When it comes to autonomous naval warfare, there is no sovereignty without software

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The client was not given the opportunity to put restrictions on the content or review it prior to publication. by BDCWhen it comes to autonomous naval warfare, there is no sovereignty without softwareEliot Pence and Matt Clancey: Canada's first tender for an autonomous vessel is a chance to control the technology that will define navy's futureFor Canada, maritime autonomy is a geographic necessity, write Eliot Pence and Matt Clancey. Photo by HYUNGCHEOL PARK/Postmedia/embedded with CAFCanada has the longest coastline in the world: more than 240,000 kilometres of maritime frontier, three oceans and an Arctic that is becoming more accessible and contested every year. No navy, whatever its budget, can maintain persistent awareness across a geography of this scale using crewed vessels alone. For Canada, maritime autonomy is a geographic necessity.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLYSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESCreate an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Overseas, companies are building autonomous vessels that are fundamentally changing the economics of naval warfare. Ukraine’s UForce and Australia’s Ocius have demonstrated that missions once requiring expensive crewed warships can increasingly be carried out by smaller and cheaper autonomous systems. Canada has the talent, industrial capacity and strategic imperative to join them. But so far, it has lacked the opportunity. That may now be changing.SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE: FP West: Energy Insider brings you behind the oilpatch’s closed doors with exclusive insights from insiders every Wednesday morning.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of FP West: Energy Insider will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againThe Royal Canadian Navy has issued a tender for its first operational autonomous surface vessel and has signalled that it doesn’t intend for this to be a typical Canadian defence procurement. Canadian content accounts, directly and indirectly, for 58 per cent of the evaluation criteria. Delivery timelines are aggressive, early delivery is incentivized and industrial consortia are encouraged. Most importantly, the tender asks for innovative solutions and doesn’t prescribe an existing product on the market. The RCN, Department of National Defence and Defence Investment Agency deserve credit for an approach that rewards speed, innovation and Canadian industry.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.But the real significance of this tender is what Canada could build from it. The immediate requirement is mine countermeasures: locating naval mines that threaten military and commercial shipping. For a trading nation, keeping international waterways open is an economic and national security imperative. And mine countermeasures are only the start.The same autonomous vessel could conduct maritime surveillance, search and rescue or counter-drone operations. Its software could be adapted to larger vessels that patrol the Arctic, hunt submarines or protect allied shipping. The hulls, sensors and weapons would be different, but a common system would let them navigate, perceive, coordinate and execute missions. The vessel is the first application. The autonomy is the enduring capability, and it forces a far more consequential decision.For decades, Canada has measured naval sovereignty by where ships are built, whose steel goes into them and how many Canadian jobs they create. That all matters, but the defining capability of future naval warfare will increasingly reside in software: the systems that fuse sensor data, coordinate platforms and enable autonomous operations. A Canadian-built vessel running on foreign-controlled autonomy software is not fully sovereign.This advertisement has not loaded yet.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Autonomy must continuously evolve, accommodating new sensors, threats, communications systems and tactics. It must operate when satellites are unavailable, when navigation is jammed and when vessels need to coordinate across thousands of kilometres. Above all, Canada must be able to modify these systems on its own when circumstances demand it.Canada has faced this problem before. Its future River-class destroyers will use the American Aegis combat system, acquired through a foreign military sale. Aegis is a proven system, but Canada doesn’t have unrestricted access to its underlying software or the freedom to modify it independently. A central element of our most sophisticated warships will remain subject to foreign-controlled technology and permissions. Our alliances remain essential, but even our closest partners cannot be a substitute for sovereign control of critical military capabilities.Canada will never manufacture every weapon, sensor or ship component it requires, and it shouldn’t. But buying a foreign weapon is one thing. Depending on foreign-controlled software to determine how our forces perceive, coordinate and act is another. Weapons can be replaced, sensors can be exchanged and hulls can be redesigned. The autonomy and command-and-control architecture that connects an entire fleet must stay in Canadian hands.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.This procurement should be the foundation for a Canadian-controlled maritime autonomy architecture: open, modular and adaptable across vessels and capable of integrating allied technologies, with critical intellectual property and development authority held in Canada. The implications reach far beyond a single naval program. This architecture could support Arctic surveillance, maritime security, mine countermeasures and, in time, fleets of autonomous vessels operating across Canada’s oceans.Autonomy gives Canada something conventional shipbuilding alone cannot: persistent maritime awareness across an enormous geography at an affordable scale. The world is not waiting for us to catch up. Our allies and adversaries are already building the autonomous fleets that will define the next generation of warfare.The Royal Canadian Navy has taken an important first step. It must now decide whether Canada will buy autonomous vessels or own the technology that powers them. Canada does not need to build every ship. But we must control the systems that tell our ships what to do.Eliot Pence is the founder and CEO of Dominion Dynamics and co-chair of the Alliance of Canadian Defence Companies. Matt Clancey leads maritime at Dominion and is a CAF veteran.This advertisement has not loaded yet.Notice for the Postmedia NetworkThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.