Boeing is investing $1.4 million into a Halifax-based company to provide simulation training to crew members aboard one of the U.S. Air Force’s most versatile combat aircraft.
The mixed-reality simulation technology is being developed in Nova Scotia by Bluedrop Training and Simulation Inc.
“We have a military aircraft component to the company. This particular investment will help the V-22 Osprey in the way that it can train and ready the crews for future missions,” said Boeing Canada president, Al Meinzinger, during an announcement Monday.
Boeing’s Osprey program features a specialized military aircraft that can fly as a helicopter or an airplane. The training technology will help support the United States Air Force Special Operations Command.
“That will allow them to link the front-end pilot simulator to the back-end simulator that they’re world-class in developing, so it will give them a connectivity advantage. They’ll be able to connect to very discreet networks,” said Meinzinger.
Jean-Claude Siew, Bluedrop’s executive vice-president for technology and simulation, says the technology is invaluable.
“If you think about having training on an actual helicopter, think about the fuel you burn, think about the blade hours that you spend on the helicopter, and the pure risk. When you train, you want to train for things you don’t want to happen,” Siew said.
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The funding is being delivered through an agreement that was struck when Boeing was awarded a $10-billion contract to replace Canada’s aging fleet of military patrol planes in 2023.
Bluedrop and Boeing have worked together on several projects over the last decade, including the Canadian military’s C-17 Globemaster and CH-47F Chinook.
As Canada ramps up military spending, Bluedrop would like to see changes to the federal procurement process next. Siew says the process often excludes smaller firms.
“(I’d like to have) contracts that are there for us, accessible for us, but it just takes time. You’re impeding the capability of the company to grow faster, to bring more innovation and to do what we’re doing now,” he said.
A centralized procurement is part of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s plan. His defense strategy also includes spending more defense dollars in Canada rather than south of the border.
David Perry, president and CEO of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, hopes the Carney government finds more ways to spread the extra spending around and grow the industry at home.
“There’s different ways that those policy instruments can be adjusted. I think the thing is that the government needs to give a good think and then be clear about what kind of behaviour it wants to incentivize and try and align the different mechanisms to achieve that,” said Perry.
Meanwhile, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says he hopes investments like the one announced Monday will help put the province on Ottawa’s radar — in terms of future defence spending.
“We have the biggest base in Canada right here in Halifax. Across our province, the importance of the defence spending is really important to our economy, and we can deliver,” he said.
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