By Jasmine Law
In Canada’s military and defence world, Rockwell Collins has secured its place as a key player. In recent years, the company has offered significant capability advancements to the Canadian military and made leads in investment and development opportunities in Canada.
Rockwell Collins in Ottawa focuses on the design, development, support, modeling and simulation of wireless, ad-hoc networking technologies for strategic and tactical applications used by global coalition partners and the Canadian Armed Forces.
Currently, the leading project is the company’s new wideband high frequency (WBHF) communications system, which is being developed locally for use in Canada and for global export. WBHF provides a dependable, beyond-line-of-sight communications solution with up to 240 kilobits per second of data throughput. Essentially, it stands to securely transmit high-bandwidth voice and data across continents as an alternative to satellite communications systems, which are vastly more expensive. The military, search and rescue organizations, as well as the mining industry and remote communities are some of the users of this technology.
In 2015, WBHF was selected for the Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP), which aims to bridge the pre-commercialization gap by testing innovative capabilities within an appropriate federal government department before putting them on the market. In March 2015, WBHF endured testing and evaluation by the Department of National Defence for four weeks to assess ease of use and operational performance. Rockwell Collins conducted two successful live over-the-air tests of WBHF radio between Ottawa and Iowa in 2013 as well.
The company also offers services and products ranging from communications, navigation, surveillance and displays to flight management systems, data links, autopilots and avionic systems, all of which the Department of National Defence operates on today.
Additionally, Rockwell Collins, whose network spans over 150 countries, is the leading provider of innovative cockpit systems for Bombardier Aerospace commercial and military special-purpose aircraft. Boeing also awarded Rockwell Collins a contract in 2015 to provide avionics service and support for the Royal Canadian Air Force’s fleet of 15 CH-147F Chinook helicopters. Their Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) cockpit is also featured on the Chinook. That same year, Rockwell Collins delivered enhanced networking communication capability to the Royal Canadian Navy fleet by providing 85 721S radios.
Rockwell Collins remains a pioneer in the advancement and distribution of ground-breaking communications and aviation electronics solutions, and it continues to expand its reach in Canada and supply the nation with innovative defence and military capabilities.