At the Counter-UAS Technology USA Conference, Colonel Chris Labbé, Head of the Canadian Joint C-UAS Office (JCO), announced the launch of the IDEaS NORAD Modernization S&T Contest, a grant program offering up to $19 million to advance innovative solutions in areas critical to NORAD’s modernization.
Speaking to attendees, Col. Labbé highlighted the urgency of advancing counter-UAS capabilities and emphasized the significance of technological interoperability between Canada and its allies.
“This is one of our innovation pathways that we have in the Canadian Armed Forces and Department of National Defense,” he said. “Essentially, we’ve got $19 million in grants that are available for round one funding for proposals at Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 1-6. There’s multiple topic areas, including quantum. But out of the five areas, counter-UAS is one of those.”
Canada’s focus on innovation
The contest, part of Canada’s broader effort to modernize NORAD through innovative technology, seeks proposals in key areas such as drone interceptors, wide-area sensing for counter-UAS, cost-effective counter-swarm measures and kinetic effectors.
It is open to Canadian educational institutions, incorporated Canadian companies and Canadian government organizations. Col. Labbé also noted that foreign companies can participate by incorporating in Canada, noting a recent success story from a company outside of Canada.
“At the last sandbox, there was a company that was not from Canada, [that] decided to incorporate. They did really, really well, and they left the event with a million-dollar grant because they made the decision to incorporate in Canada before registering for the sandbox,” Col. Labbé shared.
The IDEaS program provides a platform for innovators to develop their concepts, with successful projects advancing through multiple funding rounds.
Col. Labbé stressed the importance of a strategic and agile approach to advancing counter-UAS capabilities and addressing modern threats, saying:
“We know counter-UAS capabilities are urgently needed. We know that we need a new approach. We can’t do business like we have been for the last 20-25 years, because otherwise, technology that we field will become rapidly obsolete.”
Col. Labbé noted that the JCO will have a mandate to deliver capabilities under a comprehensive program approach, using an agile governance framework. This will be done in partnership with joint partners, industry and Canada’s closest allies, with the IDEaS program aimed at furthering these efforts.
