The Canadian government announced a CAD 1.68 Bn (EUR 1.15 Bn) technology investment in the Canadian Army on 20 December 2023.
The investment comes in the form of four contracts awarded to General Dynamics Mission Systems – Canada that will provide support for the Canadian Armed Forces’ (CAF’s) Land Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (LC4ISR) system. This is designed to enable Canadian commanders to make real-time operational decisions, both at home and when deployed overseas.
LC4ISR is a fully integrated tactical network composed of computers, sensors, telecommunications equipment, hardware, firmware, and software elements that provides commanders with the information and information services required to make effective and timely command-and-control decisions about their operations and missions. The LC4ISR technology is designed to enable the Canadian Army to plan and direct operations, manage operational information, achieve situational awareness and exchange information.
In particular, the LC4ISR capability enables communication, networking and combat information management for subsystems that are part of CAF vehicles, platform-based weapon systems and individual integrated soldier system equipment. This capability will help ensure that the CAF can continue to defend Canada and North America while also contributing to the security of Canada’s allies and to allied coalitions’ operations abroad.
The four contracts are: a system-of-systems engineering and integration sustainment services contract worth an estimated total of CAD 713,383,196; a core network sustainment services contract worth around CAD 455,390,269; an intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) sustainment services contract worth around CAD 210,044,296; and an applications sustainment services contract worth an estimated total of CAD 300,639,941.
Lieutenant-General Jocelyn (Joe) Paul, Commander of the Canadian Army, was quoted as saying in a government press release, “Even the best-trained and best-equipped soldiers cannot win if the decision-action cycle is too slow. These long-term in-service support contracts are a key step in digitising our command-and-control processes. These contracts will increase our lethality by giving us the ability to act quickly and win alongside our rapidly digitising NATO partners.”
“Canada is making significant strides to modernise our armed forces and provide our troops with the tools that they need to do their jobs,” added Marie-France Lalonde, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence. “Today’s announcement is great news for the Canadian Army, which will benefit from a reliable LC4ISR capability for the next decade and a half thanks to this contract. This is also great news for the defence industry in Ottawa and across Canada – as this investment will support thousands of jobs.”
