The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
OTTAWA Ð Last Thursday, Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) and the US Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC), together with General Dynamics Canada, presented the latest research using a revolutionary combat systems simulator. The event marked the end of the third of a series of experiments within the Multi-Role Combat Vehicles Technology Demonstration Project, that saw Canadian and American vehicle crews operating each other's equipment in a simulated environment. This type of international demonstration illustrates the benefits of leveraging the work of allied laboratories to determine the systems' engineering, tactics, techniques and procedures before vehicles are built. This will help to avoid potential costly and time-consuming field solutions that might require retrofits to the equipment of coalition forces. The event featured a joint effort that linked Canadian and American combat systems and dismounted soldier systems in urban terrain. The simulation placed the vehicle in a future net-centric environment to perform cooperatively with US Army unmanned robotic vehicles, Canadian unmanned aerial vehicles and Air Force helicopters. The continued international collaboration between Canadian and US scientists has proven to be immensely beneficial to both nations. Military subject-matter experts from both nations are participating in this experiment in order to capitalize on their operational experience. DRDC is an agency of the Canadian Department of National Defence responding to the scientific and technological needs of the Canadian Forces. The agency is made up of six research centres located across Canada with a corporate office in Ottawa. DRDC has an annual budget of $300 million and employs 1500 people. With a broad scientific program, DRDC actively collaborates with industry, international allies, academia, other government departments and the national security community. TARDEC is the United States of America's laboratory for advanced military automotive technology. Headquartered at the Detroit Arsenal in Warren, Michigan, TARDEC's 1,100 associates develop, engineer, leverage and integrate advanced technology into ground vehicles for all US Armed Forces, many federal agencies and more than 60 foreign countries. TARDEC leads several Army Future Force science and technology efforts Ð collaborating with Army combat developers to ensure they field robust equipment that meets aggressive cost, schedule and performance standards.
