Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
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U UnderWATer wARfARe www.vanguardcanada.com APRIL/MAY 2015 39 Export revenues also help to sustain Ultra's extensive supply chain. For the Multi-static Active Passive Sonar project alone, Ul- tra awarded subcontracts to more than 20 Canadian suppliers, most of them small businesses, for key components including handling gear, precision machined parts, and electronic circuit assemblies. Furthermore, many of these suppliers have derived additional busi- ness from exposure to Ultra's network of partners and customers. Looking to the future, leadership in innovation is key to com- manding a strong position in the market. On the heels of the con- tract for the Multi-static Active Passive Sonar, Ultra signed an un- derwater defence cooperation agreement with the Dutch Defence Material Organization for ongoing development and support of underwater defence activities. In 2013, with the assistance of Industry Canada, Ultra initiated a six-year research and development project to develop next genera- tion sonar technologies. This $27.4 million program is funded with $19 million from Ultra and $8.4 million from Industry Canada in the form of a repayable contribution under the Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative. Research activity includes a $1.2 million collaborative agreement established with Simon Fraser Univer- sity in Vancouver and DRDC Atlantic. Ultra also funds a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) chair at Dalhousie University in the amount of $120,000 per year to conduct pioneering research in underwater communications. return to a winning model? This model of collaboration between a navy, a defence laboratory, and industry was once embraced by Canada when it was a recog- nized world leader in ASW during the last century. The AN/SQS-510 hull mounted sonar and the Canadian Towed Array Sonar System (CANTASS) were the direct result of such a collective effort. DRDC was largely responsible for devel- oping the early processing architecture, algorithms, and display formats; General Dynamics Canada (Computing Devices at the time) was responsible for maturing the software, developing the hardware, and integrating the systems; and the pre-production prototypes were installed for comprehensive trials and operations in HMCS Nipigon and HMCS Annapolis. These sonar systems were arguably the world's best in their day, the result of government and industry working together to deliver meaningful capability to the RCN. Furthermore, during this era of Canada's ASW primacy, Canadian sonar systems were in service with the navies of The Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, and Greece. Despite the lack of any significant investment by Canada in un- dersea surveillance over the past two decades, the country's ocean technologies companies have managed to persist. The depth and breadth of underwater acoustic expertise in Canada is impressive. In Nova Scotia alone, the Ocean Technologies Council has more than fifty members whose products and services include acoustic signal processing, smart hydrophones, sonar handling systems, un- derwater sensors, training, modelling and analysis, and so on. Collectively, the ocean technologies sector in Canada has the capacity, capability and all of the technology necessary to deliver world-class sonars and integrated undersea surveillance systems, end-to-end, from sensors through to operator consoles. More- over, the industry has demonstrated a genuine appetite for synergy. Case in point is the EDGE Undersea Warfare center of excellence that was established by General Dynamics Canada to foster coop- eration between government, academia, and industry to innovate and demonstrate cutting-edge ASW technology. opportunities on the horizon With the Halifax-class Underwater Warfare Suite Upgrade (UWSU) project on the horizon and sonar systems for the Ca- nadian Surface Combatants (CSC) coming further in the future, Canada has the opportunity to reinstate itself as a formidable glob- al ASW player, both operationally and technologically. UWSU is critical to equip the RCN with relevant capability af- ter a considerable period of stagnation in underwater warfare, not only to protect the current fleet against a very real threat, but to develop the new generation sonar techniques and ASW operation- al concepts that will be vital to the effectiveness of the CSC. For industry, these projects represent the first opportunity in a long time for Canadian manufactured sonar to be endorsed by its own navy. And history shows that such endorsement contributes tremen- dous leverage for success in the export market. Additionally, UWSU and CSC are substantive domestic projects that could foster the collabora- tion and achieve the success that Canadian indus- try and The Netherlands are experiencing with the Multi-static Active Passive Sonar. Canada did it before, and could do it again, as opportunity approaches to regain and maintain naval and industrial global leadership in ASW for many years to come. The Multi-static Active Passive Sonar being delivered to Dutch frigate HNLMS Van Amstel.