March 14, 2019 – Ottawa, ON – National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces
Canada's defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged, highlights the importance of providing the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces with the equipment and support they need to train and operate successfully. In support of this priority, The Department of National Defence announced today the award of an in-service support (ISS) contract to help maintain and strengthen the communications and information systems the Canadian Army depends on to inform and direct land operations.
The Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) ISS contract was awarded to Rheinmetall Canada for a value of $57.49M. This supports ISTAR components and software that ensure data exchanges occur seamlessly from "sensing" and intelligence-gathering equipment such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or ground radars to the Land Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (LC4ISR) system.
This is one of four contracts supporting the LC4ISR system. The LC4ISR is a highly integrated tactical system composed of many sensor, communication, networking, and information management sub-systems. It is part of every Canadian Army vehicle, weapons platform and headquarters to help coordinate and conduct modern operations. The LC4ISR is made up of numerous hardware, firmware and software elements, and essentially acts as deployed forces' central nervous system.
The contract will support approximately 50 highly skilled jobs in Canada.
"Providing our women and men in uniform with what they need to do the important job we ask of them is one of our top priorities. This contract will help ensure commanders can receive information from key equipment like ground-based radars, electronic warfare suites and remotely piloted aircraft systems in order for them to make timely decisions to achieve operational success. It will also support 50 jobs in Quebec and Ontario."
– Minister of National Defence, Harjit S. Sajjan
Quick facts
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In November 2017, a request for proposals was issued for the ISTAR Support Contract. On October 19, 2018, the contract was awarded to Rheinmetall Canada.
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The duration of the contract is five years.
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The ISTAR Support Contract is one of four LC4ISR ISS contracts. Together, these contracts provide essential services that include hardware and software engineering work, fixing software issues, correcting any equipment problems, and analyzing and maintaining system health. The ISS also supports specific LC4ISR equipment such as radios.
