The Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental and Test Ranges (CFMETR) is a maritime test facility on the east side of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

, at

Nanoose Bay Nanoose Bay is a community on the east coast of southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The location off BC Highway 19 is by road about north of Nanaimo, and south of Parksville. Name origin In 1862, John Enos (Joao Ignacio) bec ...

. The ranges operated by CFMETR are located over an area of the

Strait of Georgia The Strait of Georgia () or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada, and the extreme northwestern mainland coast of Washington, United Stat ...

—known as Area WG—that is several hundred metres deep, several dozen kilometres long and several kilometres wide over a seabed composed of soft mud and free of underwater obstacles. The facility employs a three-dimensional sonar tracking system for monitoring the performance and position of objects in these waters for real-time tracking. During periods of activity, the range area is closed off from all civilian maritime traffic as a safety measure. CFMETR Aerial 2010

Equipment tested at the facility consists of a variety of devices, including

sonobuoy A sonobuoy (a portmanteau of sonar and buoy) is a small expendable sonar buoy dropped from aircraft or ships for anti-submarine warfare or underwater acoustic research. Sonobuoys are typically around in diameter and long. When floating on t ...

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

systems (ship and aircraft),

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

es and the repair and overhaul of the dipping sonar used on Canada's

Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone The Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone is a twin-engine, multi-role shipborne helicopter developed by the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation for the Canadian Armed Forces. A military variant of the Sikorsky S-92, the CH-148 is designed for shipboard operations ...

helicopter fleet. No explosives are used. This facility is unique in the Canadian Forces as it staffed by active military personnel from the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

and

Department of National Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

civilian employees, as well as a small number of

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

civilian employees from

Naval Base Kitsap Naval Base Kitsap is a United States Navy, U.S. Navy base located on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington (state), Washington state, created in 2004 by merging the former Naval Station Bremerton with Naval Submarine Base Bangor. It is the home ba ...

. The facility is operationally controlled as a field unit of

Department of National Defence Headquarters National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) ( French: ''Quartiers généraux de la Défense nationale'' (''QGDN'')) was created through the integration of the Canadian Armed Forces Headquarters (CAF HQ) with the civilian Department of National Defence ( ...

. There is a joint funding agreement between the Canadian and United States governments. During the

Salmon War The Salmon War ({{langx, de, Lachsfangstreit) of 1736/37 was a political conflict between the Old Swiss Confederacy, confederate Canton of Basle and the Kingdom of France over fishing rights and the location of their state border in the River Rhi ...

of 1997, in an attempt to leverage the US into quitting the fishing of salmon runs in Canadian waters, Premier

Glen Clark Glen David Clark (born November 22, 1957) is a Canadian retail executive and former politician who served as the 31st premier of British Columbia from 1996 to 1999. Early life and education Clark attended independent Roman Catholic schools, na ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

threatened to close the base by terminating the lease for use of the seabed, which is owned by the province and leased to the Canadian military. This brought quick rebuttal from the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

, saying that it would expropriate the area if needed.Anderson, Ross ''Torpedoes In A Salmon War -- B.C. Premier May Sink High-Tech U.S. Navy Base'', ''Seattle Times'', August 20, 1997
/ref>
/ref>

References

Mid Vancouver Island {{BritishColumbiaSouthCoast-geo-stub