Defence research through the decades

As aircraft performance increased entering the Second World War, higher rates of acceleration in turns subjected pilots to extreme forces called G-forces. Equivalent to several times Earth’s gravity, G-forces drain the blood from the pilot’s head toward their lower body, often leading to unconsciousness. The first anti-G suit, using water-filled trousers to counter G-forces, was invented by Dr. Wilbur Franks in 1939 (Franks Flying Suit MK3) and was used during the war. The suit was tested in a centrifuge to emulate the conditions pilots experience.

Later iterations of the anti-G suit were refined over the years and used high-pressure air to inflate the limb counter pressure bladders. The Sustained Tolerance for Increasing G (STInG) system, created by DRDC scientists in 1990, provided superior aircrew protection for the agile CF-18s. STInG was integrated into the Royal Canadian Air Force inventory, was purchased by the US Navy, and is emulated by other air forces world-wide as the standard in anti-G protection ensembles.

Gas warfare in the First World War made research into protective masks a priority for Canada during the Second World War. In post-war years the work continued with the development of improved respirators and filters and gas-proof clothing. Researchers tested the fit of the mask, the composition of the rubber used in manufacturing, and the efficiency of paper filter materials. Other than a few specialized applications, every respirator used by the Canadian Armed Forces from the Second World War to the 1990s, including the C4 mask, was developed by DRDC.

An important part of the C4 mask is the C7 canister, developed in response to the discovery of new chemical agents in the 1980s.

The C7 was the only Western nation canister affording protection against all known chemical warfare agents.

The Heller was the first weapon system entirely developed and manufactured in Canada. Inspired by the Hammer, a Second World War German anti-tank weapon, it was developed by DRDC to meet the need for an accurate and powerful anti-tank weapon that could be carried and fired by the individual infantry soldier. The Heller was in production from 1954 and remained in service with the Canadian Army until 1967. It fired an 81-mm rocket propelled shaped-charge warhead that was capable of penetrating 280 mm of rolled homogenous armour at right angle impact. It replaced the U.S. Bazooka, providing both longer range and greatly increased penetration.

During the Cold War, the threat of intercontinental ballistic missiles reaching North America brought forth a need for developing a rocket capable of reaching an altitude of 120 km, using a high specific impulse solid propellant motor. DRDC scientists at Valcartier formulated a new solid composite propellant and the general design of the rocket was then completed with the assistance of industry. The Black Brant was launched successfully in 1959 and the technology was transferred to industry for commercial exploitation. DRDC scientists in Ottawa were studying the physics of the ionosphere with a goal of improving radio communications and saw the potential for using rockets to carry sounding instruments into the ionosphere, expanding their research from ground-based experiments. Black Brant rockets built at Valcartier carried payloads that measured radio wave signal strength variations from ground transmissions, energetic particle measurements, and positive ion measurements. Until 1984, more than 50 rockets carried experimental payloads. Research from northern launch sites at Churchill, Manitoba and Resolute Bay, Nunavut, combined with satellites and ground based measurements brought rapid advances in knowledge of the ionosphere. The Black Brant proved to be a major commercial success and is still in production today.

DRDC began research on hydrofoil ships to meet demand for high-speed surface craft to defend against modern submarines, which could attain underwater speeds greater than conventional mono-hull naval ships. The test vehicle "Rx" was designed, built, and operated in 1954 to investigate various design concepts. A 1960 DRDC report on the hydrofoil's application to anti-submarine warfare led to construction of HMCS Bras d'Or. Trial speeds of 63 knots were achieved making Bras d'Or the fastest ship in the world.

The Periscopter was a combination of a helicopter and a TV camera, jointly developed with Westinghouse Canada (Hamilton). It had two counter-rotating or lifting rotors powered by high-power electrical motors. It was designed to accommodate a vacuum-tube TV camera for surveillance of the battlefield from a height of up to 180 metres. The system was tethered to a ground station. The flight control system and platform stability in windy conditions proved to be difficult engineering problems, so the project was abandoned at the end of the 1960s and it did not go into commercial production. However, the technology was well ahead of its time, as it is the forerunner of the modern-day drones. Westinghouse employees eventually created L-3 Wescam (Burlington), a major player in gyro-stabilized electro-optical/infra-red (EO-IR) systems.

As a result of Canada's participation in United Kingdom nuclear trials in Australia, it became apparent that blast phenomenology in the range between large-scale conventional explosions (a few tons of TNT) to small nuclear explosions (1 kiloton or more) was not well characterized, and that the United Kingdom did not have access to facilities where they could be investigated. Consequently, the Suffield Experimental Station conducted progressively larger conventional explosive trials, culminating in Operations SNOWBALL (1964), PRAIRIE FLAT (1968), and DIAL PACK (1970) — all equivalent to 500 tons of TNT — which allowed blast-effect scaling relationships to be determined. The United Kingdom and the United States participated in this research effort; all three countries also assessed blast effects on operational items, such as a Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile. As an unintended outcome, the program helped to clarify the geophysics behind the formation of craters on the Moon.

The Canadian Underwater Mine-countermeasures Apparatus (CUMA) provided Canadian Armed Forces bomb disposal divers with the low acoustic and magnetic signatures needed to approach and dispose of underwater explosives (mines) without accidental detonation. CUMA's innovation was to push the diving limit from depths of 42 meters to 81 meters in a light and affordable system. Developed in conjunction with Canadian industry, CUMA and its variants are still in use by more than 20 armed forces.

Electromagnetic pulses (EMP) are a threat to all electronics, including critical navigation, communication and weapon systems on military vehicles. DRDC designed and built the first EMP facility in Canada that was large enough to evaluate vehicles and weapons systems against high energy EMPs.

Wind chill represents the additional loss of heat from exposed skin due to wind. DRDC was the lead Canadian agency tasked with revising the wind chill index with theoretical considerations and human verification experiments. The revised wind chill has since been used for military preparedness for Arctic expeditions, and globally as a forecasting tool to advise the public of the risk of freezing injury.

DRDC led a major multi-year federal initiative involving several departments and agencies, which aimed at providing the RCMP with science and technology support and advice during the planning and execution of security operations for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. In advance of the games, DRDC scientists developed the network-enabled collaborative environment, which demonstrated the integration of a set of tools supporting complex decision-making in the context of joint, inter-agency, multi-national and public (JIMP) operations and helped CAF develop their command and control (CR) capacity in preparation for their support during the Olympic and G8/G20 summits.

NEOSSat orbits 800 kilometres above the Earth, tracking satellites and "space junk" as part of DRDC's high earth orbit surveillance system project. Unlike ground-based telescopes, NEOSSat is not limited by geographic location, the day-night cycle, or cloudy weather. NEOSSat bolsters Canada's contribution to international efforts to maintain the safety of space assets.

Building on concepts developed through Natural Resources Canada, MASAS is a national data aggregation hub that improves sharing of location-based situational awareness information and alerts between emergency management and response agencies. In 2011, DRDC launched the MASAS-X pilot project, enabling public safety and security professionals to use MASAS in a variety of settings, including training and exercises and in real situations such as the 2013 Alberta floods, the 2015 forest fires in Kelowna, and the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfires. In 2015, DRDC established a service agreement with a not for-profit, Canadian Public Safety Operations Organization (CanOps), to transition MASAS from a federally-funded pilot project into an ongoing, self-sustainable national capability.