The Minerva drone initiative is using industry challenge prototypes, while the Canadian Armed Forces seeks faster drone adoption and broader drone integration across the services.
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The Canadian Armed Forces is stepping up its approach to adopting drones through the Army’s Minerva program, which is currently moving through a new round of tenders and prototype testing for a range of unmanned systems.
Lt.-Col. Jonathan Penney, a reservist who co-ordinates the forces’ Minerva drone program, said the army feels pressure to pick up the pace, but is focused on finding the right mix of technology for current needs while building up the domestic drone industry. “The army is really good at adapting and evolving,” Penney said.
Penney said Minerva has launched a batch of tenders in recent months for new drones, including low-cost Arctic surveillance drones for the Canadian Rangers and both ground and aerial drones capable of cargo supply runs.
Minerva differs from a typical procurement approach, with the program running what it calls “industry challenges” that task companies with creating prototypes for specific uses rather than drafting a single list of requirements upfront. Army personnel will test those prototypes until roughly next summer or fall, Penney said.
Another requirement currently being sought is a low-cost targeting drone, described as an aerial spotter that could allow artillery crews to hit targets they cannot see from the ground. Penney said relying on an aerial drone for targeting is safer than sending a soldier with binoculars and a laser rangefinder, adding, “If the drone gets shot down, we’ll just send up another one.”
Penney said part of the program’s goal is to ensure equipment can be absorbed by Canadian military units, including by focusing on whether solutions integrate with existing systems and can be produced in Canada. “Does it integrate with our systems and does it exist as-is produced in Canada?” Penney said. “That’s what we’re driving for.”
The army is also expected to complete a new wish-list of drones for design and purchase over the next three to four months, with one item identified as a breaching drone intended to deal with ground-based obstacles such as mines.
Minerva launched roughly a year ago with the aim of scaling up drone use in the Army rather than relying on ordering from a U.S. Defence Department-approved list of drone manufacturers. Army Commander Lt.-Gen. Michael Wright has said he wants to “flood” Canada’s land forces with drones.
Lt.-Gen. Darcy Molstad has been tasked with overseeing drone integration across the armed forces and said the military is increasingly approaching uncrewed systems as munitions and expendable tools rather than long-term inventory. “We have to treat it almost like an expendable commodity versus something that we have to keep in inventory and capitalize the cost over 20 years,” Molstad said. “These things just last a short amount of time.”
Penney said that approach is especially relevant to drones used by land forces, describing them as low-cost, high-use tools. “Especially from an army perspective, which will be different from the Air Force perspective, we are looking at … consumables, things that we’re going to use, and if it gets destroyed, fine, we’ll just send in another one,” he said. “Low-cost, high-use, high-value things.”
Separately, in response to drone activity involving NATO allies in Europe, the Canadian Armed Forces has put out a tender for a counter-aerial drone system that could be deployed at military installations across Canada.
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