Canadian Armed Forces holds drone testing event with manufacturers in Ottawa Valley

The Canadian Armed Forces put almost two dozen drone manufacturers through their paces on Wednesday at an isolated location west of Ottawa, searching for different kinds of remote vehicles and partnerships with companies that can adapt quickly.

The event — known as RED COBALT Uncrewed Systems Accelerator 2026 — saw members of the military given the chance to try out aerial, ground and maritime drones as well as long-range precision strike systems, said Lt.-Gen. Darcy Molstad, who is in charge of the military's joint forces command.

Twenty companies — 18 of them Canadian — took part in the demonstration at a test range in the township of Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards, Ont.

One of the criteria involved in selecting companies to participate was Canadian ownership or partnerships — an important driver of the federal government's recently released defence industrial strategy . While domestic suppliers are innovative, much of the real-world, battlefield drone experience and technology is clustered around Ukraine and Eastern Europe.

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In an interview, Molstad said he's confident Canadian companies can match the technology and deliver what the military needs.

"As I mentioned in my opening remarks, your imagination is the only limitation," said Molstad, who added the companies eventually selected to become partners will need to be agile because drone technology evolves quickly.

"If you look at what's happening in Ukraine, their uncrewed systems — the [updates to] coding that goes into it happen on a daily basis. So, this is the kind of partnerships that we have to establish."

The military is specifically looking for aerial reconnaissance and surveillance drones and ground drones that can navigate complex terrain. It also wants to acquire maritime platforms — for both surface and subsurface warfare.

Significantly, it is also looking at what's known as as precision, deep-strike capability — the kind Ukraine has been successfully using to bombard Russian oil facilities.

The Canadian military has been slow to adopt a dedicated drone capability, which have been an increasing feature on the battlefield for two decades. A limited series of surveillance drones — some of them leased — were deployed with the army in Afghanistan.

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It wasn't until 2023 that the federal government signed a contract with General Atomics to purchase 11 MQ-9B SkyGuardian (designated CQ-9B Guardian ) long-range, armed remotely piloted aircraft systems. They are slated for initial delivery starting in 2028. Over the last two years, the military has purchased a fleet of 50 American-made Teal 2 micro drones for local surveillance.