A ceremony of remembrance will be held at the National Military Cemetery (280 Beechwood Avenue, Ottawa) on November 11, 2009, at 10:30 a.m. The ceremony will honour those Canadian Forces members interred at the cemetery, and all of those who have fallen in the service of Canada.

The ceremony will include a marching contingent, a gun salute provided by 30th Field Artillery Regiment, two minutes of silence, and the laying of wreaths.

The Honourable Greg Thompson, Minister of Veterans Affairs, will join the students of John Paul I High School (8455 Pre-Laurin Street Borough of Saint-Leonard, Montreal, Quebec) at 10:15 a.m. on November 10, 2009 to pay tribute to Veterans during a special ceremony organized as part of Veterans' Week 2009. The event will also mark the 65th anniversary of the Italian Campaign, in which 93,000 Canadians participated.

The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway will participate in the Berlin Wall Commemoration Ceremony organized by the government of Germany on November 9, 2009. This ceremony marks the 20th Anniversary since the wall came down, preparing the way for the reunification of Germany. The heavily-guarded Berlin Wall separated East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989.

“The Government of Canada is proud of the contribution made during the Cold War by the men and women in uniform who stood for freedom, democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law, as they do today," said Minister MacKay. “I am proud to represent them as we mark a momentous occasion 20 years ago, Monday, when a wall came down and freedom was returned.”

AeroMechanical Services Ltd. has signed an agreement with L-3 Communications to sell AMS's real-time data communications and Internet data delivery systems for aircraft.

The agreement provides for a reselling and teaming arrangement under which L-3 will offer aircraft manufacturers and civil aviation users economically viable access to Flight Data Recorders (FDR) analytical data via real-time data streaming, from anywhere and at any time, around the world.

Under the brand name FLYHT™, AMS will be the exclusive provider to L-3 of Iridium satellite-based real time data communications and Internet data delivery technology. This will include AMS’s revolutionary FLYHTstream™ data streaming system, as well as its fuel-and emissions-management products.
The agreement also provides for L-3 to offer AMS technology to operators of maritime vessels in conjunction with L-3's Marine Voyage Recorder products.

HMCS Algonquin and Protecteur left Esquimalt Harbour for Southern California to participate in a Task Group Exercise (TGEX). They will join HMCS Calgary which has been on a three-month deployment to Central and South America since August 17th.

Algonquin, Calgary, and Protecteur will rendezvous in San Diego prior to the start of TGEX during which more than 500 Canadian personnel will participate in various naval training exercises before they return at the end of November.

TGEX is designed to provide realistic training exercises that will enhance the Navy’s ability to protect Canadian interests at home and abroad. These interests include securing the unrestricted flow of goods across ocean trade routes and maintaining national security against foreign and domestic threats.

OSI Geospatial Inc. announced its International Systems Operations has signed a contract to provide a new naval customer with its ECPINS-W Sub(R) WECDIS technology for trials and evaluation. The contract also includes training. 

"ECPINS-W Sub continues to be the WECDIS software of choice for a growing number of naval customers," said Ken Kirkpatrick, President and CEO. "This new customer will represent our 11th naval customer and our 6th submarine user. ECPINS-W Sub is the most advanced submarine navigation software available and operational across more than just domestic markets."

At the 2009 UVS Canada conference held in Victoria BC, the annual awards were presented to the Individual and Organization having significantly contributed to the growth of the Canadian unmanned vehicle sector.

Retired LT.-COL. "Fig" Newton was this year’s recipient of the UVS Canada Individual Achievement award. Newton was recognized for his contribution as one of the driving forces behind the Canadian littoral trials of the Eagle and Altair unmanned aircraft systems on our west and east coasts, during his service in the Canadian Forces, as well as his continuing efforts to advance the military and civil use of unmanned aircraft systems as a member for the private sector.

This year’s Organizational Award recognized the Canadian Department of National Defence for having been a driving force in the development of unmanned systems technology in Canada. Beginning in the early 90’s with the deployment of the Canadair CL-227 “Peanut” and growing through a number of littoral trials and man deployable mini-UAV systems. With the advent of our involvement in Afghanistan, DND deployed more sophisticated systems beginning with the Sperwer and latterly the successful deployments of the ScanEagle small UAV and the Heron medium altitude unmanned aircraft.

UVS Canada has merged with AUVSI-Canada and will be operating under the name Unmanned Systems Canada. The two Canadian unmanned vehicle systems sector associations voted on the merger, which brought to a conclusion a year of negotiations that will now see the Canadian unmanned systems sector represented by a single association.

Following the vote on the merger an inaugural meeting of the merged Board was held to elect the new association’s executive.

With a US$1 million grant from Lockheed Martin and $380,000 in software contributions from NGRAIN (Canada) Corporation, BCIT is launching The CUBE. This two-year initiative will move the institution’s learning and teaching to a new level through the development of NGRAIN interactive 3D simulations in an effort to enrich curriculum and enhance many elements of the learner experience.

Unique to BCIT, the CUBE initiative will place 3D simulations of expensive, rare and modern equipment in the hands of every BCIT student, anytime, anywhere. This will allow learners to explore complex components, systems and concepts in a 3D virtual world before they touch the real thing. They will be able to manipulate virtual objects from rail cars to knee joints, explore an aircraft engine and its internal components, and even disassemble, assemble, and cross-section it using laptops, tablets, and other new communication devices.

Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing has commenced a significant expansion of its Ottawa, Ontario facility. The construction project includes an addition to the existing building and upgrades to the existing plant and office facilities infrastructure to accommodate the company’s expanding work force. Construction is currently underway and the expansion is scheduled for completion in March, 2010.

“With Curtiss-Wright Controls’ continued growth and success in our target market of rugged deployed defense COTS embedded electronics and systems, the company recognize the need to invest and expand our existing plant, engineering capabilities, and manufacturing capabilities to better serve our customers and their increasing demand for our technologies and products,” said Lynn Patterson, general manager and vice president of Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing.