Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) Enhancement
Special Operation Forces must have the capacity to deploy rapidly, with little or no warning, in response to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or explosive events.
In these Main Estimates, National Defence is requesting $12 million for the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive Enhancement Project, excluding statutory costs.
Funds will be used to purchase specialized equipment including detectors such as portable x-ray devices, laboratory analysis equipment, and medical training mannequins and stores.
The funds will also allow for the purchase of vehicles, computers and communications equipment, and weather monitoring stations.
These enhanced capabilities will be deployable on short notice and help better detect, identify, and mitigate threats encountered by deployed Special Operations Forces.
Key Facts
The total estimated budget for this project is $88.2M, excluding taxes.
Items delivered to date include:
Vehicles and support equipment;
Protective clothing;
Weapons and targeting systems;
Portable detection and communications equipment; and
Remote controlled mobile detectors.
The vast majority of equipment acquired is delivered to 8 Wing Trenton, Ontario for use by the Canadian Joint Incident Response Unit.
Details
Economic Benefits
The project is midway way through the implementation phase. As such, we cannot pre-determine who the winning bidders are for the many equipment procurements.
However, it is possible that Canadian companies may benefit from this project by putting forth successful bids.
Canadian Joint Incident Response Unit (CJIRU)
CJIRU is an integral component of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) and provides a rapid chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear (CBRN) response capability for Special Operations Forces (SOF) missions.
Although decontamination is among CJIRU's capabilities, it focuses on detecting, identifying and mitigating CBRN risks.
In Canada, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) respond to CBRN events in support of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and in cooperation with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
Internationally, CJIRU conducts deployments that are usually short and often occur with little or no warning. Other CAF teams use CJIRU's specialized response capability abroad in the event of emergency incidents.
The unit is based in Trenton, Ontario, at 8 Wing.
Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) Enhancement
The CBRNe Project objective is to augment the CANSOFCOM and CJIRU CBRNe capability by delivering individual and collective equipment including detectors, analysis capabilities, medical, decontamination, explosive ordnance disposal, vehicles and support materiel.
COVID-19 Pandemic
At current, the CBRNe Project has not been directly impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The project office is working in close collaboration with the procurement and contracting authorities to minimize disruptions and prevent scheduling delays.
The Canadian Special Operations Regiment Equipment project procures and delivers specialized equipment to the Canadian Special Operations Regiment.
This includes personal equipment, such as uniforms and protective equipment, as well as weapon and communication systems.
In these Main Estimates, National Defence is requesting $33.2 million for this project.
These funds will be used to purchase:
Digitally Aided Close Air Support – an interface used for GPS and communications in targeted air strikes;
Multi-Role Family of Precision Missiles;
Weapon sights and weapon sights magnifiers; and
Speciality sniper equipment.
The vast majority of equipment acquired will be delivered to CFB Petawawa.
The project is expected to be completed by the end of June 2023.
Key Facts
The total estimated budget is $236.3M.
To date, the project has acquired hundreds of items, including:
Ultra-Light Combat Vehicles;
Small Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems;
Radios;
Satellite communications; and
Various small arms.
Details
CSOR Equipment Project
The CSOR Equipment Project will provide the additional depth, flexibility and sustainment necessary for the Regiment to support the sustained deployment of robust task-tailored Special Operations Task Forces.
The CSOR Equipment project will procure sufficient mission essential equipment to allow for the contribution to independent Special Operations Task Forces.
The CSOR Equipment project will be integrated and interoperable with CANSOFCOM elements and will leverage Canadian Armed Forces items and/or procure commercial off-the-shelf or military off-the-shelf.
The project has completed Phase 1, which means CSOR has attained the minimum ability to effectively employ this specialized equipment.
The project is currently in Phase 2, which will provide CSOR the full ability to effectively employ this specialized equipment.
COVID-19
COVID-19 has not had a significant impact on Canadian Special Operations Regiment (CSOR) Equipment purchases to date.
However, travel restrictions related to COVID-19 may have an impact on the purchase of the Multi-Role Family of Precision Missiles as international bidders are expected to travel to Canada from abroad to attend an industry event.
In addition, CSOR project team personnel are expected to travel abroad to visit bidder's facilities to witness the demonstrations.
As a mitigation measure, CSOR is looking into conducting a virtual Industry Day and finding Canadian government partners or trusted international partners that can witness the demonstrations on behalf of CSOR.
