Canada's Department of National Defence abruptly cancelled an industry day scheduled for 26 May for a major new contract for high-end unmanned air systems.
The event for the joint unmanned surveillance and target acquisition system (JUSTAS), to be held on the eve of the CANSEC defence and security exhibition in Ottawa, was cancelled at the last moment and without explanation, according to industry sources.
The meeting, which had been intended to inform potential bidders of the DND's acquisition strategy and capability requirements, was not immediately rescheduled.
The C$750 million ($669 million) JUSTAS contract has attracted interest from several contractors. These include Elbit Systems, offering the Hermes 1500; a General Dynamics Canada/General Atomics Aeronautical Systems team offering the Predator B; and MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates/Israel Aerospace Industries (MDA/IAI) with the latter's Heron system.
Last year, the DND selected the MDA/IAI team to provide the Heron to meet an urgent requirement to provide surveillance support for Canadian troops serving with the NATO International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. Operated from Kandahar airfield, the medium-altitude, long-endurance Heron system (below) has replaced Canadian use of Sagem's Sperwer.
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© Cpl Andrew Saunders/Canadian Forces |
The interim contract, called Project Noctua, had also been pursued by General Atomics, but the company withdrew citing concerns about the DND's acquisition strategy.
Source: Flight International
