Carney Calls on Canada for Citizens' Army, as NATO Warns of Russian Attack Within 5 Years

[Dr Strangelove]

[Dr Strangelove]

Record Scale: The event featured over 212,000 square feet of space and 320 exhibiting defense firms (0:41 - 0:52).
Prime Ministerial Presence: In a historic first, Prime Minister Mark Carney attended the show and announced the acquisition of GlobalEye aircraft—a joint venture between Saab and Bombardier (1:41 - 2:03).
Budget Promises: The government reiterated its commitment to meeting the NATO defense spending goal of 2% of GDP by 2035 (2:12 - 2:16).
Historical Context and Caution:
Taylor urges caution, comparing the current optimism to the 1987 Progressive Conservative white paper on defense. He notes that while the 1987 era brought similar excitement and ambitious procurement plans (including nuclear-powered submarines), those goals were ultimately abandoned following the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union (2:41 - 4:01).

Taylor concludes by highlighting that the current Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) face significant personnel shortages, contrasting today's recruitment efforts with the 1990s, when the military offered cash incentives for members to leave during a force reduction program (4:07 - 4:36).

[Dr Strangelove]

Canada confirms purchase of 26 HIMARS rocket launchers from U.S. government

[Dr Strangelove]

Carney announces made-in-Canada armoured vehicle deal worth nearly $2B

Strategic Partnership Benefits: Stephen Fuhr, Secretary of State for Defence Procurement, explains that designating General Dynamics as a strategic partner provides greater certainty, improves communication with the government, and allows for faster delivery of vehicles to meet evolving threats like drones (0:37-1:30, 6:09-6:37).
Supply Chain and Job Impact: The deal is expected to create or sustain 6,000 jobs annually over eight years. A notable shift in this procurement is the sourcing of steel from Canada rather than the United States, which helps maximize value for the Canadian economy (0:21-0:26, 2:10-2:43).
Future Outlook: The discussion briefly touches upon upcoming announcements regarding an international consortium for next-generation fighter jets (GCAP) and addresses questions regarding the current status of F-35 procurement, which remains under review (7:41-8:12, 9:57-10:30).
Total value: Nearly $2 billion over four years.

Vehicles: 190 new ACSVs, expanding the fleet from 360 → 550.

Builder: General Dynamics Land Systems–Canada (GDLS‑Canada) in London, Ontario.

Status: GDLS‑Canada becomes Canada’s first Strategic Partner under the Defence Industrial Strategy.

Jobs: Expected to create or sustain ~6,000 Canadian jobs every year for eight years across a supply chain of 600+ Canadian suppliers.

What the vehicles are
The ACSVs are multi‑role armoured support vehicles designed for:

Protection against mines, IEDs, and enemy fire

High mobility to keep pace with frontline forces

Use in training exercises at bases nationwide

Long‑term fleet modernization and future upgrade pathways

They are built entirely in Canada — Canadian steel, Canadian components, Canadian assembly — aligning with Carney’s “build, partner, buy” doctrine.

[Dr Strangelove]

Economic & Industrial Strategy: The deal, which will be executed by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada in London, Ontario, is designed to generate or sustain approximately 6,000 jobs annually over eight years (0:36 - 2:40).
The "Build, Partner, Buy" Framework: Prime Minister Mark Carney's new policy prioritizes building capabilities domestically first, partnering with allies (like Sweden or Germany) for technology, and only buying from foreign sources with specific conditions to ensure Canada retains maintenance and upgrade leverage (4:12 - 5:44).
Operational Sovereignty: By shifting the focus from simple "shopping" for military hardware to long-term industrial investment, the government aims to ensure Canada can maintain and repair its own equipment without needing permission or parts from foreign suppliers during potential geopolitical shifts (5:44 - 7:38).
Supply Chain Impact: The project integrates suppliers from across Canada, including Ryan Manufacturing (BC), Interpro (Saskatchewan), Tales Canada (Quebec), and IMP Aerospace and Defence (Nova Scotia), creating a coast-to-coast industrial network (6:45 - 7:12).
Conclusion:
The video posits that this shift is not about isolation but about making Canada a more capable and sovereign ally that brings its own technological and industrial resources to the table, rather than being a dependent customer.


And we are never going back. This habit is an instant ritual.

