Editor’s note: Thank you to Summa Strategies for hosting The Icebreaker at Defence Minister McGuinty’s lunchtime speech in Toronto last week, where the minister promised that Canada’s defence industrial strategy will land weeks after the Nov. 4 federal budget.
[📺 WATCH ] Also last week, The Icebreaker testified to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry and Technology on what startups and tech entrepreneurs need to see in the defence industrial strategy.
🎯 Three-Shot Burst
A few days after Russian jets breached Estonian airspace for 12 tense minutes last month, Kusti Salm stood in an office overlooking the Tallinn airport, slapping a prototype of a miniature missile into his palm.
The missile, named the Mark 1, was developed last year to shoot down enemy drones at short range and is awaiting its debut on the global weapons market. The 2-foot-long missile is part of a boom in Estonia’s defence industry that the government is banking on to lift its lagging economy.
With a population of about 1.3 million people and one of NATO’s smallest militaries, Estonia has neither the capacity to build tanks, artillery guns and fighter jets, nor a big budget for buying many weapons from abroad.
But it is considered one of the most tech-savvy countries in the world, and Estonian officials are capitalizing on its digitally literate work force to produce defence systems reliant on robotics, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
The Mark-1 missile that Mr. Salm is hoping to sell to European militaries is guided by A.I. to target low-flying drones.
About 70 percent of the weapons and defence-related technology made in Estonia is exported to foreign customers. Last year, the country’s military industry revenues amounted to 500 million euro ($580 million), about €350 million of which was materiel sold overseas. That more than doubled revenues from about €200 million in 2020, including €46 million in exports.
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Our favourite Canadian-Estonian founder team are Katheron and Chris Intson at Sentinel R&D. Read about their attritable drone technology working on the front lines in Ukraine
CAF’s current and future uncrewed systems priorities and what Canadian defence companies are doing to address them
Grounded in bureaucracy, Canada risks missing the drone era
MINERVA is part of the Canadian Army’s plan to embrace the benefits that simple drones can provide to protect soldiers and boost combat power. Click here to learn more about how your company can participate
How the US Army, NATO are creating a new Eastern Flank Deterrence Line
Droning on: “We Can Produce 150,000 FPVs per Month”: Ukrainian TAF Industries… Ukraine Can Produce 10 Million Drones Per Year (but needs $12–20 billion in assistance)… (Un)Manned Warfare: 80% of Drone Success Depends on Pilot Skill: why NATO allies need to train thousands of drone crews… EU making ‘major mistake’ of focusing on drone production over skills, says Ukrainian expert… The importance of a layered, interoperable defence against drones… Is the Drone Industry Facing a Dilemma?… The Army wants drones that understand ‘commander’s intent’… What’s the best way to detect and destroy drones?… Ukraine’s cheap interceptor drones are rewriting the air playbook… Drone-on-drone interception is dead [📺 WATCH ]… State of Artificial Intelligence in Unmanned Vehicles
Shield AI’s highly ambitious plan to disrupt the autonomous combat aircraft market with its VTOL stealth drone
Fire Point: 3 Years Ago It Was a Casting Agency. Now It Has $1 Billion in Drone Contracts
Drone navigator Vermeer raises $10 million
8 European defence tech startups to watch
Winter in Ukraine: when drones can’t see, tanks advance… Rheinmetall Canada has also become a leader in autonomous ground technologies using expertise fully developed in Canada
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Dominion Dynamics is building Canada’s next generation of sovereign defence technology, with a focus on Arctic sovereignty.
💾 Shazam for Drones Hackathon
November 15, 2025 | Ottawa, ON
Modern battlefields are swarming with small, low-cost drones (Class 1 UAS)—systems too elusive for radar and tricky for traditional detection.
These systems are often too small to appear on radar or may operate in cluttered environments where traditional RF detection is ineffective. Yet, their motors, propellers, and flight patterns produce distinct acoustic signatures, allowing drones to be recognized by sound and subsequently detected and classified.
Your mission: Build “Shazam for Drones”—a smart, audio-based system that listens, detects, and pinpoints airborne threats in real time.
