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Like much else in the Canadian Armed Forces, the Royal Canadian Navy’s submarine fleet is rapidly aging out. The RCN’s second-hand Victoria-class diesel-electric submarines, built for the Royal Navy in the 1980s, will reach the end of their service life in the 2030s. The four Victoria-class submarines are already showing signs of their age, having become Read More…
As the US and Israel’s campaign against Iran continues, it has potential to draw NATO, and Canada as a member of the alliance into uncharted territory. Canada finds itself walking a diplomatic tightrope: offering political support to its allies while firmly keeping its troops out of the fight. This “support without participation” stance has allowed Canada to preserve alliance solidarity and avoid military overreach, but it’s increasingly tested as missiles enter NATO airspace and resources grow thin across theaters. With European allies diverging in their responses, the big question remains: how long can political backing alone satisfy an alliance under mounting pressure? For now, Canada is banking on de-escalation but the Tehran precedent, though on a two-week pause, is still very much a work in progress.
This article examines Canada’s decision to replace the Canadian Armed Forces’ C7 and C8 rifles alongside similar service rifle modernization efforts in France, Denmark, and the United Kingdom. It examines that the replacement is not driven by age alone, but by the need for greater adaptability, compatibility with modern accessories, and continued effectiveness across different operational settings. Rather than pointing to a single NATO-wide process, these cases reflect a broader pattern among several allies seeking to update the equipment carried by frontline personnel. Together, they show that service rifle replacement has implications not only for readiness, but also for interoperability, training, maintenance, and longer-term defence planning.
The Strait of Hormuz is barely 30 miles wide at its narrowest point, yet it is arguably one of the most consequential stretches of water on earth. Through this narrow corridor connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman flows approximately 20 million barrels of oil per day (b/d); roughly 20% of global petroleum Read More…
Narayan Srivastava explores how the weaponization of subsea connectivity threatens the backbone of the global economy and cloud infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific region.
What is Mark Carney’s ‘variable geometry’ strategy, and does it differ significantly from previous concepts of Canadian foreign policy? In this piece, Joel Sawyer (Indo-Pacific and NATO Junior Research Fellow) analyzes continuity and change in Canada’s Indo-Pacific engagement across the current decade, what variable geometry offers, and the challenge posed by worsening global economic conditions.
In his latest piece, Narayan Srivistava argues that Carney’s Indo-Pacific tour was a deliberate push to diversify Canada’s partnerships, improve ties with both developing and developed countries in Asia, and integrate Canada more securely inside the economic and geopolitical networks shaping the region’s future.
How should NATO respond to growing strategic links between the Taiwan Strait and the Euro-Atlantic theatre? In this article, Nguyen Bao Han Tran examines China’s calibrated military pressure on Taiwan and argues that NATO must prepare for the indirect consequences of a Taiwan contingency, from defence-industrial strain to cross-regional deterrence challenges.
Dans les conflits armés contemporains, la violence ne se limite plus aux affrontements militairesdirects, mais s’étend à des leviers indirects visant à affaiblir la résilience des sociétés civiles. Elles’étend désormais aux infrastructures civiles essentielles, et en particulier aux systèmes de santé,qui sont de plus en plus pris pour cibles de manière délibérée. Pourquoi la destruction Read More…
Canada’s decision to replace its aging CF-18 fleet has taken on new geopolitical weight. Initially committed to procuring 88 F-35s, Ottawa began reconsidering further orders in 2025 amid deteriorating US-Canada relations, turning its attention to Sweden’s Gripen as an alternative. This article evaluates the two programs across four dimensions: homeland defence, alliance interoperability, industrial sovereignty, and combat performance. It finds that while the F-35 offers superior stealth and NATO integration, the Gripen presents compelling advantages in Arctic operability, cost efficiency, and supply chain independence. Ultimately, the right choice depends on whether Canada prioritizes allied commitments or long-term defence autonomy.