Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/1481811
www.vanguardcanada.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2022 31 Sponsored Content Investing in, from and for Canada "Continental defence is the last unwrit- ten chapter in Canada's defence policy – Strong. Secure. Engaged.," said Garry Venman, chief executive of Raytheon Canada, a Raytheon Technologies sub- sidiary. "As a fighter weapons instructor for the Royal Canadian Air Force when I was flying NORAD missions, the biggest threat I faced was subsonic cruise missiles. Now the threats are faster and don't fly in a straight line." As a company, Raytheon Technologies continues to invest in developing capabili- ties to meet the specific requirements in the Canadian Arctic, including ongoing research and development of over-the-ho- rizon radar – a joint effort between Ray- theon Canada and Defence Research and Development Canada. According to a 2019 Department of Na- tional Defence, sky-wave radar is a technol- ogy for detecting air targets at all altitudes beyond the radar's horizon. This involves reflecting signals off the ionosphere and back to a receiving station located beyond the line of site. Once operational, the sys- tem will be used in conjunction with other systems to further understand the effect of the aurora borealis on target detection be- yond the horizon. Raytheon Technologies is investing in Skywave Over-The-Horizon Radar to modernize a capability that has been on- line and serving NORAD since the be- ginning. This next generation of OTHR provides greater fidelity, longer ranges and resilience working through varying atmo- spheric conditions, including the aurora borealis. While the underlying physics of the program remain relatively unchanged, the improved capabilities the Skywave brings to NORAD provides persistent 24/7 coverage at a considerably lower cost. Modernized command and control systems It's not enough just to have pieces of tech- nology – those pieces must work together to provide a single, integrated operational picture and provide tools to allow opera- tors to effectively communicate and take definitive actions. Raytheon Technolo- gies' solutions are measured not just by a single mission or invention, but by the larger ecosystem of disruptive technolo- gies they connect to – to succeed in any domain against any challenge for a safer, more connected world. Bob MacKenzie, technical director for Battle Management Command and Con- trol for Raytheon Missiles and Defense (a Raytheon Technologies business), was a panelist at the 2022 C4ISR and Beyond conference. During the panel, MacKenzie summarized the challenge by saying, "ev- ery item should be considered as a node in a network rather than an isolated ele- ment. The focus needs to be on delivering meaningful capability to our allied forces – not just delivering technology for tech- nology's sake." The optimum solution provides a com- mon operating picture that synthesizes and analyzes data allowing for quick, pro- active action. Research, development and innovation The system needs the ability to evolve and grow as the threat evolves. Raytheon Technologies is an active partner in mul- tiple consortia to establish the standard for open architecture. This set of standard software messages will enable advanced ra- dars to connect to mission systems, which ultimately allow any processor to plug and play into the network from open systems architecture sensors to secure communica- tions to battle management command and control. It is critical to develop systems that are aligned with industry, government, and NATO standards from the start and are built in an open architecture that allows for growth and incorporation of new technologies. This is key to mutual al- lied defence and maintaining the decision loop advantage over our adversaries mak- ing modernization efforts for NORAD a greater priority. Raytheon Technologies is contributing its multi-domain footprint of capabilities in space systems, resilient communications, sensors, effectors, secure processing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and mission software to the Joint All Domain Command and Control archi- tecture, or JADC2. Tomorrow's battles will require military commanders and operators to make more informed decisions faster than ever before. JADC2 is the Department of Defense's vision for a future command and control construct that will synchronize operations across every domain – sea, air, land, space, cyber, and the electromagnetic spectrum including with the Joint Force, U.S. allies and partners. For more information, visit www.rtx.com PERSPECTIVE