DND announces $57.5 million communications contract

The Department of National Defence has announced the award of an in-service support (ISS) contract to help maintain and strengthen the communications and information systems the Canadian Army depends on to inform and direct land operations.

The Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) ISS contract was awarded to Rheinmetall Canada for a value of $57.49M. This supports ISTAR components and software that ensure data exchanges occur seamlessly from “sensing” and intelligence-gathering equipment such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or ground radars to the Land Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (LC4ISR) system.

"This contract will help ensure commanders can receive information from key equipment like ground-based radars, electronic warfare suites and remotely piloted aircraft systems in order for them to make timely decisions to achieve operational success," said Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan. "It will also support 50 jobs in Quebec and Ontario."

This is one of four contracts supporting the LC4ISR system. The LC4ISR is a highly integrated tactical system composed of many sensor, communication, networking, and information management sub-systems. It is part of every Canadian Army vehicle, weapons platform and headquarters to help coordinate and conduct modern operations. The LC4ISR is made up of numerous hardware, firmware and software elements, and essentially acts as deployed forces’ central nervous system.

The four contracts provide essential services that include hardware and software engineering work, fixing software issues, correcting any equipment problems, and analyzing and maintaining system health. The ISS also supports specific LC4ISR equipment such as radios.