The Icebreaker is proud to be working with presenting sponsors AVSS, Kongsberg, NORRG, RMUS Canada, and ThinkOn, who are providing this hackathon with a $20,000 prize pool
🤝 Sovereign Capability
Electromagnetic spectrum has become the decisive domain of modern warfare
Just as control of the skies once determined military success or failure, the ability to achieve spectrum dominance will shape the outcomes of future conflicts.
In the first half of this year alone, VCs poured $28 billion into defence tech. If these systems can be easily jammed, we’re just building expensive targets instead of giving allied forces the upper hand in the fight.
Related:
Primer: what’s the difference between electronic warfare and cyber warfare?
Deloitte has named H2 Analytics one of Canada’s Companies-to-Watch in the 2025 Technology Fast 50™ program, ranking 12th nationwide
Meet TACTIQL, one the companies selected for Phase 2 of the NATO DIANA programme [📺 WATCH ]
What does success look like for NATO DIANA?
Ottawa is pledging more on defence — and Calgary wants a piece of the action… Calgary drone interceptor maker among defence firms eyeing growth from higher military spending:
North Vector, which has 12 people on staff and plans to grow to 20 within months, secured a $4.2-million R&D contract with Defence Research and Development Canada — part of the Department of National Defence — to support testing and help advance hypersonic propulsion technologies.
The feds are picking Canadian tech winners through MOUs: “Defence often isn’t about technology or product… it’s about co-opting a buyer”, according to Dominion Dynamics founder Eliot Pence
In a national address last week, Prime Minister Carney cited a LinkedIn post Pence wrote, “The Canoe and the Crown: Canada’s Past — and Its Path Forward.” His speech, which POLITICO called “The Carney Doctrine,” outlined a new era of Canadian ambition
Canada’s Dual-Use Decade: A Roadmap for Sovereignty and Prosperity
Canada is one of the only space-faring nations without the ability to launch to space from its own soil. Is it time Canada had its own space launch capability? The military thinks so… Export Development Canada Commits $10 Million to Maritime Launch to Advance Spaceport Nova Scotia Toward Orbital Launch… CSMC is hiring a Nuclear Thermal-Hydraulics Engineer
Is D-Wave Quantum’s (QBTS) European Expansion the Key to Its Long-Term Competitive Edge?
Kraken Robotics on De-Risking Offshore Installations
The Aerospace Industries Association AUKUS ITAR exemption recommendations white paper is out. The document has implications for Canada’s ITAR exemption and the renewal of Canada-US trade agreements… Canada to double non-U.S. exports over next decade
DND has launched creative writing contest: seeking visionary essays in hard science fiction that explore how emerging technologies can empower military forces to defend Canada’s sovereignty and national interests in the Arctic
Remembering Nathan Cirillo
After backing Spotify and Revolut, VC veteran Klaus Hommels says he’s pivoting to build companies that make the continent stronger, and backing his team in new initiatives… 26% of European defence technical leaders come from corporates like Airbus Defence, Hensoldt, and BAE Systems. Europe’s industrial base remains the key training ground for technical talent… Of the 624 European defence tech companies, only 14.2% have a founder with a military or defence ministry background:
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⚔️ Combat Readiness
Calling all Canadian firms
The Icebreaker’s partners at the European Defense Tech Hub are bringing together builders, founders, and military experts for one of the most consequential defence tech hackathons of the year. The focus is air defence: from countering Shaheds to tackling fiber-optic drones — with Nordic Air Defence and lots of mentors bringing hands-on expertise. Learn more here.
