By Charles Lefebvre

Qinetiq receives $51 million contract from armed forces; work to be completed in Medicine Hat

May 10, 2019 | 4:35 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — A company that helps design target systems for military customers around the world has been awarded a significant contract from the Canadian Armed Forces, and it will allow its local office to expand their operations.

Qinetiq (pronounced kinetic) Target Systems received a $51 million contract this week to help develop a new unmanned aerial system for the armed forces. The work will be done in Medicine Hat.

“We have built great relationships, we have great vendors and business partnerships with many businesses in Medicine Hat and the surrounding area, and it’s exciting to develop this in our area,” says Corrie Dale, vice-president of Qinetiq’s Medicine Hat operation.

The contract sees Qinetiq working with Canadian-UAV, Leonardo, L3 Wescam and UMS Skeldar, an organization which includes Saab and UMS Aero Group. UMS Skeldar will be providing its V-200 Unmanned Aerial System for the project.

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“We’re going to be taking the technology from Sweden. bringing it to Canada, doing the repair and overhaul here in alberta, conducting all the servicing and maintenance on it through the country we’re deployed, and also looking at building future parts for the system in Canada,” said Vincent Malley, director of business development with Qinetiq.

Malley adds once the system is operational, it will be used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance missions, and will be controlled remotely.

“You try and find ways to take humans out of danger as much as possible, so by using an unmanned vehicle system, you take the human out of the loop in the danger zone,” he said.

Dale says development in the region has allowed the unmanned aerial vehicle industry to take off in recent years.

“The geography and topography around here is just amazing,” she said. “The development of places like Foremost for beyond-line-of-sight is important to be able to do the testing and review.”

The contract is also allowing Qinetiq, which employs 51 people, to expand its local operations to help meet demand.

“It almost doubles the size of our business overnight, so that’s very significant on its own,” said Malley. “It opens up new opportunities within Canada, potentially in oil and gas and commercial opportunities using UAVs, but it also opens up more international customers globally, which we can export stuff from Canada, and create high-paying, good-paying jobs for Canadians.

“We’re going to be hiring staff, many of them operating our of here,” said Dale, who says they are looking to hire 30 people. “We’re going to be expanding our actual shop to take care of the repair and overhaul that’s expected to come from this.”

The first phase of expansion will be completed in August, with the technology arriving from Sweden by September, and work beginning almost immediately after.