Latest news with #GDLS
CBC
10-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
Defence sector in southwestern Ontario hopeful new military spending comes here
Social Sharing People working in the defence sector in the London area are hopeful new funding to help Canada meet it's military spending obligations and adapt relying less on the United States will mean employment and innovation opportunities in the region. On Monday, Carney announced between $18 billion and $20 billion to boost Canada's military spending to 2 per cent of its gross domestic product by the end of the current fiscal year in March. Canada is known as a laggard in that realm, especially among NATO allies who have criticised the country for failing to meet the goal, which is agreed upon in the alliance. "It's a great plan, as long as they execute it," said Mark MacKenzie, the president and CEO of Davwire, a London-based firm that designs components for defence vehicles. "I'm appreciative of the direction that they're taking. It's overdue." MacKenzie and many others in the region supply parts to General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS), the largest plant in the region known for the Light Armoured Vehicle, which are bought by governments around the world. "We were pleased to hear the announcement by the Prime Minster," wrote GDLS spokesperson Jay Hancock. "General Dynamics Land Systems looks forward to supporting the Government of Canada as they invest in advanced capabilities for the Canadian Armed Forces." Carney's announcement included a number of changes, including the creation of a new defence policy, and the creation of a dedicated defence procurement agency. "It's been difficult to work with [the government] over the years. Hopefully it's a lot less red tape and we can get things accomplished a lot quicker," MacKenzie said. Matthew Quinlan agrees the move is positive, however he's waiting to see how big a boost it will be for the defence sector in southwestern Ontarion. As the owner of Quinlan Defence Incorporated, he helps businesses secure defence contracts which have lagged over the years. "This announcement hopefully rectifies that, and perhaps allows us to grow beyond previous levels," Quinlan said. "In the ground defence business, an ideal build cycle is 1 vehicle per day, and we're not at that currently." Quinlan said given its previous position, the region is well-poised to ramp up back to where it once was. "The federal government, just by this spending alone, turns the corner a little bit for some London manufacturers. There's probably no less than 50 in [southwestern Ontario] that will benefit from this news if it does indeed come to fruition." Better protection for Canadians, and better business for the sector Heather Pilot is president of Pilot Hill Limited, which organizes a long-standing defence conference in London called Best Defence that brings vendors together. She points to the age of Canada's military equipment and the local talent that exists to bring it up to speed. "It's very positive on Prime Minister Carney's part for Canadians. We have no protection, we have outdated military equipment, and I don't believe we would last one week if Russia had attacked us instead of Ukraine, for example," she said. Pilot also said Carney has indicated that the industry would be given a seat at the table where procurement discussions are happening. She says having industry voices in those discussions can prevent the duplication of work and streamline the entire process. "It's huge," Pilot said. "We need to be quick on our feet. The war in Ukraine has proven that there's companies that have [existing] technologies that could well be used within the within the military."
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
GDLS debuts short-range air defense option for light units
As the Army looks for solutions for a Short-Range Air Defense system for lighter units, General Dynamics Land Systems is debuting an option using a Pandur 6x6 vehicle built originally for the Austrian army. The Pandur vehicle comes from GDLS' sister company — European Land Systems company Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeuge — and was developed in the 1980s. Yet, 'while it was developed over 40 years ago, it's gone through several iterations and generational changes and updates of technologies and requirements changes,' said Ray Moldovan, GDLS business development manager. The new version is called Pandur Evolution, or EVO for short. GDLS already provides the Stryker combat vehicle for the Army's fielded Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense system, the Sgt. Stout. There is a counter-unmanned aircraft systems version of the Stryker, as well. While there are similarities to the Stryker, the Pandur EVO is 'highly mobile, highly survivable, scalable,' and has ballistic protection, Moldovan told Defense News. 'It does have a smaller footprint, it's lighter weight.' The Army is pursuing a number of M-SHORAD modernization efforts following the service's rapid fielding of an interim solution. Development of the M-SHORAD system took place in record time as the result of an urgent operational need identified in 2016 for the European theater. The Army received the requirement to build the system in February 2018. It took 19 months from the time the service generated the requirement to the delivery of prototypes for testing in the first quarter of 2020. The M-SHORAD is a Stryker combat vehicle-based platform that includes a mission equipment package designed by Leonardo DRS and RTX's Stinger vehicle missile launcher. The first platoon to receive it deployed to Europe in 2021. The Army fielded its third Sgt. Stout battalion at Fort Cavazos, Texas. The first M-SHORAD battalion remains in Germany, and the second is based at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. US Army's short-range air defense efforts face review board The service is working on a version of the capability with a laser weapon that is not yet a program of record but has been deployed to the U.S. Central Command theater. It is also working to replace the Stinger missile. Two teams are competing for that work. The Army released a request for information to industry for a lighter SHORAD solution in the summer of 2024 and is expected to finalize a directed requirement this year. The RFI asks for solutions 'to provide air defense capability to protect dismounted maneuver forces in the near, mid and far terms.' The request also notes there will be a focus on systems that can be transported by C-130 and are able to be airdropped or sling loaded. They should also be capable of defeating unmanned aircraft systems both small and large, as well as helicopters and fixed-wing close support aircraft. While the Pandur has a weight rating of about 20 tons, it is roughly 10 tons lighter than the Sgt. Stout, Moldovan noted. The vehicle still has room for a vehicle commander, gunner, SHORAD operator and robotic systems operator in the troop compartment. The Pandur SHORAD system uses the same Moog RIP turret that is on the Sgt. Stout. The same turret has been integrated on GDLS' robotic combat vehicle called TRX. General Dynamics unit puts short-range air defense on robotic vehicle GDLS will be taking the vehicle to the Army's MFIX, or the Maneuver Fires Integrated Experiment, at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in July. The company responded to the Army's RFI with both the Pandur and 10-ton TRX options, according to Moldovan. TRX will also be present and operated in tandem at MFIX. The Pandur was developed for the Austrian army, and Portugal, Belgium, Slovenia and the Czech Republic are also customers. While the vehicle is foreign, GDLS built Pandurs in Michigan in the mid-1990s, said Kendall Linson, company business development manager. The company could restart that line again if the Army settled on the option, he noted. 'I think Pandur would align with a counter-UAS capability simply because of the weight of the vehicle and the utility and survivability of the vehicle,' Linson said. 'A lot of counter-UAS, basically the solutions that they're looking at don't provide that survivability that the Pandur would offer.'
