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Defence Research and Development Canada Northern Watch Technology Demonstration Project
This project will have a security requirement to the
Secret-Canadian Eyes Only Cleareance.
DRDC Atlantic will host an industry day at their facility, 9 Grove Street, Dartmouth Nova Scotia on 10 May 2012 from at 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM. The purpose of this session is to introduce the Northern Watch Technology Demonstration Project.
Introduction
The Arctic is a huge area, greater than 3.8 million square kilometres not counting Labrador or Northern Quebec. The Arctic population is less than 120,000 people across the entire Arctic Region. Nunavut includes the bulk of the Arctic Archipelago, 2 million square kilometres, and has a population of 31,000 living in about 20 communities. Most communities have a population of less than 1000 people.
The earth is undergoing a period of global warming that is making the Canadian Arctic more accessible. The Arctic region is has exploitable resources including oil and gas. It also contains the Northwest Passage, a complex of major and minor maritime shipping routes that are opening for portions of the year.
Consequently, the international community and industry is becoming interested in operating in the Canadian Arctic. The Government of Canada expressed strong interest in the Canadian Arctic in Canada's Northern Strategy - Our North Our Heritage Our Future.
It, and other documents, express a need for the demonstration of sovereignty and to ensure security in the Arctic.
In support of both sovereignty and security, the Northern Watch TDP seeks to demonstrate a surveillance capability over a limited portion of Barrow Strait in the vicinity of Gascoyne Inlet, Devon Island, Nunavut. The system will be capable of operating up to 365 days per year, 24 hours per day, but the actual term of the demonstration will be six months, encompassing winter, transition and summer operating seasons. The demonstrated local area surveillance capability offers shared situation awareness to facilitate informed strategic and operational decision making concerning surveillance in the Arctic, and the project will revitalize DND's ability to conduct R&D in the Arctic.
Northern Watch Project Description
The Northern Watch TDP will develop a remotely controlled, unattended Arctic surveillance system, operated over a satellite communication channel from a control center located at DRDC Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The portion of the system at Gascoyne Inlet is referred to as the Arctic Surveillance Demonstration System (ASDS). The ASDS is composed of an Integrated Surveillance System and a satellite communications system. Housing services including buildings, power, and security will be provided by the camp. Although an operational Habitat system will not be built or deployed for the current project, such a system would be required to shelter an operational arctic sensor suite. The Habitat system design developed for the NW TDP will be an exploitable project output, in the form of a requirements specification only. Sensor contact information will be sent to the DRDC Southern Control Center for correlation and formatting. The correlated contact information will be provided to interested stakeholders for inclusion into the Recognized Maritime Picture (RMP). The DRDC Southern Control Center will be automated to a large extent and is intended to be eventually capable of unmanned operation.
The Northern Watch Technology Demonstration Project (TDP) was originally approved in 2007 as an investigation into sensor capabilities in Arctic settings. The project had identified technologies of interest and acquired sensor equipment to support those objectives. In 2009, the project was re-scoped to its present objective to investigate an integrated remote surveillance system.
The Northern Watch TDP will continue to use the sensors that have been previously identified and acquired.
The Northern Watch System Concept, DRDC Atlantic TM 2012-006, provides a detailed description of the surveillance needs that the developed system is to address, sensors that the system will include, information that is to be produced, and limitations imposed by location and environment.
The Northern Watch System Concept will be the main reference document for the contract. The ASDS development will incorporate concepts developed under the Northern Watch System Concept, and will employ sensors acquired and investigated during the life of the Northern Watch TDP. The contractor will acquire, as readily available COTS, an AIS receiver, an ADS-B receiver and a meteorology system.
The DRDC will provide, as GSM, a COTS navigation radar and the CANDISS camera system. DRDC will provide interfaces to DRDC developed sensors and two seismic sensors provided by Natural Resources Canada which is an approved participant in the Northern Watch TDP in support of the Whole of Government nature of operations in the Arctic.
The Northern Watch systems will be based upon modular and open architecture design principles in order to support exploitation.
Surveillance System development contract
The purpose of the Surveillance System development contract is to develop and deploy an integrated Arctic Surveillance Demonstration System (ASDS) to be used by DRDC as a capability demonstration system. . The ASDS will be located at Gascoyne Inlet, Nunavut and will communicate with the control center at DRDC Atlantic through satellite communications services. The contractor will conduct final development and acceptance testing at a DRDC provided Southern Test and Evaluation Facility.
The development of the ASDS will be conducted in three successive development cycles each with a Go/No-Go decision point for continuance to the next development cycle or cessation of the contract. On conclusion of each development cycle, the contractor will deliver the documented surveillance system hardware and software to DRDC for testing in its Southern Trials and Arctic Demonstrations. The contractor will provide technical support to DRDC during the Southern Trials and Arctic Demonstrations. The main contract activities are the Development Cycles and each has five milestones: Preliminary Design Review, Critical Design Review, Test Readiness Review, Test Acceptance and Acceptance of deliverables.
Following completion of DRDC Arctic Demonstrations and if DRDC exercises additional cycle development options, the surveillance system will be returned to the contractor for potential continuing development.
Access to the Arctic demonstration site is a limiting factor to the project and the contract. This factor drives the development schedule consequently the first development cycle will run from expected contract signing in August 2012 to May 2013. Development cycle 2 will run from June 2013 to December 2014 and Development Cycle 3 will be from March 2014 to March 2015.
The Northern Watch Surveillance System Development contract will also include an unfunded option for further development cycles that could lead to an operational prototype.
The Industry Day will be held at the DRDC Atlantic facility, 9 Grove Street, Dartmouth Nova Scotia at 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM on 10 May 2012, in the Seminar Room.
DRDC Atlantic is a secure facility and advanced notice of visits is required. Persons planning to attend are asked to contact David Quirk, 902-426-3100 x194, or Bruce Grychowski, 902-426-3100 x 227, to provide registration information including name, nationality and company affiliation, no later than 4 May 2012. Non-Canadians require a validated Visit Request submitted through their respective embassies or evidence of having been pre-cleared through the Joint Certification Program. We regret that cameras or camera-equipped-cell phones are not permitted on site.
W7707-12VS01/A Allen, Tanya Telephone No. - (902) 496-5142 (
) Fax No. - (902) 496-5016
Line1, . Delivery Date: Above-mentioned
The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement.
Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.
