Canada wants advanced UAV’s.

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Canada wants advanced UAV’s. After years of delays, the Canadian military is rebooting its attempt to buy a fleet of UAVs for domestic and international missions.

But it already appears that the US-built Predator could have the inside track on the project worth about CAN $1.5 billion (US $1.4 billion), according to industry sources. This according to Defense News.

Royal Canadian Air Force Brig. Gen. Phil Garbutt told industry representatives in Ottawa April 9 that the plan is to have the first aircraft available for operations in 2021. He described the project, called the Joint Unmanned Surveillance Targeting and Acquisition System (JUSTAS), as providing an all-weather, persistent capability that can support Canadian military operations.

Since 2006, Canada’s military has been trying to purchase a fleet of UAVs, but it has faced an uphill battle due to lack of funding.

Air Force officers announced in 2006 that JUSTAS would see the purchase of MALE UAVs, but little has happened on that project.

The Air Force made a pitch to the Canadian government in 2007 for the sole-source purchase of Predator UAVs, built by General Atomics, but that was rejected.

Instead, in 2009 the Canadian military signed a lease arrangement with MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), which provided the Heron, made by Israel Aerospace Industries, for operations in Afghanistan. That lease ran from 2009 to 2011.

Israeli sources told I-HLS that Canada will be offered some types of Israeli made UAV .