Canada's UAV purchase

Forces eyes major aerial drone purchase

Andrew Mayeda,  Canwest News Service 

OTTAWA - The Canadian military plans to acquire a "family" of aerial drones over the next decade to complete "dull, dirty and dangerous" missions against a range of threats at home and abroad, including terrorism and failed or failing states, newly released documents show.

In the near term, the military remains focused on deploying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), more commonly known as drones, to provide surveillance support for Canadian troops in Afghanistan. Senior commanders also foresee a growing role for drones in Canada, especially along the country's coastlines and in the Arctic.

"UAVs offer persistent surveillance capabilities without putting personnel in harm's way and are well suited for 'dull, dirty and dangerous' missions," states the "UAV campaign plan," which lays out the Canadian Forces' strategy for employing drones over the next decade.

"In the future, UAVs will be growing in number, sophistication, and significance and will figure predominantly in defence planning. The CF must be in a position to exploit new UAV capabilities when it is in its interest to do so."

According to the plan, obtained by Canwest News Service under the Access to Information Act, military planners see the increasing use of drones as an important part of a long-term strategy to transform the Canadian Forces into a "more relevant, responsive, and effective military force."

Drones will replace manned aircraft in "selected activities, thereby achieving safer and more cost-effective realization of effective missions," states the plan, which was completed in March, 2007. The plan was to be reviewed annually but, in response to a request for more information, the Defence Department's media branch said it needed more time.

The plan says the military will require the capability to deploy and sustain "a force anywhere in Canada or in the world."

"To do that, the CF needs to create integrated, high readiness, and deployable forces that are effective, relevant and responsive. They need to be able to deal with domestic and international threats that arise from terrorism as well as from failed and failing states."

The military has been using unarmed drones in Afghanistan for several years, sometimes with mixed results. The Defence Department bought a handful of Sperwer drones in 2003, and eventually deployed them alongside Canadian troops in Kandahar province. But the Sperwers were grounded after a series of crashes and complaints that they could not handle the heat and dust of the Afghan desert.

Last year, the military announced it would instead lease larger, long-endurance Heron drones manufactured by MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates of B. C. The military has also expressed interest in purchasing weaponized drones, such as those used by the Pentagon to hunt down Taliban insurgents and al-Qaeda terrorists along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Over the medium term, defined by the plan as the next two to five years, the military will focus on acquiring drones that can provide long-range, "overland" surveillance within Canada.

The United States has deployed unarmed Predator drones from a base in Montana to monitor traffic across the Canadian border. However, the Canadian plan doesn't specifically mention increasing surveillance along the border.

Also in the medium term, the military hopes to bulk up surveillance along the country's coasts and in the Arctic. Much of the Arctic and Maritime surveillance is currently handled by Canada's fleet of CP-140 Aurora aircraft.

"With the world's longest coastline bordering on three oceans, and a small and widely dispersed population, Canada faces a tremendous national security challenge. The problem is made worse by the increasing strategic importance of the Arctic region due to global warming and the discovery of new mineral and oil formations," states the plan.

"Effective airborne surveillance of Canada's vast Arctic and Maritime regions is severely constrained by limited and rapidly diminishing resources. There are considerable pressures on the human resources and operating costs of manned platforms, especially manned airborne platforms."