Defense News - Canada

The Canadian Army hopes to have in place by the end of this year an initial contract for a new vehicle-mounted surveillance system that can feed its data into command-and-control networks.The Army uses the Coyote reconnaissance vehicle, but its systems cannot transmit information to headquarters. The Coyote was delivered in 1997, and its main drawback is that the data it collects is stored on 8mm cassettes, which are then hand-delivered to senior officers. (Source DefenseNews)

The project consists of replacing Coyote with the Light Armoured Vehicle-Reconnaissance: Surveillance Systems Upgrade Project, known as LRSS UP. The Canadian government has not released details on what the project will cost. But industry representatives estimate the LRRS UP will be worth about 250 million Canadian dollars ($240 million).

Sixty-six surveillance systems will be purchased and integrated into the upgraded LAV-3s by General Dynamics Land Systems — Canada of London, Ontario. General Dynamics is upgrading the LAV-3s for the Army as part of a 1 billion Canadian dollar project. Its London plant also originally built the Coyote vehicles.

Army Maj. Frank Lozanski of the office of the Director of Land Requirements told industry representatives during a presentation in May that the Coyote is facing obsolescence. Aside from its use of 8mm cassettes to transfer surveillance data to higher headquarters, he noted the Coyote has no connectivity to the Army’s network that displays intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance information.

The vehicle’s surveillance sensors also cannot be operated if the Coyote is moving, Lozanski pointed out. Low to medium winds can cause the vehicle’s surveillance mast, erected while stationary, to sway, and the imagery being collected can become unstable.

The surveillance system takes 20 to 40 minutes to set up and tear down — too much time in a combat situation, Army officers said.

In addition, the Coyote chassis does not provide sufficient protection against improvised bombs, so the vehicles have played a limited role during the war in Afghanistan, Lozanski noted in his presentation. Troops are required to dismount from the vehicle to set up the surveillance system, putting them at risk.

LRSS UP will acquire a system that produces digital information that can be fed into Canadian Forces networks. The detection range and identification capabilities of surveillance systems will be improved. The time to set up the system will be decreased, and the new vehicles will be able to transmit data while on the move.

The operator control station will be designed so it can accept the future integration of data from unmanned aircraft and ground systems, industry representatives have been told.

According to the LRSS UP letter of interest provided to industry, the surveillance suite will consist of day and night surveillance systems, a near-infrared illuminator, a GPS receiver and other range detection equipment.