Related:
Innovation isn’t always blocked by budget or tools. Sometimes it’s blocked by tradition
Why the U.S. needs both legacy defence firms and startups
Roshel’s Roman Shimonov: Building Canada’s Strategic Independence — Lessons from Türkiye’s Ballistic Steel Transformation
For the first time in the US, a rotating detonation rocket engine takes flight
Greenland radars vulnerable to hypersonic missiles, critics warn… Castelion wins first platform integration contracts for Blackbeard hypersonic missile
Saronic ($850M in funding and $4B valuation) and Nvidia Join Forces on Autonomous Sea Vessels
US army taps private equity groups to help fund $150bn revamp
New Manufacturing Approaches, Investment Flowing to Munitions Industry
Airbus, Leonardo and Thales strike space deal to rival Musk’s SpaceX
Digital engineering remains priority for BAE Systems
Emergent Approaches to Combined Arms Manoeuvre in Ukraine:
💎 Rare earths, real leverage: China’s minerals strategy bites
China’s newly announced export restrictions — possibly now on-hold — mark a structural escalation in the U.S.–China trade war.
China controls roughly 70 percent of rare-earth mining, 90 percent of processing and separation, and 93 percent of magnet manufacturing. Even when mined elsewhere, rare earths often require final refinement in China. Industrial diamonds, a lesser-known choke point, follow the same pattern. They are used to drill for minerals, slice semiconductors and machine metals. China dominates that entire value chain.
Bottom line: Firms in the west will need to innovate around the bottlenecks. Scarcity breeds innovation. Firms should direct R&D toward magnet-free or magnet-light technologies, alternative materials and new manufacturing methods. Companies in robotics, EVs and clean energy can accelerate research magnet alternatives, as well as mechanical designs that reduce reliance on rare earths. Collaboration with universities and government-funded labs can lower costs and speed progress.
Related:
Step by Step, How China Seized Control of Critical Minerals
Anand says Canada is in a ‘strategic partnership’ with China… China Turns Digital Currency into a Weapon of Global Power… Canada and China must work together to beat Trump at his own game… China’s geopolitical competition with the West is rapidly expanding into new domains… China’s Global Network of Shipping Ports Is Too Big for Trump to Unravel:
🔫 Hot Shots
Grey war: Canada responds ineptly to cyberattacks, auditor general finds… AI is about to supercharge cyberattacks and ransomware attacks, halting production at factories, knocking hospitals offline or controlling power grids — all before anyone even realizes something’s wrong… Private-Sector Counterintelligence: The Missing Pillar of Economic Resilience… This ‘Privacy Browser’ Has Dangerous Hidden Features… North Korean Hackers Lure Defense Engineers With Fake Jobs to Steal Drone Secrets… US cyber policy goals have regressed during Trump 2.0 in ‘unprecedented setback’… Female spies are waging ‘sex warfare’ to steal Silicon Valley secrets… MI6 issues callout to potential Russian spies on dark web… AI-engineered diseases are coming. Here’s the plan to stop them… We Need a ‘Kill Web’ for Modern Warfare… StirlingX names former GCHQ director as chairman… Does the US military need a Cyber Force?
Here and there: Ahead of federal budget, RBC says building defence assets could be stimulative for the economy in the near term but if they subsequently sit idle, the opportunity cost would represent a drag on sustained growth… Finland sees quantum tech, defence as priorities under strategic partnership with Canada… Inuit business leaders head new defence firm to integrate tech with northern projects… Walking a fine line: Economists caution Canada on commitment to defence sector… PrairiesCan announced $2 million in federal funding for ConvergX to deliver testing and support services that help Alberta SMEs commercialize defence-related technologies and products… In preparing for the end of NATO, Canada falls behind Europe… CAF Recruitment in the Post-Pandemic Era… Carney faces historic choice between South Korea and Europe for submarine fleet… Canada’s aerospace and defence industries—including Ontario’s—can scale up quickly enough to meet the surge in demand… PM Carney wants to ramp up investments in defence significantly, but what does that mean?… Kepler Communications awarded a multi-year contract from DRDC for real-time data sharing and connectivity for Continental Defence, including the Canadian Arctic
What we’re reading: In his seminal ‘The Origins of Victory’, Andrew Krepinevich argues that great powers win not by having the most advanced technology — but by pairing new technologies with new ways of fighting
If you’ve got battlefield intel, classified tips, or just want to call in an airstrike on our typos, hit “reply” and sound off. Whether it’s a new tech sighting, a rumour from the mess hall, or feedback on our comms, we want your SITREP.