Defense Industry Thought Leaders see Domestic-made Canadian Drones as Next Frontier
By Jay Heisler
Canada’s experiences in the drone industry have so far been a sore spot for Canadian policymakers, who have had to reckon with the RCMP grounding many Chinese-made drones due to security concerns. Researching this piece, the author found that Chinese-made drones are still widely used by civilian agencies in Canada, and that the Canadian government does not share concerns in the US about Chinese technology and is instead closer to the EU mindset where defense purchases from the US, China and middle powers like European countries, Korea and Japan, can balance each other out. But what about making drones domestically, in Canada? Experts have told the author of this report that there is a great deal of interest in Canada’s ability to manufacture its own drones, especially for military use.
Dan Magy is one of the biggest names in the drone industry in the US, as CEO and co-founder of Firestorm Labs.
“I think the big focus is going to be the Arctic,” Magy said, in a phone interview with the author about the Canadian drone industry. “I think sovereignty… a desire to localize production of drones and counter-drones system… I think you’re going to see a lot of that language coming out of Ottawa. If we’re going to increase our GDP spend, how are we going to keep the most of that money in Canadian made or Canadian manufactured systems.”
In Canada, many experts are starting to say the same thing. This is especially urgent timing to Canadian proponents of the drone industry, as Carney has just last month announced that Canada has finally reached its 2% (of GDP) spending target for defense.
Sergiy Slipchenko is an Ottawa-based journalist and editor for the Lobby Monitor, a publication run by the Ottawa Hill Times.
“Drones is really the big, hot topic,” Slipchenko said, in a phone interview with the author. “If you’re looking to get a decent-sized investment from the government, drones is pretty good. Especially the East Coast, there’s a huge focus on drones right now of all kinds.”
“They’re working on reconnaissance drones, this is very new, we don’t have a well-developed base for this,” Slipchenko added. “I think pretty much everyone is touting it as the future of warfare. There is a big interest in it from the government, we’re looking at a lot of options for Canada to invest in, expand and have our own manufacturing capabilities.”
Mubin Shaikh is an international expert advisor on counterterrorism, AI, and drones. Shaikh is based in Toronto. Shaikh says that building drones domestically or not, an obstacle will be ensuring that the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) are well-trained enough to operate those drones.
The author met Shaikh for a phone interview, and the following quote was in an email follow-up:
“While true that CANSOF has improved, the same cannot be said on CAF level,” Shaikh explained. “Large primes will continue to manufacture items for defence at large, including drones. Universities are now also making knowledge and research available, including CAF/NATO research and innovation entities (think, the “iDEaS” program). Still, at the unit level across regular and reserve forces, this basic training is not yet available.”
Will Canada be the next frontier for the drone industry, as Canadian companies, especially Eastern Canada-based companies, refocus on domestically-made drone technology? Or will Canada miss this opportunity to pursue sovereignty, industry relevance and opportunities for youth, even during a huge increase in defense spending?
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