RFPs don’t win fights
At CFB Petawawa, industry got a rare look at where drones help artillery—and where Canadian procurement still needs a battlefield education
Editor’s note: Thanks to Sentinel R&D for the live flight demo last week in Hamilton, Ontario.
🎯 Three-Shot Burst
Special guest POV by 🍁 Jozsef Hamari, Co-Founder at TerraSense Analytics
Last week, two dozen industry reps spent the day at CFB Petawawa with the 2nd Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery (2 RCHA). We watched live as drones enabled artillery fires on a modern battlefield. Far more importantly, we learned exactly where they fail to live up to their potential.
Waiting for the buses that morning, the mood among colleagues was a mix of excitement and deep skepticism. But everyone agreed: this level of transparency is completely new to Canadian defence procurement. By the end of the day, even the skeptics were sold. This is how procurement must happen moving forward.
In the defence sector, it’s dangerously easy to get trapped in the sterile world of procurement paperwork. You read the requirements, check the boxes, and deliver a product. But RFPs don’t win fights.
At TerraSense, I’ve always taken immense pride in how far we’re willing to go to find out what the actual uniformed end-users need, not just what the contract demands. The philosophy is simple: probe deep into the operator’s pain points. Obsessively ask the real people who live and work with real problems in the mud and cold, not just the requirements scorecard.
When an RFP drops, our first move is to find out who really needs this product. What their real capability gap is.
Sometimes this gets us into a little bit of trouble and earns us a scolding from an overly cautious bureaucrat who knows that saying ‘no’ has never lost anyone their job. But I believe this is fundamental to building a product that will deliver maximum, decisive impact.
Importantly, this boots-on-the-ground obsession serves both our warfighters and our partners in industry. Because our technology is custom-moulded to the operational realities of the Canadian Armed Forces, we make integration and interoperability incredibly seamless. We de-risk the AI component so primes can deliver comprehensive, winning solutions without the usual friction.
What MINERVA and the Canadian Army are doing here is important. It’s one of the first signs that Canada really meant all the talk of ‘partnership’ in the new Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS). When you show us the real gaps, we can forge real capabilities. And this is how we’re building an enduring company that truly backs the operators who defend us.
Related:
Parliamentary testimony from new Defence Investment Agency (DIA) head Doug Guzman
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🤝 Deal Corner
The defence tech gold rush is testing the limits of venture capital
The Logic reports that a gold rush mentality is forming around defence tech in Canada due to promises of billions in additional federal spending:
“Amid the excitement, however, investors and entrepreneurs warn that defence tech — with its long timelines and massive capital needs — isn’t a natural fit for the traditional VC playbook.”
US data from Pitchbook validates this challenge: Government capital is now structural. Office of Strategic Capital, In-Q-Tel, and Defense Innovation Unit are acting as co-investors and validators, not just background support.
In parallel, former defence minister Harjit Sajjan’s new startup is laying the groundwork for public listing. Juno Industries has secured $12 million in commitments to list on TSXV in reverse takeover deal.
Last week, Canada was chosen as host country of the new multinational defence bank:
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Security Compass helps you maintain end-to-end security traceability across your control framework: requirement → implementation → test/verification → evidence. Give assessors what they need faster, with less ambiguity.
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⚔️ Combat Readiness
The Canadian company tasked with purifying water on the moon
As NASA moves towards establishing a permanent presence on the moon, a Canadian company is hoping to solve one of the biggest challenges for astronauts in deep space – accessing drinkable water.
The challenge aimed to identify innovative companies that could develop technologies “to purify moon water for human deep-space missions.”
The Canadian Strategic Missions Corporation (CSMC) was recently awarded $400,000 in grant funding after it won the Aqualunar Challenge, led by the Canadian Space Agency in partnership with Impact Canada.
Related:
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“Twice in my adult life, I have watched the Government of Canada procure at speed. The first was in Afghanistan and the second was during the pandemic. In both cases, Canadians were dying. Each time the crisis passed, procurement reverted to its status quo paradigm. Why?” — Ret. VAdm Ron Lloyd
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Odds & ends: Denmark to procure state-of-the-art Canadian assault rifle before Canada does… In 1956, Canadair’s chief designer, Frederick Phillips, proposed a radically new airplane design… $1.3M award funds space technology innovation research at York… Financing Defence Readiness kicks off today in Ottawa… The U.S. and Taiwan Plan to Turn the Strait Into a Drone Hellscape to Stop China… NATO looking at Canadian aircraft for its new airborne warning fleet… US Navy chief wants big lasers on warships ASAP
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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.
Thank you for a very informative article. And I appreciate the links, especially on Eliot Pence. It is great he has come home and help our nation.