VICTORIA, British Columbia \u2014 General Dynamics is hoping to convince the Canadian Army that fielding a portable secure Internet system along with battlefield smartphones holds the key to providing communications and navigation systems for its soldiers in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In July, Rheinmetall won the contract for the initial phase of the Canadian Army\u2019s Integrated Soldier System Project (ISSP). The contract is valued at CAN\u00a0$7 million (US $5 million) for the acquisition of a small number of systems but the project could eventually be worth (CAN)<\/span> $250 million if the Army proceeds with<\/span>\u00a0buys purchasing<\/span> large numbers of such equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ISSP is to improve situational awareness and communications on the battlefield. Stephane Oehrli, a vice\u00a0president at Rheinmetall Canada, told explained to<\/span> journalists at a July 28 news conference\u00a0that the basic element of the system is a military radio, but that it is<\/span> integrated with mapping, tracking and GPSlobal Positioning System<\/span> capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But General Dynamics Mission Systems-Canada of Ottawa believes the capabilities offered by the initial phase of ISSP are already redundant and that the Army should embrace militarized smartphones and a deployable Internet network to support lighter weight and more capable future soldier systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Our strategy is to show the Army that we are beyond today what the [ISSP] project hopes to [be] doing [in] the future,” said Rick Fawcett, director of business development for GDeneral Dynamics<\/span> Mission Systems-Canada.\u00a0“We demonstrated the capability of sending a message off a smartphone into the Canadian Army\u2019s existing command-and-control system. That capability doesn\u2019t exist in the first phase of ISSP.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The concept is designed to get away from military radio-based technology and instead use militarized civilian smartphone technology, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Canadian Defence Minister Jason Kenney said the military would begin testing in the coming months the systems provided by Rheinmetall, starting with a few dozen to ensure they meet all the requirements for ISSP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rheinmetall officials noted that once the Canadian <\/span>government declares its ISSP product fully acceptable in 2016, it could exercise options under the contract to buy up to 4,144 of the systems, as well as award a second contract for related support. The total value of both contracts would be around (CAN)<\/span> $250 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rheinmetall didn\u2019t comment on the views put forward by GDeneral Dynamics<\/span> Mission Systems-Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Pierre-Alain Bujold, a spokesman for Public Works Canada, which oversees the procurement of military equipment, noted that beyond the initial contracts for ISSP there will also<\/span> be additional competitions to acquire other related equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Canada will use competitive processes to procure items that will enhance the capability and to keep\u00a0up with technological developments,” he stated in an email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fawcett noted that the initial phase of ISSP would provide the Canadian Army with some short-term capability it needs. “What we’re looking at is the Army’s follow-on program,” he said. “We’re looking at the next generation of tactical communications.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n GDeneral Dynamics<\/span> Mission Systems-Canada decided against bidding on the first phase of ISSP, Fawcett said. Instead it directed put<\/span> the (CAN)<\/span> $1 million that would have been spent to compile a bid and directed that<\/span> into further research oninto<\/span> what it is calling its Tactical LTE (for \u00a0Long-Term Evolution, the transmission of high-speed data to mobile devices)\u00a0system. (LTE is an abbreviation for Long-Term Evolution, the transmission of high-speed data to mobile devices)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Fawcett said the firm will now focus on developing a portable military cell network that can be set up in remote areas and on improving how smart phones can interface with older Army radio technology still in use. General Dynamics will also improve security protocols to prevent militarized smartphones from being jammed by enemy forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n