An executive from a major European defence-tech firm says there is “no limit” to how much it could expand its Canadian operations in Ottawa as the industry rides a wave of new defence spending from the federal government. Leaders from Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace headquarters in Norway are in Ottawa this week to tour the […]
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An executive from a major European defence-tech firm says there is “no limit” to how much it could expand its Canadian operations in Ottawa as the industry rides a wave of new defence spending from the federal government.
Leaders from Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace headquarters in Norway are in Ottawa this week to tour the Kanata office of Kongsberg Geospatial, the company’s Canadian arm. They told OBJ the region’s abundance of highly skilled engineers and other workers give it an edge over many other parts of the world when it comes to being a defence-tech hotbed.
“Basically, it’s as simple as, where we can get the talent, that’s where we will grow,” Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace executive vice-president of defence systems Kjetil Reiten Myhra told OBJ in an interview on Tuesday.
Myhra said the National Capital Region has “by far the biggest engineering capability” of any of Kongsberg’s global operations, which span from Europe to Australia.
“If you’re looking at most other countries, access to talent is challenging,” he said. “Here in Ottawa, it’s very good. It’s easier to grow (in Ottawa) than in many other places. It’s a good hub to build from.”
His comments come as Kongsberg Geospatial rides a wave of growth that’s seen it emerge as one of the brightest stars in the local defence ecosystem.
Founded in Ottawa in 1992 as Gallium Visual Systems, the company was acquired by Norwegian defence giant Kongsberg Gruppen in 2006.
The firm’s flagship product is TerraLens, geospatial visualization software that helps clients such as the U.S. Navy create 2D and 3D models of combat environments. The product is slated to become a key piece of equipment on next-generation vessels such as the Royal Canadian Navy’s future River-class destroyers.
The company has been expanding its products and services in recent years, adding offerings such as drone-navigation software and training tools that simulate real-world conditions for clients such as the Canadian Armed Forces.
And with the federal government planning to buy as many as 12 new submarines to replace the Royal Canadian Navy’s aging fleet in a program that’s expected to cost more than $20 billion, Kongsberg is hoping to become a major supplier to that project.
One of the two bidders for the submarine contract is TKMS (ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems) of Germany. Kongsberg is looking to set up a “centre of excellence” at its office on Legget Drive in Kanata that will focus on developing cutting-edge combat management systems for TKMS’s worldwide fleet of submarines.
Headcount more than doubled
Jordan Freed, Kongsberg Geospatial’s president and managing director, says the company – which has more than doubled its local headcount from 40 to 100 employees over the past four years – expects to hire more than 100 additional engineering and other skilled workers in Ottawa over the next four to five years as it ramps up research and development in the National Capital Region.
“We’ve been on a fairly significant growth curve,” he said.
Myhra said Kongsberg’s Ottawa-based engineers are also poised to play a major role in pioneering new sensors and communications systems designed to help soldiers patrol the Arctic Ocean.
With new shipping lanes in the Arctic opening up as icy passages melt amid global warming, it will become more important for Canada, Norway and other far northern nations to have the right tools to protect their sovereignty, Myhra said.
“How do you actually provide a 24-7, 365-day-a-year situational awareness of what’s actually going on in the North? You need technology. But none of it really exists at this time,” he added.
“You need a sensor network, you need underwater communications systems. There are so many things you need. There’s a lot of development that needs to happen in the future. I think the collaboration there between Norway and Canada can be really, really strong.”
In addition, Freed says Ottawa has all the ingredients to become a “very significant” hub for developing drones, AI-powered software and other cutting-edge technology that will help soldiers navigate the battlefields of the future.
He said firms such as Kongsberg are ideally positioned to capitalize on the federal government’s pledge to hike its defence spending budget over the next decade.
“This is the hub of the defence industry in Canada,” said Freed, who is one of 33 members of a new task force aimed at unlocking up to $3 billion in new investment and economic activity in Ottawa-Gatineau’s defence sector.
Freed said the federal government’s new $6.6-billion defence industrial strategy aimed at lessening Canada’s dependence on foreign-made military technology could be a boon for the local defence sector.
As an example, he cited a key plank in the strategy that was unveiled last month: the launch of a $105-million “drone innovation hub” at the National Research Council, with the goal of making Canada a world leader in unmanned aircraft technology.
Invest Ottawa already operates a facility at Area X.O in the city’s south end where Kongsberg tests software that helps drone pilots navigate beyond their visual line of sight. The University of Ottawa also has a drone technology research facility in Kanata, and Freed says the drone innovation hub will accelerate the development of new technology that could be used in everything from fighting wildfires to defending the Canadian Arctic.
The innovation hub at the NRC “could be something very big for Ottawa,” he explained, noting Kongsberg is already making “significant investments” to beef up drone R&D efforts at its facility in Kanata.
Freed applauded the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau for stepping up efforts to attract more investment to the region’s defence technology sector, which includes more than 330 companies.
He said initiatives such as the new regional defence task force will help build bridges between small and medium-sized firms and multinationals such as Kongsberg, giving startups access to new markets and customers while opening opportunities for companies to work together on major projects.
“We’re not going to solve everything ourselves,” Freed said.
Recent announcements such as the DIS have sparked the creation of new campaigns and groups such as the Association of Canadian Defence Companies aimed at helping SMEs band together to tackle challenges such as procurement reform.
Myhra said that while he sees plenty of opportunities to collaborate with other members of Ottawa’s defence-tech community, he still believes healthy competition pushes the industry as a whole to greater heights.
“When there’s big programs and big spending, there’s a lot of chaos,” he said. “This will calm down over time and we’ll see what programs get going and who is going to be involved.
“Getting everybody on the same page, I’m not sure that's something you want. You want to have companies challenging the status quo, so some sort of chaos and friction is actually very, very good to make sure that actual innovation happens rapidly.”
