Defence and aerospace stakeholders in “La Belle Province” – Quebec are striving to play a greater role as momentum increases on Canadian defence procurements.
BY PETER DIEKMEYER, Quebec Bureau Chief
Canada’s defence community has had a lot to chew on in recent weeks after US President Joseph P. Biden authorized use of long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) for Ukraine on Russian soil. Geopolitical risks increased further when Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian President, equated the move to an act of war.
“Russia’s nuclear doctrine means NATO missiles fired against our country could be deemed an attack on Russia,” Medvedev wrote in a recent post on X. “Russia could retaliate against NATO facilities. That means World War III.” The renewed tension was echoed in global hotspots ranging from Israel to Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.
This put increasing pressure on Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defence who will have to deal with the fallout when the new administration takes office in January. The developments cast a shadow over Quebec aerospace and defence stakeholders who assembled in mid-November for the 2024 version of the province’s Symposium on the Canadian Defence and Security Market.
This Canadian Defence Review survey of key provincial industry players suggests a range of opportunities presenting themselves to contribute to rebuilding the country’s decaying military infrastructure during the coming years. “Quebec’s aerospace sector is in the midst of major investments in innovations,” says Mélanie Lussier, President and General Manager of Aéro Montreal which alongside STIQ co-organized the 9th edition of the symposium. “This should position us to contribute more during the coming years as initiatives such as the Future Aircrew Training (FAcT) project come onstream.”
CAE MOVES AHEAD WITH FAcT
The monster 25-year, $11.2 billion Future Aircrew Training (FAcT) initiative, which was awarded to SkyAlyne earlier this year, is expected to be a game changer for Quebec says Jeff Tasseron, Director of Strategy and Business Development, at CAE Defense & Security.
READ: TECHNOLOGY PROFILE – CAE Defence & Security
“This will represent the single largest contract in CAE’s history,” says Tasseron, a former helicopter squadron commanding officer who joined the private sector following a long career with the Royal Canadian Air Force. “Things are advancing quickly. We formally announced CAE’s sub-contractor role in October and are seeing renewed momentum at the federal level on a range of other initiatives.”
Key initial steps in moving FAcT into active execution will include transferring major components from existing administrative frameworks into new envelopes. Clarifying hardware will also be a priority. Five new fleets of aircraft are expected to be bought to replace or update existing or obsolete trainers. These include initial ab initio aircraft and helicopters. “FAcT has profound potential,” Tasseron told CDR. “Many jobs and capabilities will be created or maintained. These are also expected to build a strong base with considerable export potential.”
The Quebec Defence Symposium’s decision to host its 2024 event at CAE, in part to showcase the integrated training services provider’s Saint-Laurent headquarters and facilities to national and international audiences, dramatically illustrated its importance as one of a handful of world class Canadian original equipment manufacturers.
“Modernization across the forces is accelerating demand in a range of areas that CAE is well positioned to contribute to,” says Tasseron. “Programs mentioned in Canada’s defence policy update, ranging from RPAS to FWSAR, CSC, CMMA, STTC, have training and simulation needs and opportunities for Quebec businesses.”
TOP ACES JOINS SKYALYNE
Heightened international tensions are also accelerating the fielding of advanced 4th and 5th generation fighter fleets. These in turn have increased demand for affordable adversary air support with advanced capabilities.
“Top Aces is seeing significant opportunities in North America,” says Kyle Rosenlund, the company’s Program Manager – Contracted Airborne Training Services, who recently moved to industry following a 30-year career in the Canadian Armed Forces. “These offer export opportunities in Europe and the chance to develop deeper relationships with Canadian partner companies interested in similar markets.”
Top Aces was founded in 2000 by three former Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 fighter pilots who inked a $94-million deal with the Canadian Armed Forces to supply contracted combat support and adversary training. The company has since evolved into a Canadian-based international champion in an era of increasing demand for creative approaches.
