LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT Parliamentary Information and Research Service Martin Auger, Analyst James Lee, Analyst iii THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL DEFENCE has the honour to present its SECOND REPORT Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 108(2), the Committee has studied Canada and the Defence of North America and has agreed to report the following: v TABLE OF CONTENTS GLOSSARY .................................................................................................................... 1 CANADA AND THE DEFENCE OF NORTH AMERICA: NORAD AND AERIAL READINESS ................................................................................................................... 3 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 3 THE GLOBAL SECURITY ENVIRONMENT AND AEROSPACE THREATS TO NORTH AMERICA ..................................................................................................... 5 Defining Threats ................................................................................................... 6 Conventional and Asymmetric Threats ................................................................. 9 The Resurgence of Russian Long-Range Military Aviation ................................ 11 The Proliferation of Ballistic Missiles .................................................................. 12 The Emergence of Advanced Cruise Missiles .................................................... 14 Aerial Terrorism and Violent Extremism ............................................................. 16 MODERNIZING NORAD AND EXPANDING ITS CAPABILITIES ........................... 17 Canada and NORAD .......................................................................................... 17 Evolving and Modernizing NORAD ..................................................................... 22 Investing in Cruise Missile Defence .................................................................... 27 Revisiting Canada’s Non-Participation in Ballistic Missile Defence .................... 29 STRENGTHENING THE ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE ..................................... 37 The RCAF and Aerial Readiness ........................................................................ 37 The Procurement of New Air Assets ................................................................... 40 The Replacement of the CF-18 Jet Fighters ....................................................... 41 Other Projects Related to the Future Jet Fighter ................................................ 49 Enhancing Surveillance and Domain Awareness Capabilities ............................ 50 Improving RCAF Infrastructure ........................................................................... 54 CONCLUDING REMARKS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................... 58 APPENDIX A ................................................................................................................. 63 APPENDIX B ................................................................................................................. 67 APPENDIX C: LIST OF WITNESSES ........................................................................... 71 REQUEST FOR GOVERNMENT RESPONSE ............................................................. 73 DISSENTING OPINION FROM THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA ............. 75 DISSENTING OPINION FROM THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY ............................. 85 vii GLOSSARY ADIZ: Air Defence Identification Zone AESA: Active Electronically Scanned Array AEW: Airborne Early Warning ANR: Alaskan NORAD Region AOR: Area of Responsibility ASA: Air Sovereignty Alert AWACS: Airborne Warning and Control Systems BMD: Ballistic Missile Defence CADS: Canadian Air Defence Sector CAF: Canadian Armed Forces CANSOFCOM: Canadian Special Operations Forces Command CANR: Canadian NORAD Region CFB: Canadian Forces Base CIA: Central Intelligence Agency (United States) CJOC: Canadian Joint Operations Command CONR: Continental U.S. NORAD Region CSIS: Canadian Security Intelligence Service CTOL: Conventional Take-Off and Landing CV: Carrier Variant DND: Department of National Defence DOB: Deployed Operating Base FOL: Forward Operating Location GBI: Ground-Based Interceptors HIICR: Heidelberg Institute of International Conflict Research 1 ICBM: Intercontinental Ballistic Missile IISS: International Institute for Strategic Studies IRBM: Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile ISIL: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant JSF: Joint Strike Fighter JUSTAS: Joint Unmanned Surveillance and Target Acquisition System MOB: Main Operating Base MOU: Memorandum of Understanding MRTT: Multi-Role Transport Tanker NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization NDDN: House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence NORAD: North American Aerospace Defense Command ONE: Operation NOBLE EAGLE RCAF: Royal Canadian Air Force RCMP: Royal Canadian Mounted Police RFI: Request for Information SAR: Search and Rescue SIPRI: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute STOVL: Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing UA: Unmanned Aircraft UAS: Unmanned Aircraft System UAV: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle US: United States USAF: United States Air Force USNORTHCOM: United States Northern Command WMD: Weapon of Mass Destruction 2 CANADA AND THE DEFENCE OF NORTH AMERICA: NORAD AND AERIAL READINESS INTRODUCTION The defence of Canada and of North America have long been the two primary missions of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), and as such have been of ongoing interest to the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence (the Committee) for some time. Over the last two years, the Committee held a number of hearings on this subject, and in June 2015, released a comprehensive report entitled Canada and the Defence of North America, which examined the various ways in which the CAF contribute to the defence of Canada and North America in collaboration with the United States (U.S.). That unanimous report covered a broad range of issues, including: Canada’s cooperation with the U.S. in the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD); the evolution of the Canada-U.S. defence relationship; defence policy; defence procurement; domain awareness; operational readiness in the aerospace, maritime and land domains; cyber security; Arctic sovereignty and security; search and rescue; and disaster relief and military aid to the civilian authorities, among other important issues.1 Since that time a new Parliament has been elected and the Government of Canada has launched a defence policy review, to be completed by the end of 2016 and publicly released in early 2017. As part of the defence policy review’s public consultation process, the Committee has been invited to “study issues of relevance” to inform the development of a new defence policy.2 Every day, members of the CAF Regular Force and Reserve Force devote their lives to defend Canada and its population, and over the years many of them have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. The Committee would like to take this