Defence Research and Development Canada research and development capabilities

Defence Research and Development Canada has 47 research and development (R&D) capabilities, across its seven research centres, as well as the Directorate of Science and Technology Intelligence and the Directorate of Research and Development Operational Capabilities. These capabilities includes the people, expertise, equipment and facilities to carry out world-class R&D in support of Canada’s defence and security.

Atlantic Research Centre

The Atlantic Research Centre offers R&D in underwater warfare, maritime information warfare and naval platforms and provides world-leading expertise in Arctic trials and experimentation.

• The underwater warfare and surveillance capability offers leading scientific and engineering research that enhances the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces underwater situational awareness and enhances the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force’s ability to detect and counter underwater threats.
• Maritime systems experimentation and analytics contributes scientific and technical expertise to enhance command team effectiveness through improved practices in information use.
• Underwater signatures, survivability and materials develops advice and solutions for material aspects of underwater signatures, platform survivability, through-life materiel management and emerging materials technologies.
• Integrated warship survivability and performance enables the delivery of solutions to manage signatures and enhance the survivability, operational capability, maneuverability and sustainability of Royal Canadian Navy ships and submarines.
• Power and energy provides advice in the domain of supplying power and energy across a wide range of defence applications, including soldier systems, fixed and deployed infrastructure, Arctic and naval platforms, energy storage, modelling and simulation and renewable energy.
• Development, engineering and experimentation coordinates the planning and execution of development, engineering and experimentation of defence capabilities on land, in the air, at sea and in the Arctic.

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Centre for Operational Research and Analysis

The Centre for Operational Research and Analysis (CORA) provides operational research and analysis research support to the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces.

• The Joint targeting capability offers direct, timely research support to the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces in the use of targeting data. Targeting is the ability to identify, track and engage assets and make recommendations on appropriate action or engagement. Joint targeting is the ability to share targeting data across platforms and commands which includes army, navy, air force and allies.
• Operational research and analysis for navy and air force employment delivers operational research and strategic analysis to address complex issues within the Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Canadian Navy using a combination of mathematical methods, practical problem solving skills and historical and political analysis. This improves decision-making and contributes to a more productive use of Department of National Defence resources.
• Operational research and analysis for army and force employment conducts operational research and data-science analysis using quantitative, social and strategic research and analysis in support of the Canadian Army and the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces.
• Based on an in-depth knowledge of the strategic environment, joint and strategic analysis provides R&D advice to support major national decisions and planning by the Canadian Armed Forces. This includes considerations of timelines, resources, readiness, program investment and portfolios, and future joint capabilities.
• Operational research and analysis for enterprise resource management conducts operational research and data-science to support evidence-based decision making across the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces.

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Centre for Security Science

The Centre for Security Science provides scientific advice in the defence, public safety and security domains.

• Critical infrastructure protection provides R&D advice to public safety partners and key infrastructure owners to ensure defence preparedness in an ever-evolving risk landscape.
• Border security improves the efficiency and security of the flow of people and goods at Canada’s ports of entry and ensures the integrity of Canadian borders and border regions, including the Arctic.
• Community resilience provides security preparedness support to communities and develops capabilities that strengthen their resilience against the most critical threats, hazards and crises while leveraging opportunities for community growth and well-being.
• Emergency management ensures the effective training of first responders and decision-makers and that they are suitably equipped and supported to safely and effectively anticipate, mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from routine and emergency operations.
• Dual use technologies assists and promotes dual use technologies to better identify and leverage investments across defence, security and safety capabilities for better efficiency, interoperability and consistency.

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Directorate of Research and Development Operational Capabilities

The Directorate of Research and Development Operational Capabilities provides planning and coordination across all research centres and capabilities, as well as cross-cutting capabilities.

• Science visual documentation (VisDoc) is a capability that allows visual documentation of R&D trials in laboratories and in the field, including on land, in the air, at sea and in the Arctic. VisDoc specializes in videography, photography, 3D animation, graphic design and illustration.
• Modelling and simulation supports the people, processes and technologies tasked with identifying the personnel needs of the Canadian Armed Forces. Using a virtual battle space, the modelling and simulation collaboration effort can test future and current force capabilities of the Canadian Armed Forces and offers advice on personnel development, generation and employment.

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Directorate of Scientific and Technical Intelligence

The Directorate of Scientific and Technical Intelligence provides a wide range of threat assessments of weapons and other technologies.

• Intelligence provides all-encompassing threat assessments of weapons and threat systems and their technologies.

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Ottawa Research Centre

The Ottawa Research Centre conducts scientific research in the domains of radio frequency sensing and data integration, electronic warfare, space and cyber.

