Site selection for new $3-billion NORAD radar slips behind schedule

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The decision on where to locate a new NORAD radar system in Ontario has fallen behind schedule but defence officials say they are still confident the project worth up to $3 billion will be ready by 2028.

The specific location in Ontario for the over-the-horizon radar or OTHR was supposed to be settled in spring of this year. But now the Department of National Defence (DND) says it doesn’t have a specific timeline for the decision on where the radars will be located.

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“While it will not be possible to provide a more precise estimate until this work and other analysis is complete, there has been no change to the initial timeline associated with this project when it was announced as part of Canada’s broader NORAD modernization plan,” DND spokesperson Kened Sadiku said in an email.

He noted that the initial operation capability for the OTHR is still set for 2028.

But Dipak Roy, executive chairman of D-TA Systems in Ottawa, a company that has pioneered research on such radars, said that a contract for the system should have been announced last year if the 2028 timeline is still going to be met.

Roy said his firm has presented five times to the U.S. Air Force, which is working on its own similar system for NORAD. “We have never even had a specific industry day in Canada,” for this project, he explained. “We have no visibility on the Canadian program.”

Over-the-horizon radar has the ability to conduct surveillance at far greater ranges than regular radar technology as it extends the distance of its capabilities by bouncing signals off the ionosphere—a layer of the Earth’s atmosphere that reflects radio waves. It’s estimated that the minimum range for the radar will be 500 km, while the maximum range could be more than 3,000 km. The system would be able to track aircraft, missiles and surface ships.

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DND originally estimated the cost of the radar would be under $1 billion. It now estimates it could be as much as $3 billion.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau highlighted Canada’s decision to move ahead with the over-the-horizon radar during the 2023 visit to Ottawa by U.S. President Joe Biden. The system will provide coverage of the Arctic and should be fully operating by 2031.

Another system, the Polar Over-the-Horizon radar would be installed somewhere in the Arctic and provide additional surveillance coverage.

Sadiku said more than 500 sites have been analyzed during the search for sites for OHTC.

D-TA Systems, which has 40 employees, has already delivered a working radar to Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), the Ottawa-based science agency for DND.

Roy said even when the site is selected there will have to be extensive environmental consultations.

D-TA Systems Inc. was established in 2007 and has been involved in defence projects in the U.S., Canada and other NATO nations as well as Japan. The firm has been working on over-the-horizon radar since 2011 for various Department of National Defence and U.S. military projects.

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DND has already spent $30 million with D-TA to create the capability, Roy has noted.

The interest in over-the-horizon radars, which were used during the Cold War, has resurfaced because military officials realized that other surveillance systems, such as satellites, have become increasingly vulnerable to some weapons.

He said besides D-TA technology, the U.S. military is also looking at the BAE Australia system.

Australia’s military currently has the Jindalee Operational Radar Network, an over-the-horizon system which can monitor air and sea movements up to 3,000 km. In 2018, the Australian government announced it would spend more than $1 billion upgrading the system. BAE Australia is working on that project.

Roy said he is pushing to have the Canadian over-the-horizon radar projects have as much Canadian content as possible.

There is growing frustration among some domestic aerospace and defence companies that the Liberal government has been passing over Canadian technology, instead opting for foreign systems. Radars and related systems on board Canada’s new surface combatants are largely being sourced from U.S. companies.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, including exclusive content for subscribers only, sign up here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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