We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. We have allies who are highly skilled at building weapons. Let’s work with them to rebuild our long-neglected defences.
Canada is in desperate need of a rapid and massive military build-up. With Russia & China expanding their military spending and seeking to reshape the world order in a way that would crush human liberty, it is long past time for Canada to remember that we were once a well-respected military power able to contribute not only to our own defence but to the defence of freedom worldwide.
Of course, it’s one thing to say this, and another thing to figure out what it actually means.
Where do we start?
What do we do?
This is the challenge that will confront either the next government or the current government (if they get serious about rebuilding our defences).
Thankfully, we do not face this task alone.
Our nation is blessed to be part of the world’s greatest defensive alliance. And many of our NATO partners are quite effective at building weapons and willing to build factories in allied nations.
So, we should partner with our allies to get started on our military build-up.
There are two allied companies in particular we should look at.
The first is MBDA Missile Systems.
MBDA is a multinational company founded by the merger of British, French, and Italian missile companies.
The company now has factories across Western Europe:
Canada should seek to partner with MBDA – most likely with MBDA UK – and push to build a missile production factory in our nation. This would likely require a significant up-front investment to make it worth MBDA’s while, but our allies would likely be pleased to see Canada seeking to expand our production capabilities.
Consider it this way:
At a time when hostile authoritarian states are building up rapidly, why is our country spending billions on subsidies for EV companies rather than spending billions to produce the kinds of advanced missiles that will be key to success if the world is plunged into a wide-scale war?
In addition to reaching out to MBDA, Canada should reach out to Germany’s Rheinmetall to start producing tanks within our country. Canada already operates the German Leopard tanks, and Rheinmetall already has a subsidiary in Canada:
“Rheinmetall Canada is one of the largest providers of land defence systems and battle management systems to the federal government and is prime contractor on several key programs, including the repair and overhaul of the Leopard 2 A4 training tanks, the 40 mm close area suppression weapon, the MASS Multi Ammunition Softkill System for the Halifax Class Shield Replacement, and the Integrated Soldier System (ISS) Project. Rheinmetall Canada also is a proud member of the successful Textron Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV) team.”
Canada should invest to expand this presence, through the construction of a tank factory in Canada. Rheinmetall already produces tanks in factories in other NATO partner nations, and Canada should join them:
Rheinmetall has a tank factory in Hungary, is planning to build tank factories in Ukraine, and – as reported on July 3rd of this year – is partnering with Italy to build tanks there:
“Italian defence group Leonardo (LDOF.MI), opens new tab and German peer Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE), opens new tab have agreed to form a joint venture to produce tanks and other land defence systems, the two companies said on Wednesday.
The first goal of the 50-50 enterprise, which will be headquartered in Italy, will be to develop the Italian Main Battle Tank and Armoured Infantry Combat System for the Italian Army, they said in a joint statement.”
While Canada does not have tank manufacturing firms, we don’t need to reinvent the wheel here. We can start building the same tanks the Canadian Armed Forces operates now, and we can do so within our country by partnering with Rheinmetall.
Canada needs weapons, and we need them now.
So we need to think in all timescales. We need very short-term moves like purchasing equipment immediately (more F-35s for instance), short-term moves like investing billions in our own 155mm artillery shell production companies and partnering with allied companies to build more weapons here, and medium to long-term moves like investing in Canadian military R&D to strengthen our defence industry.
The moment for action to respond to a more dangerous world was years ago. But we can’t go back in time. So, the best we can do is get started now and work with our allies to ensure Canada shifts from being a NATO laggard to instead being a growing arsenal of democracy that can defend our own nation and defend our valued friends.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
