The Canadian military says problems affecting Rafael’s Spike LR2 missiles has been solved. (Rafale photo)
By David Pugliese
The last couple of months have put procurement projects for the Canadian Army in the spotlight.
First there was the reporting in the National Post and later by myself in the Ottawa Citizen about problems affecting Rafael’s Spike LR2 missiles.
The federal government spent U.S. $32 million ($45 million Canadian) to purchase the Spike anti-tank missiles for use by Canadian Forces personnel in Latvia But more than half of the new anti-tank missiles provided to the Canadian military during initial testing didn’t function properly, the Department of National Defence confirmed.
“During Initial Cadre Training conducted by the company on July 15-16, 2024, five out of eight missiles experienced functionality issues,” stated DND spokesman Nick Drescher Brown. “We continue to work closely with the equipment manufacturer to identify and address the root cause of these issues.”
Rafale, the manufacturer of the Spike LR2 missiles, has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
But the Canadian Forces states the problems have been solved. However, they have refused to outline what exactly was wrong. That is because the Canadian Army and Department of National Defence want to protect the commercial interests of the Israeli missile manufacturer, Rafael.
“Full Operational Capability is still expected to be reached for winter 2026,” DND public affairs official Alex Tétreault noted in an email response.
In February 2023, the Ottawa Citizen reported that the Canadian Army was fast-tracking its purchase of the anti-tank weapons as well as air defence systems for troops stationed in Latvia. The equipment was classified as an Urgent Operational Requirement, the same process used during the Afghanistan war to quickly obtain gear without going through the slower traditional procurement procedures.
DND spokesperson Dresher Brown previously stated that, in the interest of getting the new missiles quickly for the Latvia mission, no live-fire tests or demonstrations were performed during the selection process. “This technical risk was assessed and deemed acceptable as all of the potential bidders had delivered thousands of units of this product to other customers by that point in time,” he said in an email in December 2024.
The ongoing issues affected both the Spike missiles and launchers.
Problem solved…hopefully.
But the Canadian Army is facing additional issues with its plan to acquire “Binocular Night Vision Devices (BNVD).” The estimated cost of the contract is around $100 million.
Questions have been raised about how the procurement is unfolding and whether the fix is in for U.S.-supplied equipment. Recent changes in specifications for the image intensifier tubes that are the heart of the binoculars have all but limited those to systems built by U.S.-firms.
That would run contrary to the plan by Prime Minister Mark Carney to shift the reliance away from U.S. equipment. The idea behind that plan is to prevent further blackmail by U.S. President Donald Trump who has threatened Canada’s economy as well as sovereignty.
Industry sources tell Esprit de Corps that the technical requirements for this tender were unexpectedly amended upon release of the final RFQ on March 4, 2025 such that European-made and Canadian-distributed tubes no longer met the mandatory criteria for the bid.
This change by DND to the RFQ’s Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) minimum requirement (from SNR 31 to SNR 33) necessarily privileges U.S.-based tube manufacturers.
More reasons for concern emerged because DND specifically communicated to potential bidders during the RFI stage (over the course of three years) that they were likely to drop the SNR requirement from 31 to 29, if performance could be maintained. But later, DND instead increased it. That means European manufactured tubes are out and U.S. made tubes are in.
The US tubes are ITAR restricted, meaning that if the US wanted to it could cut off replacement parts. What makes the situation additionally suspicious is that even in U.S. Army tenders they have never specified a minimum SNR requirement.
The Canadian Army’s procurement of night vision binoculars has run into allegations that the acquisition process is favouring U.S. equipment. (US DoD photo)
“We are surprised that the technical requirements of Canada’s Binocular Night Vision Devices procurement exclude industry-leading European manufacturers of component parts,” Frederic Guilhem, a top official at Photonis, said in a statement to the Ottawa Citizen. “As a result, the small number of bidders who might meet this unusual criteria are favoured, rather than prioritizing best possible technical capability for the end user — the Canadian Armed Forces.”
Photonis, which develops and manufactures high-tech electro-optical systems, is based in France. It’s products are distributed in Canada by Cadex Defence, a Quebec firm.
Many NATO nations use Photonis image intensifier tubes in their night-vision equipment, including Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands, Finland and Poland. French and Australian forces also use Photonis systems.
Unlike the U.S.-built image intensifier tubes, there are no export restrictions on the Photonis systems or other European-built night-vision equipment.
In response to the controversy, DND and Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) released statements that the competition will be fair. PSPC spokesman Jeremy Link noted in an email that the “competitive procurement process is being conducted in an open, fair and transparent manner. An independent, third-party Fairness Monitor has been engaged to monitor this procurement.”
In other news, Simon Page, a top official at Public Services and Procurement Canada, is heading into retirement. Page is Assistant Deputy Minister, Defence and Marine Procurement and has overseen the major military equipment programs for the department.
Siobhan Harty will assume the role of Senior Assistant Deputy Minister of Defence and Marine Procurement, according to the announcement from Arianne Reza, the PSPC deputy minister.
Page, a former rear admiral, left the Royal Canadian Navy in 2019 to take up a senior procurement position at the Department of National Defence. In February 2021, Page took over as Assistant Deputy Minister, Defence and Marine Procurement, at PSPC.
Harty joined PSPC in September 2023 on a special assignment as Senior Assistant Deputy Minister of Defence Procurement Review. That job was to lead a government-wide review of defence procurement. The work of the review office will continue under Harty’s leadership, according to the announcement.
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