Vanguard Magazine

www.vanguardcanada.com JUNE/JULY 2022 27 Sponsored Content and potentially onto other platforms or even satellites. Q You must be pretty excited about this opportunity. Absolutely. We feel we have a strong back- ground in integration of not only new pay- loads, but also with the different ground systems. Again, there is potential in this opportunity to grow beyond just airborne solutions. Q Michel, your product is used extensively in the Arctic territories, certainly large portions. Can you tell us, can GA-ASI aircra operate in extreme cold temperatures? That's correct. When you look at the class of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, you are talking already high altitude, very long reach. You encounter all kinds of climate and environment conditions. The real breakthrough then is to bring this experi- ence and expertise and make it a truly all- weather aircraft system. From start-up all the way to shut down, the ability to deal with cold soaking the systems, lightning, and so forth. The system is receiving cer- tification to operate as an all-weather air- craft system. And that is exactly what the MQ-9B SkyGuardian is. Therefore, it's the true fit for Canada and its mission re- quirements. Q France, CAE is known as a world leader for flight and air crew training. One of the things I wanted to ask you about was, how has developing simulators for unmanned aircra differed from manned aircra? In many aspects, simulating an unmanned aircraft is much like a manned one, but the difference is that the cockpit of the aircraft is located on the ground. All the aircraft systems, flight behavior and sensors need to be simulated with a high degree of fidel- ity to immerse the crew and provide train- ing value. Where simulating an unmanned aircraft gets more complex is the com- munication link to the aircraft. This needs to be properly simulated, which includes, when the communication link is degraded due to weather or other factors. An un- manned aircraft is also an eye in the sky and thus is integrated into broader information gathering analysis, command and control. All these support systems must also be sim- ulated to deliver the high-fidelity mission training capability. Q Cameron, you had mentioned that through L3Harris Technologies you are able to offer world leading capabilities. And I wanted to ask you what makes your MX-20 such a great EO IR system? The thousand MX-20s are just a fraction of the over 6,000 total MX systems that Wes- cam has delivered across its history and the world. They are active in over 85 different countries with 400 customers on over 230 platforms. if you look specifically at MQ- 9, we have been working with GA-AIS for more than five years. Back in 2020, we ac- tually integrated the MX-20 on the MQ-9, proving advanced sensor performance on the platform as well as successful integra- tion. Since that time, we have deployed the system, and it's got over 5,000 operational hours on the MX-20, which has operated flawlessly. In terms of the actual sensor it- self, the Wescam MX-20 is equipped with high sensitivity, multi-spectral sensors for day, low light, and nighttime missions and operates at the top of its class in terms of detection and recognition capabilities from ultra-high altitudes. Q Dr. Suchan, MDA has such a strong history of supporting adaptive, active operations for government. What unique capabilities will MDA bring to the table that are going to help provide the solution for RPAS. Of course, MDA is excited to be on Team SkyGuardian. We bring two unique capa- bilities: one is the fact that we have sup- ported active operations for the Canadian government and others in the past, and we have a strong Canadian heritage in both designing, building, and integrating air- borne radar payloads. Get even more of the conversation by listening to this complete interview in audio form. PERSPECTIVE ing, end use of the open geospatial con- sortium, common database architecture for interoperable and networked training capabilities. A key understanding to flying RPAS is that they are truly remotely piloted air- craft. The same fundamental understand- ing of basic flight mechanics is required. Either you're physically in the cockpit, di- rectly translating pilot inputs to the aircraft control services or doing that through a data link of some type. Q Cameron, much like CAE, I know that L3Harris Wescam has a long history of supplying your electro optical infrared (EO IR) systems on MQ-9A aircra. Is it true that your new MX-20, which is built right here in Canada, will be featured on the MQ-9B SkyGuardian for Canada? Absolutely. Let me talk about two things that I'm particularly passionate about. One is Canada and its requirements, and Wescam obviously is the other one. In- deed, the MX-20 is made here in Canada. For those of you who don't know Wescam, we're located in Waterdown Ontario. We just opened a new factory that is dedicated to electro optical infrared sensors produc- tion. We're employing over 1500 Canadi- ans in our factory and across the country and we're excited to be part of the team. The MX-20 is a particularly strong part of our product line and very well suited to the RPAS program requirements. We've actually delivered over 1000 systems. The first of which dates back to 1998 on the P3 aircraft, which Canada also operates. Q That's really interesting and congratulations. Dr. Suchan, how does MDA feel to be part of Team SkyGuardian? MDA is proud to be on the Team Sky- Guardian, we bring a strong background in providing in-theater capability for the Canadian government. And we strongly believe that the Team SkyGuardian is able to bring really proven Canadian capabili- ties to the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Sys- tem. We're especially excited about this opportunity, not only to provide that strong Canadian solution again, but also to continue growing our technical capa- bilities for remote airborne solutions. We believe that RPAS will continue to be in- tegrated even beyond the current systems

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