Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/111458
S Science & Technology is untrafficable," St. Hilaire says. "In old simulations, the road was hardcoded. You could run the simulator all day long with torrential rain. It would not change the nature of the road. In dynamic synthetic environments, the water would modify the road, as it happens in reality, and the modifications may impact how a mission is carried out." By presenting more realistic scenarios, CAE's technology better prepares trainees for situations they'll encounter on the battlefield. General Dynamics: Combat-net radio General Dynamics Canada has served military clients for over 60 years. According to Chris Pogue, vice-president of land and joint solutions, that long history enables the company to direct R&D to help customers perform better and reduce costs. General Dynamics provided the Canadian Forces with combat-net Photo:Thales radios in the late-1990s. Recognizing the requirement for increased data throughput, the company initiated an R&D project to show a viable upgrade path for the current radio set. The project led to a solution that will be deployed in 2014. The solution allows simultaneous operation of voice, chat and positional-awareness reporting – capabilities unavailable with the current radios but important for soldier tracking. "The soldier will know where the other soldiers are," Pogue says. "It goes a long way toward helping them carry out their mission safely." According to Pogue, the solution will extend the life of the combat-net radio by a decade and helps the CF avoid a costly replacement program. "None of this would have been possible if we hadn't developed real trust with the customer through our 60-plus years in that environment," Pogue says. Thales: Soldier systems suite Thales Group pours approximately 20 percent of revenues into R&D, notes Mark Halinaty, vice-president Photo: General Dynamics 30 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2013 www.vanguardcanada.com and general manager of Thales Canada Defence & Security. That funding supports facilities such as the company's research and technology centre in Quebec City and the Defence and Security Centre at Queen's University in Kingston. The company's efforts enable it to keep up to date with the latest technologies. In fact, Thales poured its latest applicable advancements into its bid for the Department of National Defence's Integrated Soldier System Project (ISSP) procurement. DND invited bids for a suite of equipment designed to help soldiers communicate with command centres. But in defence contracts, as in life, nothing is guaranteed. DND cancelled the ISSP procurement in January because none of the bidders met the criteria. Halinaty says the cancellation is a surprise but acknowledged, "it's difficult to find compliance on such a complex bid." While at press time Thales was waiting to hear what DND plans to do about the procurement, Halinaty notes that despite hurdles, it's important for Thales to invest significantly in R&D to meet military customer needs.