Canada’s long quest for UAVs – or RPAS
The Canadian Armed Forces quest for a fleet of medium altitude, remotely piloted aerial systems has not only been lengthy but serves as a window on the various challenges in procuring military equipment in this country.
Canada was in on the ground floor of the development of what was originally called unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs. Canadian industry, in particular, Canadair, led such initiatives with the CL 89 in the 1960s and later the CL 227 and CL 289. (The terminology has shifted over the years from unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV to unhabituated aerial system or UAS to remotely piloted aerial system or RPAS).
The Canadian military started its Joint Unmanned Surveillance and Target Acquisition System or JUSTAS program in 200/2001 to learn more about UAVs as well as to test various models. That project would eventually morph into a procurement initiative.
Canada purchases French UAV
In the meantime, in 2003 Canada acquired the French SPERWER UAV for deployment to Afghanistan and operated the aircraft with limited success. The Greenwood Military Aviation Museum has noted that the SPERWER was the first UAV used in a theatre of war by the Canadian military. It flew its first mission Afghanistan in 2003 and its last in early 2009.
In the midst of that Afghan deployment the Canadian Forces leadership proposed to the Conservative government in 2007 that it acquire, through a sole source process, the Predator UAV built by General Atomics. That proposal, however, was rejected.
Instead the Conservative government proceeded with a lease of unmanned aircraft for the mission in Kandahar. MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) of Richmond, British Columbia won that competition and from January 2009 to July 2011, in conjunction with Israel Aeropace Industries, it leased the HERON medium altitude, long endurance UAV to the Canadian Forces. In addition, contractors provided by MDA helped the Canadian Forces in operating those aircraft.
On Sept. 5, 2008, the Canadian government also released its first letter of interest to the defence industry on JUSTAS. The program was supposed to proceed with the issuing of a request for proposals to industry by the end of 2009, with a contract awarded in the fall of 2010. Initial operating capability for the fleet was scheduled for February 2012.
UAV program funding gets diverted
But JUSTAS fell by the wayside as funding was redirected to other equipment programs. In addition, the Royal Canadian Air Force faced a problem with finding enough personnel to staff a new UAV squadron for JUSTAS.
In 2011, the Canadian Forces leadership tried to jump-start JUSTAS by linking the acquisition of UAVs to the Libyan war. Their proposal to the Conservative government would have seen a $600 million purchase of armed UAVs. The $600 million price tag would have included all equipment, infrastructure, spare parts, weapons, in-service support and training. But the proposed procurement would have taken at least a year and the end of the Libyan war in October 2011 scuttled that proposed acquisition.
In 2012, after several years in limbo, the Canadian Armed Forces once again tried to get JUSTAS moving ahead. A letter of interest, similar to the one sent in 2008, was issued to the defence industry, although the terminology was slightly changed.
The RCAF noted it was looking at the procurement of three UAS (uninhabited aerial systems) packages, comprising of up to 12 aircraft. Also to be purchased would be satellite and ground communication systems for command and control of the aircraft, training for maintenance and operation of the UAS and a 20-year in-service support package.
At the time, it was estimated the project would cost at least $1 billion.
“The UAS will carry a gyro-stabilized sensor turret that enables the crew to covertly detect, identify, and track targets (at least as small as humans with weapons), and obtain targeting data, day or night, while remaining clear of surface-based threat systems,” according to the information provided to industry.
Full motion video would be available in colour electro-optical, infrared, and low light. In addition, the aircraft were expected to carry synthetic aperture radar capable of producing high-resolution images and strip maps, as well as detecting ground moving targets.
The Canadian UAS would also be capable of carrying weapons, although the specific type of precision guided munitions have not yet been determined.
Canada turns down another proposal
In the meantime, Northrop Grumman made an unsolicited offer in 2012 to provide Canada with a fleet of Global Hawks, specifically for Arctic operations, but the Canadian government did not act on that proposal. The RCAF determined that the cost of the Global Hawks was too expensive for the Arctic capability.
While JUSTAS faced challenges moving forward, the project did at times provide some amusing moments. In June 2012 then Defence Minister Peter MacKay talked about the importance of such UAVs to the Canadian Forces and other militaries worldwide. “These eyes-on systems that can literally read a license plate from outer space have increased our ability to decrease civilian casualties,” MacKay said at a security conference in Singapore. Canadian military officers quietly corrected MacKay, pointing out that UAVs didn’t operate in space, let alone read license plates from such heights.
Lt.-Gen. Yvan Blondin, then head of the RCAF, acknowledged to a Senate defence committee on March 25, 2013 that JUSTAS had faced numerous delays. But he argued that could work in Canada’s favour since as the years passed the technology improved.
New milestones were developed for JUSTAS; the RCAF plan was to achieve initial operating capability of the aircraft sometime in 2017, with full operating capability in 2019. Those objectives were never met.
As the project progressed the terminology changed. UAV was replaced by RPAS.
On April 9, 2015 Royal Canadian Air Force Brig.-Gen. Phil Garbutt told industry representatives that the plan was to have the first RPAS available for operations in 2021. RCAF Col. Ian Lightbody, then director of air requirements, noted that a contract was expected to be awarded in 2019. All aircraft would be delivered by 2023, he added.
Those timelines were obviously not met.
New procurement targets set
As of 2023 the Canadian Forces lists its new milestones for a RPAS as first delivery taking place fiscal year 2025/2026 to 2026/2027.
Initial operational capability will take place during fiscal year 2027/2028 to 2029/2030. Full operational capability will take place in fiscal year 2030/2031 to 2032/33.
However, as with all Canadian procurements those timelines could slip further.
PHOTO: A U.S. MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial attack vehicle prepares to land after a mission in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The Reaper has the ability to carry both precision-guided bombs and missiles.
CREDIT: Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson, U.S. Air Force.