Top Aces offers solutions across three core fleets (Alpha Jet, A-4 Skyhawk and F-16). “Our proprietary, open Advanced Aggressor Mission System (AAMS) architecture enables rapid integration of sensors, weapons simulation, live-virtual-constructive (LVC) training, and other advanced capabilities,” says Rosenlund. “This enables customers to customize training based on specific needs and budgets.”
Top Aces got great news earlier this year when the SkyAlyne team, which it has joined, landed the lucrative FAcT program. Top Aces professionals are currently collaborating with the team to determine how to leverage its core competencies in the effort. “It’s a natural fit,” says Rosenlund. “Top Aces already supports advanced adversary 5th Generation fighter training, including the F-35. This mandate will enable us to continue to develop capabilities to maintain our leadership role into the next decade.”
RTX CALLS FOR SHORTER TIMELINES
Quebec regional reports inevitably include a chat with RTX, one of the world’s largest aerospace and defence companies, which employs nearly 8,500 professionals in Canada. A substantial number of these are distributed throughout RTX’s Quebec subsidiaries. These include Pratt & Whitney Canada, a manufacturer and servicer of regional, business, military, and helicopter aircraft engines, which operates facilities in Mirabel, St-Hubert and Longueuil.
Pratt & Whitney’s installed base of roughly 62,000 engines on aircraft in 180 countries foster a constant flow of new opportunities. “One in every five P&WC engines are on defence and security aircraft,” says RTX’s Garry Venman, Regional Vice President – Americas, who is a long-time activist for increased private sector-government collaboration. “These include applications related to the military, search and rescue, and emergency medical services, as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.”
Pratt & Whitney Canada is currently working with Bell Textron Canada’s Montreal-based center of excellence on the Griffon Limited Life Extension (GLLE) program, through which some 85 CH-146 Griffon helicopters owned by the Royal Canadian Air Force will be upgraded with new technologies. “Defence procurement practices need to be improved to rapidly deliver capabilities to the Canadian Armed Forces,” says Venman. “RTX encourages the Government of Canada to increase industry engagement and to accelerate dialogue on requirements that can maximize incorporation of Canadian innovation and intellectual property.”
RTX’s Collins Aerospace Québec operations are focused on Airbus, Bell Textron, Bombardier, CAE and L3Harris commercial platforms, many of which can be modified to perform government or defence missions. Venman cites Collins Aerospace’s recent system integration work for the USAF BACN (Battlefield Airborne Communications Node) and the German Armed Forces’ PEGASUS (Persistent German Airborne Surveillance System) programs both of which are based on Bombardier platforms as key examples of possible new opportunities going forward.
M1 COMPOSITES LEADS THE WAY FOR SMEs
Lorenzo Marandola, President of M1 Composites, a specialized aerospace equipment, maintenance, repair and overhaul services provider, has also been busy. Earlier this year M1 Composites agreed to act as a preferred North American repair station for Airbus A220 aircraft flight controls and structural parts. The contract will enable M1 Composites to support some of the world’s largest airlines on the Airbus A220 regional jet platform which was originally developed by Bombardier.
“Our mix of commercial and defence clients enable us to create synergies in both markets,” says Marandola, who expanded M1 Composites’ 82,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facilities in the midst of the COVID crisis when much of the rest of the economy was shut down. “Cutting-edge equipment, an in-house radome transmissivity test facility and an autoclave for repairing and curing composite parts enable us to provide OEMs with niche capabilities so they can focus on higher value-added core competencies.”
Marandola works tirelessly with lobby groups such as the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada to push for a national strategy that will leverage the sector’s competitive advantages, much of which are concentrated in Quebec. “The industry has been innovating, but not nearly at the pace that we are capable of,” Marandola told CDR. “We need to take better advantage of the capabilities that small and medium sized businesses are best able to provide.”
