30 avril 2020 | Local, Aérospatial
A recognizable face in the Kanata North business community has left the tech park to join a “startup” of a very different kind.
Deborah Lovegrove, who spent more than five years as the head of marketing at the Kanata North Business Association, recently moved on to a new position as the marketing and media manager at Peraton Canada. Most of the aerospace and defence firm's Canadian operations are in Calgary, but last fall the company opened a new business development branch in downtown Ottawa.
While Lovegrove's name is well-known in local business circles, the company she's joining might be a bit less familiar to casual observers of the aerospace and defence industry.
But Peraton comes with an impressive pedigree. Its parent company, Harris Corp., was a dominant player in the sector for more than a century before it merged with fellow aerospace firm L3 Technologies last year to form L3Harris Technologies.
When Harris sold its Harris Corporation Government Services business to Veritas Capital in 2017, Veritas changed its new acquisition's name to Peraton. The company now refers to itself as a “125-plus-year-old startup.”
With more than 3,500 employees and annual revenues exceeding US$1 billion, the Virginia-based firm is quickly making its own mark in the aerospace realm. Peraton has partnered with government agencies such as NASA and Canada's Department of National Defence to provide supply chain management, engineering solutions and maintenance and repair services on a range of projects in the space, defence, cybersecurity and communications fields.
The company is involved in a number of high-profile projects in this country, including an effort to commercialize advanced drone systems as well as bids from Boeing and Saab to replace the Royal Canadian Air Force's aging fleet of F-18 fighter jets – a contract with a total value of nearly $20 billion.
Lovegrove, whose 25-year marketing career also includes stints in government and other non-profit trade organizations, said the new job gets her back to an industry that fascinated her when she managed marketing and promotional activities for the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute in 2013 and 2014.
“It was tough to leave (the KNBA) because I'd been there almost six years,” Lovegrove says. “But I was definitely looking for some sort of change. It was time to try a new challenge.”
With the range of opportunities in Peraton's project pipeline, Lovegrove said the chance to get back into the aerospace industry was too good to pass up.
“I'm a skydiver. Anything to do with planes and speed is something that I find particularly fascinating,” she says with a laugh. “They're working on some really cool projects right now.”
6 octobre 2022 | Local, Terrestre
The country's top military commander said Thursday that the Canadian Armed Forces' (CAF) problems with recruiting and retaining soldiers, sailors and air crew are going are get worse before they get better.
16 décembre 2019 | Local, Aérospatial
Two senior officers from the New York Air National Guard of the United States Air Force visited Winnipeg, Man., on Nov. 19 and 20, 2019, as part of the first official 1 Canadian Air Division/Canadian NORAD Region (1 CAD/CANR) Arctic Airpower Seminar. Col Michele Kilgore and Col Clifford Souza, commanders of the 109th Airlift Wing and 109th Operations Group respectively, engaged in discussions with a diverse group of operators, specialists and advisors to talk about training and operational opportunities that would benefit the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and its United States Air Force (USAF) allied partners. BGen Ed “Hertz” Vaughan, deputy commander of CANR and deputy Combined/Joint Forces Air Component commander for 1 CAD/CANR, hosted the two-day seminar. A partnership last September between the RCAF and the 109th Airlift Wing executing Operation Boxtop, the mission to bring supplies to Canadian Forces Station Alert in Nunavut, prompted him to invite members of the 109th Airlift Wing to the seminar to exchange information on processes and objectives. “The Arctic is critically important to the security and defence of North America, and our ability to survive and operate in the Arctic domain are essential parts of our daily mission at 1 CAD/CANR,” said Vaughan. “We established this series of seminars to help build relationships and deep dive into the specific of polar logistics and sustainment. Forging partnerships across Arctic communities, mission stakeholders, and allied forces are requirements for success.” The RCAF is no stranger to bi-national operations. Every day, military personnel and defence team members from Canada and the United States work together to protect and defend North American airspace through the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) mission. Comprising more than 40 per cent of Canada's land mass (and 75 per cent of Canada's coastline) with about 120,000 inhabitants, the Arctic is undergoing significant change. Retreating ice cover is opening the way for increased shipping, tourism, and resource exploration, increasing interest in the region. Following the presentations and discussion sessions, seminar attendees visited with members of 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron, a unit that routinely deploys north in support of Canada's NORAD and search and rescue commitments, to learn more about the role they play in the daily delivery of air power in the North. “The Arctic can be a complex, harsh and unforgiving location to operate in if one isn't prepared to face its challenges,” said Vaughan. “These seminars permit us to learn from our partners and allies as we continue developing the skills, technology, and relationships to work effectively in a polar environment. I look forward to our next seminar in Yellowknife, focused on energy security at remote locations, and many more seminars to come. “ https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/canadian-norad-region-hosts-first-arctic-airpower-seminar
24 septembre 2019 | Local, Naval
DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN The Canadian government is looking for buyers for the OTO Melara 76mm guns removed from the Royal Canadian Navy's Iroquois-class destroyers. All Iroquois-class ships have been decommissioned, and systems that were strictly associated with that class, have been declared surplus, according to the Department of National Defence. The five 76mm gun systems and associated spare parts from these ships were declared surplus in 2015 and 2016 and are moving through the disposal process, noted DND spokesman Andrew McKelvey. But the DND has decided not to provide the guns to museums. Instead they are being sold. Two of the guns were sold last year to the French Defence Ministry for undisclosed amount. The sale of the other guns is being coordinated by Public Services and Procurement Canada. The guns are up for sale to Canadian allies or approved buyers within the defence industry. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/guns-from-iroquois-class-destroyers-up-for-sale