General Dynamics Mission Systems - Canada
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General Dynamics Mission Systems - Canada, formerly Computing Devices Canada, is a technology-based electronic systems, systems integration, and in-service support to defence organizations and public security markets in Canada and abroad. Its parent company is
General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales and fifth largest in the Unit ...
.


History

Computing Devices Canada was incorporated on August 31, 1948 as a global defence contractor. The company was founded by two Polish immigrants to Canada, George Glinski and Joe Norton, to support the rebuilding of Canada's military after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The company got its start by manufacturing the Position and Homing Indicator (PHI), a device developed at the National Research Council that kept track of an aircraft's position and indicated its return route to base. One large contract that had a significant influence on the company's growth was for the ''Kicksorter'', a digital-pulse counter designed for the Atomic Energy of Canada Laboratories (
AECL Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL, Énergie atomique du Canada limitée, EACL) is a Canadian Crown corporation and the largest nuclear science and technology laboratory in Canada. AECL developed the CANDU reactor technology starting in the ...
) in
Chalk River Chalk River (2016 population: 1029) is a community located within the town of Laurentian Hills in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Upper Ottawa Valley along Highway 17 (Ontario), Highway 17 (Trans-Canada Highway), inland ...
. If the Kicksorter had been slightly modified to do simple arithmetic operations, it would have been a rudimentary computer. AECL purchased a large number of these devices between 1957 and 1963, when they were replaced by one of the early computers in the PDP series manufactured by the
Digital Equipment Corporation Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC ), using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. The company was co-founded by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson in 1957. Olsen was president until ...
(DEC). Another contract was to design and construct a large digital simulator for the Royal Canadian Navy that was never completed. During the 1990s, Computing Devices Canada implemented the
Iris Digital Communications System The Iris Digital Communications System, also known as the Tactical Command, Control, and Communications System (TCCCS), is a tactical communication system used by the Canadian Army. It was a pioneering system that integrated voice and data communic ...
, which was a thorough communications upgrade for the
Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...
, and on the strength of that effort, was awarded the Bowman contract to perform a similar effort for the British Army. In 1998,
General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales and fifth largest in the Unit ...
purchased the company, renaming it to General Dynamics Canada.


Products and programs

The Aurora Program is the mid-life upgrade of the CP140 Aurora aircraft operated by the
Canadian Department of National Defence Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
as a long-range maritime patrol platform for surface and undersea surveillance roles. GD Mission Systems — Canada has been contracted to develop the Data Management System (DMS) and Acoustic Suite subsystems. The latest release brings with it new capabilities in terms of Link 16, BLOS-WGS satcom and self-defence in the form of a Directed IR Countermeasures system (DIRCM). In 2014, they were awarded two contracts on the Mercury Global Project. The first contract is for the design-and-build of a network of Mercury Global anchor stations valued at $59.1 million. Through this network of antennas, the
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 ...
will access the Wideband Global Satellite (WGS) constellation and will be able to provide secure communications for deployed Canadian Forces. The second contract provides ongoing in-service support and is valued at $8.5 million.


References


External links


Official website
{{Authority control General Dynamics General Dynamics Mission Systems Defence companies of Canada Aerospace companies of Canada