Vard Marine Inc. Welcomes GeoSpectrum Technologies Inc. into the Team Vigilance Preferred Suppliers Program

At CANSEC 2023, Vard Marine Inc. (VARD), a Fincantieri company, proudly launched VIGILANCE, as their solution to replace the Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) Kingston Class Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels (MCDV) under pillar two of Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy. In conjunction with Team Vigilance partner companies Ontario Shipyards, Thales Canada, SH Defence, and Fincantieri, VIGILANCE will provide the RCN with a state-of-the-art, capable, operationally flexible, and globally deployable multi-mission naval vessel.

This collaboration ensures Team Vigilance can meet the needs of the Royal Canadian Navy’s future fleet with a tailored naval solution, striking the optimum balance between capability and cost, while also maintaining the life-cycle cost advantages VARD’s naval designs are known for.

As a part of the ongoing effort, Team Vigilance continues to assemble a broad coalition of Canadian companies that can offer important services and vital equipment to the program. Building a robust coalition is key to the core objective that VIGILANCE be designed in Canada, built in Canada, and equipped in Canada. To this end, Team Vigilance launched their Preferred Suppliers Program at DEFSEC 2023 in Halifax last October.

It is announced that VARD has named GeoSpectrum Technologies Inc. (GeoSpectrum) as a Preferred Supplier to Team Vigilance. GeoSpectrum offers a multitude of naval equipment and systems including end-to-end integrated naval acoustic solutions. Particularly noteworthy is the Towed Reelable Active Passive Sonar (TRAPS©), a compact modular system that was initially developed for and is deployed on the MCDV. Further, the modular approach adopted by GeoSpectrum for TRAPS© is consistent with the modular mission payload approach that is a core aspect of VARD’s design philosophy for VIGILANCE.

In addition to several successful domestic deployments, GeoSpectrum has an expanding international customer base. Domestically, TRAPS© with the RecView processing suite, has been purchased by and deployed with the RCN on both the Kingston Class and the Harry DeWolf Class, the latter of which recently circumnavigated North America including a passage through the Arctic.

Not only will VIGILANCE provide the sailors of the RCN and the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve the modern tools they need to protect Canada’s vital interests at home and abroad, it will also allow them to leverage the best that Canadian industry has to offer from companies like GeoSpectrum who succeed as international reference players in their respective market segments.

Derek Buxton, Vice President Business Development, Vard Marine Inc., said: “We are fully committed to the principle that VIGILANCE will be designed, built, and equipped in Canada. Bringing GeoSpectrum on board as a Preferred Supplier to Team Vigilance, with the potential that their portfolio of innovative and leading-edge products offer, designed and manufactured right here in Canada, is an easy decision. The fact that their equipment is already deployed in the existing fleet and performing critical functions in support of key RCN missions underscores the importance of their involvement in this program.”

Sean Kelly, Vice President Business Development, GeoSpectrum Technologies Inc., said: “This is a key strategic partnership for not only GeoSpectrum, but all Team Vigilance players and the Royal Canadian Navy. We are proud to provide a capability to Canada that is unsurpassed in the Naval environment while keeping Atlantic Canadians employed in sustainable jobs within the ocean sector.”