Marandola has a point. While Canada has many world-class large defence contractors, there are few mid-range players ready to challenge them. Over time, this leads to complacency as large businesses accumulate bureaucracies that defend existing interests and programs. Major upgrades to M1 Composites’ cyber security defences provide another example of how these significant investments can disproportionately hamper small business competitiveness relative to larger players who are better able to absorb non-revenue generating expenses.
Many argue that government procurement policies have the same effect. “Canada’s endless bidding processes, many of which are driven by politics, form an invisible barrier to companies that don’t have the resources to fund drawn out procurements, some of which can last 10 years or more,” says Marandola. “This deprives the Department of National Defence personnel of the best innovation ideas which often come from outside existing channels.”
RHEINMETALL CANADA SUPPORTS INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY
Major Quebec-based aerospace and defence companies, such as Rheinmetall Canada, which markets the flagship Mission Master UGS (Unmanned Ground System), have been making significant efforts to address First Nations reconciliation as a key step in maintaining their social licences to operate. This during a time when much of the public seems unaware about the deteriorating international environment and is thus slow to get behind the significant investments needed to address it.
Pietro Mazzei, Rheinmetall Canada’s President & CEO, has been heavily focused on getting work related to the upcoming Land Vehicle Crew Training System (LVCTS) program and hopes to kill two birds with one stone. His strategy is to find new ways to effectively leverage implementation of the federal government’s 5% indigenous participation mandate across federal contracts that the company will be bidding on during coming years. That process will build on considerable legwork that Rheinmetall Canada has already done.
“Our internal indigenous participation working group is developing and rolling out targeted training for employees,” says Mazzei. “The idea is to better prepare them to engage with indigenous communities across Canada, and to modify processes that may have created barriers in the past.”
Those investments could pay off big time. The goal of the Land Vehicle Crew Training System project is to provide an interconnected system that will enable Canada’s Light Armoured Vehicles (LAV) 6.0, its Leopard 2 Main Battle Tanks, and its Tactical Armored Patrol Vehicles (TAPV) to train as realistically as possible in joint exercises conducted at the five major Canadian Army garrisons. This massive project will involve the provision of support elements, and purpose-built infrastructure to house simulators some of which may be installed in Rheinmetall exercise control rooms.
Rheinmetall Canada will be bidding on the Land Vehicle Crew Training System contract, for which a Request for Proposal is expected early next year, as part of a teaming known as “FORC3” which includes, Lockheed Martin Canada, Bluedrop Training and Simulation, EllisDon Construction and Building Services, REDspace Incorporated and Calian. “Working with the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business has enabled us to make concrete changes in a short amount of time,” says Mazzei. “We still have much more to do. However, if the result is more work for Quebec and Canada’s First Nations the investment will be more than worth it.”
LOGISTIK UNICORP KEEPS CANADIAN SOLDIERS WARM
Aerospace and defence innovation traditionally centers on “things that go bang.” Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu based Logistik Unicorp, a managed uniform services provider, devotes a lot of attention to making soldiers’ clothing more comfortable and practical to use. “Canadian soldiers have to operate in a far wider range of temperatures and demanding conditions than those in almost any other nation,” says Karine Bibeau, the company’s Vice President – Customer Experience. “This creates substantial challenges due to the wide variety of kit they require in order to be effective. However, it also creates significant opportunities to boost productivity if things are done right.”
Logistik Unicorp is currently leading mass production of the Merino Wool Base Layer System, a next to skin layer, that will be available in t-shirt, underwear, long-sleeve shirt, long john formats, in different weights and fits for male, female, and maternity applications. “Merino technology combines the best of outdoor equipment with “no melt, no drip” reinforcements and other safety features needed for military applications,” says Bibeau. “During trial stage iterations soldiers were very happy with the wool material, which represents the only natural fiber that remains warm even if is wet.”
Logistik, which manages a wide range of Canadian Armed Forces clothing, footwear, and service uniform contracts focuses on the back-end design, product selection, and distribution elements. Bibeau works with a variety of Canadian suppliers to handle manufacturing of the Merino Wool Base Layer System elements, which will be distributed to Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force personnel. The company also showcased what it calls the “Canadian Combat Uniform Ensemble” of some 50 items at CANSEC 2024. Widespread trials including a camouflage uniform iteration are expected to begin in 2026.
DAVIE ICREASES MOMENTUM AFTER ICE PACT
Quebec’s crown jewel on the naval front is Davie Shipbuilding which operates a yard in Levis on the Saint-Lawrence River. The facility which faces the majestic cliffs at Quebec City will be celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2025.
“The event, which follows acceptance of Davie into Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy in 2023 could not have come at a better time,” says James Davies, President and CEO of Davie Group. “This project pipeline, valued at $8.5 billion, which includes construction of six Program Icebreakers, a Polar Icebreaker, and two hybrid ferries ensures operational stability for Davie through 2040.”
Progress has been slow, but steady. In March, Davie secured its first $19-million contract under the National Shipbuilding Strategy to design the Program Icebreakers which will be key to modernize the aging Canadian Coast Guard’s fleet. These moves are expected to generate considerable synergies following Davie’s game-changing acquisition of Helsinki Shipyard in late 2023.
The deal fostered discussions that led to the creation of the trilateral ICE Pact partnership between Canada, Finland, and the United States to strengthen Arctic operations which will spark the production of next-generation polar icebreakers. “It also sets the stage for Davie to establish a long-term US shipbuilding presence,” Davies told CDR. “The idea is to simultaneously foster economic growth, environmental stewardship, and collective security among partner nations.”
In September, Public Service and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced a $16.47-million contract to Davie to advance work on a Polar-class icebreaker for the Canadian Coast Guard, a move that is expected to further enhance Canada’s bid to exercise sovereignty in the Arctic.
Davie also introduced key initiatives to support the development of the skilled workers that will be needed to build a modern navy. For example, in September the yard partnered with Université Laval to launch a specialized maritime engineering program, which blends academic coursework with practical training at Davie’s facilities.
BASE CAMP CONNECT EMPLOYS RESERVISTS
Base Camp Connect, which builds interoperable voice and data communication kits that connect disparate systems for military and public safety teams, has found another effective tool for addressing demand for highly skilled professionals in a technical sector: by hiring Canadian Armed Forces reservists that contribute their free time to a local militia unit.
“Things are going well,” says Francis Raveneau, a Vice President at Base Camp Connect, whose largest customer is the Canadian Army (200+ installations) with which it is in the midst of a potential 6-year, $20 million contract to supply the Department of National Defence with a range of emergency, disaster response, and other equipment and systems. However, efforts to boost exports to Europe where Base Camp Connect already does business with French anti-terror units, produces constant demand for new talent. “We have increased our team by a dozen professionals and are always looking for networking, radio, and software professionals.”
The new additions include signals experts from militia units like the 34 Signal Regiment in Westmount and the 35 Signal Regiment in Quebec City, which supply a constant pool of potential talent. “Shifting geopolitical deployments require increasingly complex communications solutions,” says Raveneau. “Using reservists, who are both enthusiastic about communications technology, and are actively aware of the opportunities and challenges that innovations can address, enables us to better understand opportunities in the field. We have a direct finger on the pulse of customers.”
INNOVATION, GOING GREEN
Despite the positive momentum Mélanie Lussier, of Aéro Montreal isn’t letting up. “Quebec has a strong aerospace sector,” says Lussier pointing to a major May 2024 investment announcement by Boeing related to an “innovation zone” strategy which is designed to create synergies by bringing industry, government and academic personnel that have an aerospace focus together in a series of targeted facilities alongside the Mirabel, Longueuil and Dorval Airports.
“However, Aéro Montreal members are telling me that we are not getting our fair share of defence spending. So, we need to do more,” Lussier told CDR. “We are hoping that Quebec’s increased focus on decarbonization and advanced air mobility will help to change that.”
Peter Diekmeyer is CDR’s Quebec Bureau Chief
