Canadian Air Defence Sector introduces new cloud-based command-and-control system

January 26, 2024 - North Bay, Ont. - National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces

NORAD’s Canadian Air Defence Sector (CADS), located at 22 Wing/Canadian Forces Base (CFB) North Bay carried out a demonstration of a new cloud-based command and control (CBC2) software integrator. The event marked a pivotal milestone in the service’s modernization of tactical command and control capabilities as part of the DAF BATTLE NETWORK’s Advanced Battle Management System.

Lieutenant-General Eric Kenny, Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, along with Canadian and American senior military officers, attended the demonstration.

CBC2 incorporates a large number of tactically relevant data feeds as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning to enable decision makers to maintain detailed situational awareness of the environment. The platform uses this data to develop courses of action from which leaders can make higher quality and faster decisions that improve operational outcomes.

Lieutenant-General Kenny highlighted how much of an impact this system will have on the RCAF’s modernization.

“To meet future defence and security challenges alongside our Allies, the RCAF must leverage innovative technologies like cloud-based command and control. These technologies represent significant capability increases in areas key to modern air and space forces. CBC2 incorporates state-of-the-art solutions to enhance NORAD’s effectiveness and will revolutionize the way we operate.”

Major-General Iain Huddleston, Commander of the Canadian NORAD Region, was also at the demonstration.

“This technological development will provide our operators with the latest tools to efficiently maintain detailed situational awareness of the battlespace and contribute to improving NORAD’s rapid response to potential threats. It’s a technological leap we are all excited to see come online,” said Major-General Huddleston.

Over the coming months, Canadian Air Defense Sector operators will be able to provide feedback through the USAF’s agile software development methodology, which enables software developers to work with end users throughout the development process, in a collaborative approach encouraging adaptive planning, evolutionary development, continuous delivery and continual improvement.

As CBC2 transitions into its next phase of development, the operators will be able to provide feedback on the new technology before fully transitioning to it. Future releases are planned to take place at Air Defense Sectors in Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington throughout 2024 and into 2025.

Once the system is fully functional, it will pull together enormous amounts of data from several sensor platforms, providing decision makers with the information they need to carry out their mission.

Canada’s contribution to CBC2 is a part of the NORAD modernization plan announced by the Minister of National Defence in June 2022, which is supported by an investment of $38.6 billion over twenty years.

In addition to modernizing command and control systems, Canada’s NORAD modernization plan will field next-generation sensors, acquire new, advanced air to air missiles, deliver new and upgraded infrastructure and support capabilities, and invest in science and technology.