[Dr Strangelove]

As recent events in Ukraine, Russia, and Iran have clearly demonstrated, the nature of modern warfare is changing fast (think: drones). Canada will get left behind if it doesn’t start innovating fast. And that could have not just a winning effect on its defence capabilities but also it’s an opportunity to stimulate other industries. Host Stephen Marche explores the advent of drone warfare with Tim Mak, Kyiv-based publisher of The Counteroffensive; and Cameron Chell, a Canadian  aerospace and defence tech entrepreneur at Dragonfly, shares how the nascent Canadian drone industry can drive technological innovation, not just in the defence sphere but also in a multitude of other uses that will bolster the country’s economy.
The Drone Revolution: Through insights from Tim Mak (The Counteroffensive), the video highlights how Ukraine has effectively used decentralized, agile innovation to fight an asymmetrical war. Ukraine integrates engineers directly into 'combat hubs' with military personnel to iterate on tech like FPV drones, fiber-optic tethers, and electronic warfare countermeasures every few days (5:10 - 14:45).
Defense as Industrial Policy: Cameron Chell from Draganfly explains that modern military investment is about more than just weapons; it is a dual-use strategy. By investing in areas like autonomy, mesh networking, and hardened communications, Canada can foster an innovation ecosystem that supports both national defense and commercial economic growth (16:15 - 24:15).
The Need for Speed: The episode emphasizes that the traditional multi-year procurement process is inadequate for current threats. Canada is beginning to shift toward faster, more competitive procurement models to encourage agility and attract top technical talent into the military (19:25 - 20:30).
Sovereignty and Resilience: Marche argues that Canada must achieve economic and digital sovereignty to protect itself, especially as a middle power. This requires utilizing the proposed massive defense budget—aiming for 5% of GDP—to build a robust, self-sustaining defense-industrial base (24:45 - 28:00).

[Dr Strangelove]

Submarine Project: Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that TKMS of Germany is the preferred bidder for up to 12 new diesel-electric submarines, with life-cycle costs exceeding $100 billion (0:27 - 0:45).
ACSV Contract: The government awarded a $2 billion contract to General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada to build 190 additional Armoured Combat Support Vehicles (0:55 - 1:12).
Light Utility Vehicle (LUV) Replacement: The competition to replace aging Mercedes-Benz G-Wagons and Chevrolet Silverados has been narrowed to two Canadian companies. The project aims to acquire 1,600 to 2,100 vehicles for a total cost between $1 billion and $5 billion (1:49 - 2:13).
Historical Context and Criticism
Procurement Delays: The narrator criticizes the Canadian practice of buying entire fleets at once rather than conducting annual, incremental refreshes (2:23 - 2:53).
Lessons from the Past: The video highlights the political cancellation of the Iltis replacement program in the 1990s by the Chrétien government (3:21 - 3:42). This forced troops to use outdated vehicles in Afghanistan, leading to tragic consequences, including the death of Corporal Jamie Murphy in 2004 (3:46 - 4:42).


For Murphy! God I hated the Eltis. What a POS that was. The tires would hypnotize you to sleep on highway speeds and it was a gutless wonder in the mud.

[testerone]

Interesting opinion otherwise gibberish.
You buy fleets s you don't require 10,000 different parts and tools and all mechanics can fix all vehicles.
They're all specced out to a common denominator.
And WTF with the Iltis BS criticizing it for an open top rather than the BS of building $5,000 VW Things for $80,000 here? They're Jeeps that are unarmoured runabouts abd scouts. We should've bought or leased Humvees for that mission.
Nice to have hindsight isn't it? The crystal ball didn't prepare us for maniacal nutcases that jump in your car and blow themselves up too.
And there's still a place for an old fashioned Jeep in the forces. Need LAVs to pull planes from their hangars, to carry people around their own base?

[Dr Strangelove]

Jeep CJ were good before the Iltis but getting parts for them was like finding hens teeth. It's not like we couldn't contract this out to a domestic order either. It's not rocket science, it's a supply issue. You need a 4x4 that is cheap, mass produced and can haul in the mud. We have plenty of options but as in Ukraine the problem is with the acquisition process and the corruption that happens when you go single source when awarding contracts. When the public accountability is cut out of the process to shortcut the time it takes from the white paper to troops on the line it is the public purse and the troops that pay the price.