The 3rd annual Soldier Technology US conference and exhibition will be held in Crystal City, VA from January 19 – 22, 2010 and will feature developments, trends and opportunities in North America’s infantry modernization community.

Key focus of the conference will be on: The shift of coalition forces from Iraq to Afghanistan ; a “Lightening the Load Focus Day”, addressing how the US Army, Marine Corps and Canadian DnD plan to reduce system weight to ensure their war fighters are agile and highly effective in current and future operations, and discussions on ISSP (Integrated Soldier System Project) due to the request being put forward in 2010. The event will also feature key speakers and presentations from experienced military and industry experts from Canada and the US.

Further information on this event can be found at www.SoldierTechnologyUS.com

General Rick Hillier will present his leadership strategies and experiences at the leadership event to be held on Monday, November 16th at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. General Hillier will share his viewpoints on leadership and will be joined by special guest Vern White, Chief of Police, Ottawa Police Services.  The two will engage in a debate on the topic of leadership. 

This event is part of the ongoing The Hillier Inspiration Series. For more information on this and other events visit www.inspirationseries.ca. CDR readers will receive an exclusive offer for Orchestra Seating. Select "Hillier Leadership Front Access" and use the password "Canada" when purchasing tickets.

Eurocopter Canada has finalized its agreement with Canadian Helicopters Limited (CHL) and fully endorses the Advanced Mountain Flying Training Program. This follows Eurocopter ‘s February announcement that it endorsed CHL’s training program after the program was audited and approved by Didier Delsalle, a Eurocopter test pilot who received worldwide recognition in May 2005 when he landed an AS350 B3 on the summit of Mount Everest.

CAE has been awarded over the past two months a series of military contracts valued at more than C$75 million. Included in this total are a number of defence and professional services contracts to support military and homeland security programs in Canada and the United Kingdom as well as a range of other military products and services contracts.

"Growth in our defence and professional services segment continues to be an area of strategic importance for CAE, and we continue to see opportunities for extending the use of modelling and simulation to analysis, training and operational systems," said Martin Gagne, CAE's Group President, Military Simulation Products, Training and Services. "Our acquisition of xwave's Defence, Security, and Aerospace business earlier this year has brought CAE a range of new capabilities in areas such as electronic warfare and tactical mission training, which we are now beginning to harness."

COM DEV USA, LLC, a subsidiary of COM DEV International Ltd. has won a contract valued in excess of US$7 million to supply passive microwave equipment for a US Government space program. 

The contract covers work on the third spacecraft in a multiple-satellite constellation. It follows previous contracts on the first two satellites awarded to COM DEV USA through the Passive Microwave Devices product line it acquired in 2008. Design and production work will be performed at COM DEV USA's manufacturing facility in El Segundo, California with delivery scheduled for midway through calendar 2010.

Alenia North America, a subsidiary of Alenia Aeronautica and part of the Finmeccanica Group, has delivered the second refurbished and modernized C-27/G.222 aircraft to the USAF. 

The aircraft recently delivered to USAF is the second of 18 C-27/G.222 aircraft ordered by them. All 18 aircraft are scheduled for delivery prior to the end of 2011. These refurbished C-27/G.222 aircraft will be used by the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan. They will then be transferred by the Combined Air Power Transition Force in Kabul to the reconstructed Afghan National Army Air Corps (ANAAC). 

The new C-27J air transport has been proposed for Canada’s FWSAR program for Search & Rescue and company spokesman, Marcello Cianciaruso, Senior VP of Canadian Programs, recently told CDR that the company is fully committed to the Canadian program despite delays in getting the project rolling. 

Cianciaruso added that Alenia is, “Fully committed to the partnerships it has worked to establish in Canada. We continue to be fully confident that the C-27J is the right solution, due to its ability to meet the operational and industrial requirements of the Canadian government for its new FWSAR fleet.”  The C-27J is particularly suited to Canada’s FWSAR program because it can match the C-130 in speed and range and also match the Buffalo in manoeuvrability in the mountains.

Alenia also recently won a multi-billion dollar contract with the US Air Force for the JCA (Joint Cargo Aircraft) program, partnered with L-3 Communications (prime on the program), where it would deliver 78 aircraft.

Alenia continues to maintain an office in Ottawa in support of its FWSAR initiative and the company says that together with its Canadian partners, it is dedicated to the FWSAR program.

Claude Lajeunesse, president and chief executive officer of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC) issued Canadian aerospace industry stakeholders, attending the 48th Annual General Meeting and Conference, a call to action and to collaboration in order to better compete and benefit from the phenomenal opportunities awaiting the industry’s future.

A recent AeroStrategy study commissioned by AIAC and Industry Canada, on the impact of Globalization on Canada, revealed that Canada is absent from the top 10 countries in the world for investment in Aerospace R&D, manufacturing, and MRO.

A small airport in Ottawa’s rural west end is now home to the Flight Test Centre of Excellence, a Canadian first that will provide world-class aerospace training, certification, and applied R&D to an underserved global market.  On Oct. 15, a ribbon-cutting ceremony and VIP reception was held at Carp Airport to officially launch the FTCE, which welcomed its first students from DND the following Monday.

FTCE is the brainchild of a consortium that includes Ottawa’s Gladstone Aerospace Consulting, Montreal’s Marinvent Corp. and QinetiQ – the U.K. firm that operates the renowned Empire Test Pilot School in Wiltshire, England. The facility will serve a crucial need in Canada for aeronautics certification and training for both the civil and military aviation markets that, till now, often required programs from abroad to be brought to Canada at great expense, or Canadians to attend training facilities in other countries.

General Dynamics Land Systems has been awarded a $647 million contract by the U.S. Army TACOM Lifecycle Management Command for 352 Stryker vehicles.

Work will be performed in Anniston, Ala.; Sterling Heights, Mich.; Lima, Ohio; and London, Ontario, Canada, with vehicle deliveries to begin in July 2010.

OSI Geospatial’s International Systems Operations has signed a contract valued at approximately $400,000 with the Dutch Defence Materiel Organization to provide a classroom-based Warship ECDIS Training Simulator for use by the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Naval Component of the Belgian Armed Forces. 

Under the terms of this contract, the company will deliver and install a 17 seat simulator that will be used to train students in the use of the company’s world-leading ECPINS®-W system. The training simulator is expected to be delivered in the 4th quarter of 2009.