‘Secret’ drone facility will be in Uplands, federal records reveal

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Uplands will be the site of a new $65 million military facility to control the Royal Canadian Air Force’s drone fleet.

The Ottawa facility, which will be ready in 2028, will have an area of ​​about 6,000 square meters. It will house nearly 200 military personnel whose job will be to operate and control a new fleet of drones that will fly from military bases in British Columbia and Nova Scotia.

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The Canadian Forces and National Defense originally claimed in an April 8 statement to this newspaper that the Ottawa location of the new building was secret for security reasons.

But that information was false. National Defense described details about the location of Uplands in publicly available documents that are online. The department also carried out public consultations on the location of Uplands as part of its environmental assessment for the site. government documents show.

Publicly available records describe the construction of the building, as well as a parking lot for employees who will work at the Uplands site.

The documents indicate that the proposed size of the facility has increased. According to records, it was originally conceived as a 4,000-square-meter building, but will now be about 6,000 square meters.

After the publication of an article quoting defense officials claiming that the location of the drone installation was secret, military personnel contacted this newspaper with details and links to publicly available documents. They alleged that the Canadian Forces and National Defense were deliberately trying to provide false information to the newspaper.

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The initial response with false information was approved by the office of Troy Crosby, Assistant Deputy Minister of Materiel, and the RCAF, commanded by Lieutenant General Eric Kenny.

When asked why the department and the military falsely claimed the drone site was secret when it was not, National Defense said in a statement that “when a media request is received, the department attempts to provide a comprehensive response.” and transparent.

“Developing departmental media responses requires consultation and approvals from subject matter experts at various levels within different areas of DND/CAF to ensure we provide accurate responses to the media,” the statement added. “This process was followed in developing responses to (drone) related queries.”

The new building will house six stations to control the drones and two simulators to support operations. It will have capacity for 198 people.

The Liberal government announced on Dec. 19 that Canada would buy 11 of the remotely piloted planes from a U.S. company for $2.5 billion.

The new drones will be stationed at 14 Wing Greenwood, NS, and 19 Wing Comox, BC.

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Military personnel who contacted this newspaper to point out the RCAF’s false claim of secrecy also pointed out that not even the locations of Canada’s most sensitive defense organizations were secret. Joint Task Force Two’s counterterrorism unit and electronic spy organization, the Communications Security Establishment, operate from locations in Ottawa that are openly recognized by the federal government and the Canadian military.

Design work is underway for the drone installation and in May 2023 Bird Construction was tendered and awarded a contract for the modified design and build project.

A federal contract awards site also lists another company that received a $112,000 contract in the last week for consulting services for installing drones.

National Defense could not say when construction of the facility would begin. In an emailed statement, the department said it expected the facility to be completed in 2028.

Critics have noted that the military and National Defense are moving toward greater secrecy even as the federal government releases billions of dollars in additional spending.

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The problem of secrecy has become so serious that the House of Commons National Defense Committee has launched hearings into the lack of openness and transparency.

So far he has heard that National Defense violates federal law in nearly 40 percent of the requests it receives to produce records under the Access to Information Act.

The committee also heard that the department continues to retain a wide range of records, including documents on shipbuilding and fighter jets requested by a Conservative MP in 2017 and 2018, as well as files that survivors of military sexual assault need for legal purposes.

Additionally, some former soldiers have complained that they face uphill battles getting the military to provide the documents needed for medical benefits claims.

In January, this newspaper reported that National Defense covered an unprecedented new cloak of secrecy around a controversial warship project estimated to cost taxpayers more than $80 billion. The department hid records about the Canadian surface combatant for nearly three years; When they were published under the access law, all cost figures were redacted from the documents.

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The level of secrecy has also been extended to what used to be run-of-the-mill records. Just days after Canada’s top soldier publicly advocated for greater openness on defense issues, his office refused to release a copy of that speech.

Instead, the office of the Chief of the Defense Staff, General Wayne Eyre, suggested that if this newspaper wanted a copy of the speech he gave in public on March 7, it would have to file a request under the Access to Information Act. Information.

Eyre’s office also declined to explain why it was refusing to release a written copy of the speech given at an advocacy conference in Ottawa. Previously, the Canadian Forces not only provided transcripts of such speeches, but also posted them online. A copy of Defense Minister Bill Blair’s speech at the same conference on the same day was posted on a federal government website.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist who covers the Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, including exclusive subscriber-only content, sign up here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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