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Baker McKenzie hosted a Canada Aerospace & Defense Roundtable featuring keynote speaker General Tom J. Lawson CMM, CD, Fmr CDS and Commander of NORAD.

We had an interactive discussion about the security challenges facing Canada and its allies around the world. General Lawson provided a comprehensive overview of the current A&D landscape.

Click here to watch an interview with General Lawson following the roundtable.

Our key takeaways from the program included the following:

  • General Lawson identified Russian aggression in the arctic and through cyber attacks, as well as North Korean missiles, domestic and international terrorism, and climate change, as some of the key security challenges facing Canada and its allies in light of recent troubling developments around the world.
  • Procurement of UAV’s, further investments in intelligence gathering, fighter aircraft, early warning systems & missile defense for completion of NORAD capabilities, naval investments were identified by General Lawson as defense and security.
  • Shared capabilities and joint procurement opportunities facing A&D companies can often be addressed by off the shelf solutions and an international standard across NATO allies.
  • The rapidity of technological advancement and lethality of weapons and the ingenuity and persistence of terrorist accentuates the challenges facing A&D companies and the countries they seek to serve.
  • Volatility of the politics including domestic pressures, election cycles and pressure on supply chains has negative implications for the ongoing trade issues between the US, Canada and Mexico.
  • Enormous appetite for certainty and the need to meet much higher ethical standards and public demands for transparency and inclusivity from industry and government were expressed as takeaways about effective compliance programs.
Author

Howard Weissman is of counsel in Baker McKenzie's Washington, D.C., office. He has decades of experience in advising on US laws and regulations directly impacting international business operations such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and US antiboycott laws, International Traffic in Arms Regulations, Export Administration Regulations, and foreign agency and anti-bribery laws. Mr. Weissman has designed and implemented corporate anti-corruption compliance programs and training programs. He served as vice president and associate general counsel at Lockheed Martin Corporation, where he worked for more than 25 years.