Vanguard Magazine

www.vanguardcanada.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 37 S SPOTLIGHT that the Royal Canadian Navy can sustain itself as a true blue-water navy and expedi- tionary force." The new operations sub-centre in Halifax will create over 700 jobs annually in Nova Scotia and generate over $1.8bn in total economic output over the next decade. ViaSat system on Halifax-class frigates ViaSat, a global broadband services and technology company, announced in early September that it has delivered a state-of- the-art upgrade for the Halifax-class frig- ates. The new end-to-end Link 16 com- munications system will enable the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) to "more effec- tively communicate with U.S., NATO and other Allied forces through Link 16 interoperability, and will serve as a bridge to the future fleet communications," the release says. "The Halifax-class frigates are the back- bone of the Royal Canadian Navy and require a communications infrastructure that will enable sailors to more effectively communicate worldwide today and into the future," said Ken Peterman, president, Government Systems, ViaSat. "As the threat landscape for these frigates evolve, so must the technology platforms that sup- port them." The company also announced that its KOR-24A Small Tactical Terminal (STT) is the first small form factor, software-de- fined Link 16 radio to successfully pass live Radio Frequency (RF) range testing for the Canadian Army's Air Space Coordination Centre Modernization (ASCCM) project. The KOR-24A has also been approved to be used across platforms and missions by the Canadian Armed Forces. L3 MAS teams up with Thales for AJISS L3 MAS, a division of L3 Technologies' Aerospace Systems business segment an- nounced in September, that it will be sup- porting Thales in a key role for the AJISS program. This In-Service Support (ISS) contract for both the Arctic Offshore Pa- trol Ships (AOPS) and Joint Support Ships (JSS) will provide the full spectrum of ISS activities on these two new classes of ships to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) for up to 35 years. "Our success in technical publications, integrated data management, logistics sup- port and systems engineering for the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) major fleets is the basis for providing a proven, cost-ef- fective and low-risk solution to Thales and the RCN for AJISS," said Jacques Com- tois, vice president and general manager of L3 MAS. "L3 MAS was chosen as part of our bid team because of its proven capability in IDE design, delivery and support," said Jerry McLean, vice president and manag- ing director of defence and security for Thales in Canada. DEFSEC Atlantic 2018 will be held again at the Cunard Centre in Halifax on September 4-6. Clockwise from le: General Dynamics-Mission Systems team, Aaron Plamondon from Irving Shipbuilding, an attendee testing the Modest Tree virtual media program, Brett Johnson from Thales and Carl Daniels from QRA Corp, Bruce Lennie from Rolls-Royce conversing with attendees, Gene Joelson from GE in a meeting, and Roland Renner from Hunter Communications.

• Cover