Dave Perry

Presto - all of @NATO estimated to be meeting the 2014 Wales Investment Pledge. RIP to the now empty Quadrant of Shame - the bottom left hand corner previously representing those like Canada that weren't spending 2% of GDP on defence, or 20% of their budget on equipment and R&D

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Stiiiiillllll broken: canada.ca/en/department-…

PSA: link remains broken. canada.ca/en/department-…

Caveat, we won't actually know for certain how final year end spending measured up for months, but I suspect the real measure will be what @NATO *estimates* on the next public document, not whatever that might be revised to after all the books close. 🤞no more Quadrant of Shame!

One week left in FY 2025/2026 which means 7 days remaining for Canada to hit the 2014 @NATO investment pledge of spending 2% of GDP on @NationalDefence There's enough optimism on this that it now seems likely.

@MidOfficer thoughts and prayers to this well intentioned plea

I am once again begging people not to simply divide the contract value by the quantity and assuming that's the unit cost. 20-40% of any military contract is typically in-service support, spare parts, accessories, training, all necessary additional spending above item cost.

@DivebumChef No, I caught that. Doesn't look much like rushing to me, and it looks like the word 'appropriate' is doing some heavy lifting in that statement.

@DavePerryCGAI you must have missed this, looks like a coalition coming together under UN resolution gov.uk/government/new…

Why aren't European navies rushing to reopen the strait of Hormuz?

Good to finally see progress towards making more Canadian ammunition. theglobeandmail.com/business/econo…

@HowardFremeth @jec79 You could read that the other way though. If we could only send three personnel against the Junior Varsity threat, unlikely to have more vs Senior squad.

@jec79 @DavePerryCGAI Hopefully we have more now to offer than the three personnel we sent to defend the Red Sea shipping lanes from the Houthis

I mean, with respect to @DavePerryCGAI, seems like the RCN could muster frigate or two to assist in area air defence, no? Couple Auroras? Too bad the Kingston-class are largely dockside paid off as they were built as mine sweepers 🤷🏻‍♂️

@steffanwatkins @NationalDefence @CanadianForces @CJOC_COIC Doesn't mention Kuwait though? 'Under Operation AMARNA the CAF will conduct exercises, defence diplomacy, support NATO mission Iraq, capacity building in Jordan and Lebanon, and contributions to the Combined Maritime Force, in support regional peace and security.'

@DavePerryCGAI @NationalDefence @CanadianForces @CJOC_COIC "Operation (Op) AMARNA replaces Ops ARTEMIS and IMPACT as part of Canada’s contribution to strengthening peace and security in the Middle East." canada.ca/en/department-…

I spoke to @CBCRaffy yesterday for the @CBCTheNational about Iranian strikes impacting @CanadianForces troops in Kuwait and how the Government of Canada disclosed the incident. cbc.ca/player/play/vi…

For anyone following along - CAF Operations website remains as described here. No info available on @CanadianForces in Kuwait.

I was fortunate to join @MarcoWerman on @TheWorld to talk about @MarkJCarney announcement on Cdn Arctic infrastructure. A multigenerational investment in Canada's Arctic defence that will let Canada deploy modern military capability in & across our North theworld.org/segments/2026/…

Almost two weeks into the war, where do we stand: -we have no more clarity on the US endgoal (beyond "this will stop when Trump feels like it"). -it's increasingly unlikely the US will be able to translate real tactical successes (serious hits on Iran) into durable strategic gains. -the Islamic Republic is not on the verge of collapse. -if the Islamic Republic survives, it will be weaker and nastier. We need to think hard about the difficult consequences (for Iranians, for the region, and beyond) of this scenario, and how to manage them. The risk of the cycle of violence starting again would be high. -if the war goes on longer (weeks, months), the probability of the Islamic Republic falling increases. But what then? There is still no indication the Trump administration has prepared for this scenario. The opposition remains as fragmented as ever. -we can certainly wish for the Islamic Republic to disappear, but that is a hope, not a strategy. The more likely outcome if it does fall is chaos, not a democratic transition. -what will shape next steps? Domestic political pressure on Trump, more than actual developments in Iran or the Persian Gulf. Rising oil prices, mounting American casualties, etc. -(yes, the name is the *Persian Gulf)

Canada to Expand Military Presence in Arctic nytimes.com/2026/03/12/wor… via @NYTimes

great long read!

US has further eased Russian sanctions, allowing ALL countries (and not just India) to buy Russian oil already loaded by March 12. Vladimir Putin continues to cash in on President Trump's attack on Iran. The Kremlin can sell stranded oil barrels at much higher prices.

@NationalDefence @CanadianForces @CJOC_COIC As @WHMTE has written for @CAGlobalAffairs this is part of a longer trend. cgai.ca/fixing_strateg… cgai.ca/the_rise_and_f…

@NationalDefence @CanadianForces @CJOC_COIC So @CanadianForces members were deployed to an Air Base in the ME that came under Iranian fire but you couldn't tell they were even there in the first place from the official Canadian military website dedicated to operations.