Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/337874
C CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT by Chris Thatcher 26 JUNE/JULY 2014 www.vanguardcanada.com ing sure we are framing this into an agreed upon intellectual property framework. But at the highest level of industry and the air force, there was a keen interest to push down the boundaries of how far we could dream together." "Over years, the interaction between industry and DND for concept develop- ment was lacking," Lieutenant-Colonel Danny Poitras, section head for concept development and experimentation at the warfare centre, acknowledged. "In the current context, there have been so many things happening that the timing is right to do something about it." The initiative draws heavily from the Solider System Technology Roadmap (SSTRM), a process launched by the Ca- nadian Army in 2009 to collaborate with industry, academia, defence scientists, other government agencies and subject matter experts on future requirements and possible solutions. While the SSTRM relied on workshops to initiate discussion about key topics, much of the interaction then moved on- line, facilitated through a wiki known as the ICEE (Innovation, Collaboration and Exchange Environment). The RCAF is le- veraging the same tool, with its own look and feel, to foster discussion. "It is a good solution for what we are trying to achieve," Poitras said. "Instead of recreating a tool, we are building on it. And the folks who supported the soldier system process through DRDC (Defence R&D Canada) are the same folks support- ing us for ESI." The army used the process to develop a comprehensive roadmap document. Cournoyer does not rule out road mapping fu- ture air force technology requirements as the initiative evolves, but he stressed the primary objective at this stage is concept development, building a "flexible frame- work" that can be adapted over time. Initiating concepts On the eve of CANSEC in late May, the CFAWC met with interested industry rep- resentatives to introduced the first two projects on which it intends to move for- ward: future search and rescue capabilities and ISR and antisubmarine warfare (ASW) considerations. "We had to pick some initiating futures concepts that we could try out this new vehicle mutually with industry," Courn- oyer explained. "We restricted ourselves to future SAR concepts and future ISR, recognizing that the future SAR concept, although you might think it is relatively RCAF seeks engagement on emerging concepts PERCHANCE TO DREAM T hey might seem like strange marching orders, but last fall Lieutenant-General Yvan Blon- din, commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), tasked the Canadian Forces Air Warfare Centre with developing a way for the RCAF, industry and academia to "dream" together. Sensitive to the frequent criticism that the military does not engage early enough with the defence and aerospace sector, and wary of the complications associated with discussions about products that could eventually involve procurement projects, Blondin sought a means to collaborate that would help the air force understand emerging technology and develop future concepts. In early December at a Joint Forces Outlook hosted by the Canadian Asso- ciation of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), Colonel Martin Cournoyer, commander of the warfare centre, un- veiled the Emerging Skies Initiative (ESI). The initiative falls into what Cournoyer calls a "safe space," focused on what the military refers to as Horizon 3, a period 10 to 30 years into the future that none- theless requires conceptual thinking today. And it's long overdue. With the opera- tional tempo of the past decade, especially the pace of operations in Afghanistan and a focus on immediate procurement proj- ects to address operational needs, looking at the future took a backseat, he admits. "We need to understand technology and where it could drive us. The ESI is not without challenges, including ensur- ing we don't become perceived as favour- ing one industry over another, so we are being very careful to be all inclusive, mak-