• Cyber operations works on developing techniques to sense, analyze, influence and exploit communications networks and strategies to secure and defend the wired and wireless networks used by the Canadian Armed Forces.
• Communications electronic warfare focuses on R&D in detection, geolocation and countermeasures against malicious communications signals and ensures the Canadian Armed Forces has unimpeded access to the electromagnetic spectrum.
• Radar electronic warfare delivers expert advice and technology solutions that improve the protection of military personnel and electronic platforms against radar electronic threats.
• Defensive space operations enables space mission assurance and electronic warfare insights to defend and protect vital military space capabilities.
• Space domain awareness enables the development of technology and techniques to analyze and understand an evolving domain and effectively conduct space operations while enforcing responsible behaviour in space.
• Radar systems for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and command and control (C2) modernizes defence capabilities with advanced research in radar systems and provides the Canadian Armed Forces with defence intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), and accelerates the command and control (C2) process.
• Space radio frequency intelligence develops exploitation technology and new practices for space-based, radio frequency intelligence gathering systems.
• Continental defence modelling enables the development of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system-of-systems concepts, modelling and analysis for all-domain situational awareness to defend North America.

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Suffield Research Centre

The Suffield Research Centre provides research in the defence against chemical and biological threats to the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces. Suffield offers a unique experimental proving ground facility allowing for a large variety of experiments and trials in support of the Canadian Armed Forces and Department of National Defence.

• Explosive system performance and defeat offers research in improvised, new and advanced explosive systems. This includes blast/fragment threat assessments as well as counter-improvised explosive devices (C-IED).
• Chemical hazard assessment and protection supports Canadian Armed Forces operations with solutions from capabilities in science, engineering and chemical defence research.
• Combat casualty care provides technical advice to prevent, mitigate and treat combat-related injuries.
• Radiological and nuclear threat defence contributes research and technical advice on hazard assessment, detection, identification and monitoring, as well as defence strategies against radiological and nuclear threats.
• Autonomous unmanned ground and air systems for land operations provides research and technical advice on the emerging capabilities of autonomous systems.
• Biological hazard assessment and medical countermeasures researches and provides technical advice on hazard assessment, detection, identification and monitoring, as well as advice on medical countermeasures against biological threats.
• Chemical threat medical countermeasures conducts research and provides technical advice on medical countermeasures for defence against chemical threats.
• Advanced chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, explosives (CBRNE) and medical training offers live agent, material and tissue training to enhance individual and collective operational readiness against CBRNE threats.
• Development, engineering and experimentation coordinates the planning and execution of development, engineering and experimentation of defence capabilities on land, in the air, at sea and in the Arctic.

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Toronto Research Centre

The Toronto Research Centre is a R&D centre for human effectiveness in the defence and security environment.

• Warfighter and system effectiveness develops human effectiveness R&D to support the development, evaluation, acquisition and employment of technical systems and operational training of the Canadian Armed Forces.
• Warfighter performance and health researches the psychological and physiological mechanisms that underpin the conditions of high cognitive load, or high emotional stress, and develops tools and techniques to improve resilience.
• Operations in the information environment supports the development of tools, technologies and frameworks to enhance Canadian Armed Forces effectiveness in complex information environments and to understand, assess and influence the intent and will of adversaries beyond Canada’s borders.

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Valcartier Research Centre

The Valcartier Research Centre offers expertise in the areas of information, optronics and weapon systems, and boasts a unique capability in the development of new technologies that emphasizes testing under realistic conditions.

• Weapons effects and protection contributes advice and solutions in the sciences of the effects of weapons against military personnel and assets.
• Weapons systems and ammunition provides advice and solutions on energetic materials, pyrotechnics, propulsion technologies and precision weapons systems.
• Electro-optical warfare develops R&D advice and solutions to improve the protection of military personnel and platforms against electro-optically guided threats.
• Platform cyber warfare delivers R&D advice and solutions to the military and its assets in the cyber-physical environment.
• Electro-optical measurement and signature intelligence contributes advice and solutions for the study, characterization and remote sensing of optical signatures by terrestrial and aerospace sensors.
• Command, control and intelligence develops advice and solutions in data, information and decision-sciences to improve the intelligence and command and control of military operations.
• Electro-optical surveillance and reconnaissance provides advice and solutions regarding electro-optical technologies and systems for surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence.
• Development, engineering and experimentation coordinates the planning and execution of development, engineering and experimentation of defence capabilities on land, in the air, at sea and in the Arctic.
• Design and prototyping creates world-class preliminary models to meet science, technology and engineering deliverables.

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All research centres

Each of the seven research centres has resources to deliver project management in support of their respective capabilities.

• Project management oversees the scope, activities, deliverables, financial resources and operating plan for projects included in the Defence and Security Science and Technology program.

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