Ottawa-based defence company Calian and regional innovation hub Invest Ottawa have announced plans to open a new defence technology lab at Area X.O, an 1,850-acre research and development complex in the city’s west end.
The announcement, called the Northstar Defence Lab, was made at GCXpo last week. The facility is described as a “system-of-systems orchestration lab” designed to connect technology developed by different companies for different platforms and missions, using Calian’s Athora platform, which allows systems to securely share data, coordinate, and operate as an integrated whole.
Chris Pogue, Calian’s president of defence and space, told the Ottawa Business Journal that future defence technology is moving away from large, single-vendor systems toward platforms built by multiple specialized suppliers that can be adapted quickly as conditions change.
“It’s the idea that you have to rapidly innovate on the battlefield today, go back in your garage tonight, change it, and operate that way tomorrow morning,” Pogue said. “Northstar lab is designed to optimize Canadian industry to do that rapid cycle.”
Industry Partners Involved
Calian and a group of industry partners will contribute resources spanning communications, data integration, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, sensing, and operational decision support to the lab. Founding partners include Ottawa-area defence firms ADGA, Anvil, Larus, and Tactiql, along with other Canadian companies such as Evertz Microsystems, Tessellate Robotics, 123 Cyber, and Cohere. Federal agency Export Development Canada is participating as an industry commercialization partner.
Calian said the Northstar Defence Lab is the first site in a planned nationwide network of regional defence development labs, and that the project ties into the company’s $100-million initiative to advance Canada’s sovereign capabilities in Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Targeting (C5ISRT).
A Growing Defence Tech Hub
Area X.O is already a certified test centre for NATO DIANA, the alliance’s defence technology accelerator program, and hosts a number of other defence companies. One example cited is Victoria-based InDro Robotics, which bases most of its staff in Ottawa because of the test site.
The complex includes advanced communications infrastructure, 16 kilometres of test track for urban and rural mobility testing, a designated drone testing area, and other resources used for robotics development. Pogue told the Ottawa Business Journal that Calian is constructing a new building at Area X.O to house the lab and expects it to be ready early next year.
This article references reporting from:
