24 octobre 2018 | Local, Terrestre

Une innovation québécoise à l'assaut de l'armée américaine

JEAN-FRANÇOIS CODÈRE

Le rêve d'un exosquelette qui aidera les soldats à transporter leurs lourdes charges sans se blesser approche et c'est une firme de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Mawashi, qui est en pôle position d'un marché évalué à «des milliards et des milliards de dollars».

Le tiers des soldats évacués en Afghanistan ou en Irak n'avaient pas subi de «blessures de guerre», avance Alain Bujold, chef de la direction et chef de la direction technologique de Mawashi. Ils avaient plutôt subi les dommages, notamment au dos, du trop grand poids placé sur leurs épaules.

«Ça coûte 500 millions de dollars par année à l'armée américaine pour s'occuper des soldats blessés parce qu'ils transportaient trop de poids», ajoute-t-il.

Spécialiste de la recherche et de l'ingénierie pour «tout ce qui se met sur le corps humain» depuis des années, Mawashi s'est intéressée de plus près aux exosquelettes en 2013. Elle avait alors été invitée à participer à un projet de l'armée américaine, le projet Talos, qui consistait à créer une sorte d'armure à la Iron Man.

«Ils ont donné de l'argent à un paquet de compagnies, et on les a toutes clenchées», raconte fière M. Bujold.

Alléger la charge

L'exosquelette Uprise mis au point par Mawashi peut retirer jusqu'à 70% du poids transporté par un soldat de sa propre ossature. La structure épouse les formes du corps, mais n'est pas motorisée, ce qui est un avantage important selon M. Bujold, puisque les soldats peuvent ainsi être affectés à de très longues missions sans crainte d'épuiser leurs piles. Et sans avoir à transporter lesdites piles.

Une plaque posée sous le pied du soldat, dans sa chaussure, sert de fondation à l'ensemble. Cette plaque s'arrête avant les orteils, de façon à permettre au soldat de bien ressentir le sol sous ses pieds.

Des tiges métalliques articulées longent ensuite les jambes du soldat pour rejoindre une ceinture rigide. De là s'élève une «colonne vertébrale», de laquelle émergent des appendices qui permettent notamment de suspendre un sac à dos ou un plastron sans que le poids ne se dépose sur le squelette du soldat.

En situation de combat, un soldat est chargé d'en moyenne une centaine de livres d'équipement protecteur, de munitions, d'armes et d'équipements de communication, entre autres, estime M. Bujold.

«De plus en plus, les combats se déroulent dans des zones urbaines, ce qui fait qu'on ne peut utiliser de véhicules pour transporter l'équipement, ajoute-t-il. Et il y a de plus en plus de matériel pour les communications.»

«Le but n'est pas de permettre de transporter plus de poids, prévient-il toutefois. C'est de réduire les blessures et d'aider à porter ce poids.»

En avance

En mars dernier, Mawashi a été invitée par l'OTAN à venir démontrer les bénéfices que pouvait procurer Uprise à des spécialistes du déminage, qui doivent revêtir une combinaison protectrice pesant à elle seule une centaine de livres.

L'entreprise se concentre présentement à démontrer de façon claire les avantages de son produit. Elle a reçu un financement de trois ans de l'armée canadienne pour parvenir à cette fin.

«Le dernier obstacle est de prouver qu'il y a vraiment un bénéfice, indique M. Bujold. Les tests préliminaires le démontrent.»

Sur l'échelle de maturité technologique (Technology Readiness Level), qui va de 1 à 9, l'Uprise est au niveau 7. Aucune solution comparable ne le devance, selon M. Bujold, et l'Uprise est en position pour être le premier exosquelette déployé sur le terrain.

«Le premier qui va arriver avec une technologie qui fonctionne, c'est le prochain Apple, croit l'entrepreneur. On ne parle pas de millions, mais de milliards.»

C'est qu'au-delà des militaires, il y a une panoplie d'autres secteurs qui pourraient être intéressés à un exosquelette de ce genre, envisage-t-il, à commencer par l'important marché du plein air. Les pompiers, les travailleurs de la construction et les employés de chaînes d'assemblage pourraient eux aussi en bénéficier.

L'Uprise pourrait coûter de 3000$ à 20 000$, estime-t-il, selon la configuration choisie.

Jusqu'à présent, ce sont surtout des contrats de l'armée américaine qui ont permis à Mawashi d'avancer. «C'est tout récent que de recevoir du financement canadien», dit M. Bujold, qui est actionnaire à 50% de l'entreprise. L'autre moitié est détenue par Louis Bibeau, président de Logistik Unicorp, dans l'édifice de laquelle sont installés les bureaux de Mawashi.

«Il y a 99% des chances qu'on finisse par être achetés par une compagnie américaine, estime M. Bujold. C'est triste.»

«Il y a ici une mentalité de lenteur, de bureaucratie, alors qu'aux États-Unis, c'est pif, paf, maintenant.»

Le volet militaire de son entreprise n'aide pas à approcher des investisseurs québécois ou canadiens, ajoute-t-il, même si son produit « sauve des vies ». Cette tiédeur n'existe pas aux États-Unis.

https://www.lapresse.ca/affaires/economie/quebec/201810/18/01-5200809-une-innovation-quebecoise-a-lassaut-de-larmee-americaine.php

Sur le même sujet

  • CDR: Team Artemis

    1 novembre 2018 | Local, Aérospatial

    CDR: Team Artemis

    http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/46cfb3a8#/46cfb3a8/18

  • Bidding criteria for Canada's $19B fighter jet competition will emphasize strategic attack and ground-strike capabilities — seeming to favour the F-35

    11 juin 2019 | Local, Aérospatial, Sécurité

    Bidding criteria for Canada's $19B fighter jet competition will emphasize strategic attack and ground-strike capabilities — seeming to favour the F-35

    David Pugliese The criteria that will govern the selection of the winning bid to provide Canada's next fleet of fighter jets will prioritize strategic attack and foreign ground-strike capabilities, according to government documents obtained by Postmedia — guidelines that are seen to favour Lockheed Martin's controversial F-35. In 2010 the Conservative government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper selected the F-35 to replace the Canadian Forces' aging CF-18s, but later abandoned the plan after concerns about the technology used for the plane and its growing cost. During the 2015 election campaign Justin Trudeau promised that a Liberal government would not purchase the F-35, at the same time vowing to hold an open competition for the purchase of the country's new jet. Once in office, however, the Liberals backed away from their promise to freeze out the F-35 and the aircraft is now seen as a front-runner in the upcoming competition, with many supporters in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Though the Liberal government has highlighted the need to buy new jets to protect Canadian airspace and meet the country's commitments to NORAD, the procurement criteria obtained by Postmedia, currently in draft form, indicate the bidding process will assign additional weight to aircraft that excel at ground attack for overseas operations. Those criteria are seen to favour Lockheed Martin's F-35 stealth jet, say industry representatives allied with Lockheed's rivals in the upcoming $19-billion competition. The evaluation criteria also place less emphasis on sustainability — something else that may play to the advantage of the F-35, which has been dogged by high maintenance bills. But Pat Finn, the Department of National Defence's procurement chief, says there is such a wide variety of requirements to meet in the competition that while some aircraft might be seen to do well in some areas, they may not excel in others. “Somebody may be better in a high-end scenario but they're worst for cost,” Finn explained. “That's why we say it's the whole piece” that will be considered in the competition. At this point four aircraft are expected to be considered: two U.S.-built aircraft, the F-35, and the Super Hornet, and two European planes, the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Gripen. Finn said bidding companies must meet mandatory requirements when it comes to long-term sustainment of the planes. But industry representatives, both from Lockheed Martin rivals and those not directly involved in the competition, point out that beyond the mandatory requirements there is little emphasis on the important area of long-term maintenance and sutainability. So a company with an aircraft that costs relatively little to maintain won't get that recognition in the competition, they claimed. Finn said discussions are still ongoing with various companies and their feedback is being assessed. The request for proposals, which will outlined the final requirements for the aircraft, is expected to be released around mid-July, he added. Royal Canadian Air force commander Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger said key capabilities for a new plane are survivability and having an operational advantage. “We are very confident we are actually meeting the requirements of NATO and NORAD,” he said, pointing to the requirements for the new aircraft. “Both of those missions are well represented.” Canada already changed some of the industrial benefits criteria of the competition in May to satisfy concerns from the U.S. government that the F-35 would be penalized or couldn't be considered because of how that program was set up. U.S. officials had warned that the F-35 development agreement Canada signed years ago prohibits partner nations from imposing requirements for industrial benefits. Under the F-35 agreement, partner nations such as Canada are prohibited from demanding domestic companies receive contracts for work on the fighter jet, those companies instead having to compete for work. Over the last 12 years, Canadian firms have earned more than $1.3 billion in contracts to build F-35 parts. The changes made in May would now allow some of those F-35 contracts to be considered when weighing the industrial benefits offered by the planes. The winning bidder will build 88 jets for Canada, and the first delivery is expected in the mid-2020s with the full capability available in the early 2030s, according to documents produced by the Department of National Defence. https://nationalpost.com/news/bidding-criteria-for-canadas-19b-fighter-jet-competition-will-emphasize-strategic-attack-and-ground-strike-capabilities-seeming-to-favour-the-f-35

  • U.S. sent ‘blunt’ letter to Canada criticizing defence spending: sources

    26 novembre 2019 | Local, Autre défense

    U.S. sent ‘blunt’ letter to Canada criticizing defence spending: sources

    BY MERCEDES STEPHENSON AND KERRI BREEN Canada has been officially called out by the United States over how much it spends on the military, Global News has learned. A “blunt” letter from the U.S. government was delivered to the Department of National Defence that criticized Canadian defence spending levels and repeated American demands that Canada meet NATO targets. Global News has not seen the letter — said to have a frustrated, critical tone — but multiple sources have confirmed it was sent and received. U.S. President Donald Trump has long called for members of the 29-nation military alliance to beef up their budgets for defence. His national security adviser Robert O'Brien, who spoke Saturday at the Halifax International Security Forum, said getting NATO members to meet the established target — two per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — is an urgent priority. “There are very serious threats to our freedom and our security and if NATO is going to be effective, and if we want to put our money where our talk is, we got to spend that money to defend ourselves,” he said. Nations including Canada agreed at the 2014 NATO summit in Wales​ to move towards the military spending target within a decade, he noted. “We expect our friends and our colleagues to live up to their commitments and their promises,” he said. He also praised Canada's plan to build and deploy Arctic patrol vessels. The North, he said, is going to be the new “frontline” of defence, as Russia and China have made it clear they are going to militarize the Arctic. One Canadian source told Global News that the U.S. is concerned that Canada does not take the threat from those countries in the Arctic seriously and wants the country to boost its contributions in that area. Just seven countries — including the U.S. and the U.K. — have met NATO's two per cent of GDP spending goal, according to figures released in June. NATO's estimates show Canada is expected to spend 1.27 per cent of its GDP on the military this year, up from about one per cent in 2014. Canada does fare better when you look at its defence budget in dollars and cents, said Dave Perry, vice president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. The country spends the sixth highest amount overall among NATO members on its military. As for meeting the percentage of GDP target, Perry's not optimistic despite planned increases in the defence budget. “Canada is not on a path to live up to the commitments that we were signing up for in 2014 in Wales,” he said. Last year, Canada spent about $22.9 billion on the Department of National Defence. But Ottawa intends to dramatically boost military spending in the coming years. In 2017, the government released a plan to increase the budget to almost $33 billion annually within a decade. Asked about the letter from the U.S., Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan touted this plan to strengthen spending. Discussions around “burden sharing” within the bloc have been happening for some time, he said. He noted that under the government's plan, the defence budget would see an increase of 70 per cent, a “significant amount.” “The relationship with Canada and the U.S., the defence relationship, I think, is even stronger now, because they see a tangible plan that we have created,” he said on an episode of The West Block that aired Sunday. “It's working, actually, extremely well.” The U.S. sending such a letter is an unusual, formal means of relaying a message, and it represents an escalation from previous attempts to get Canada to spend more on its military. That pressure has been increasing in recent weeks ahead of the NATO summit in London starting on Dec. 3. In fact, the same message has been conveyed in multiple ways to the federal government, a diplomatic source said, and NATO itself also wants to see more military spending from Canada. In July, however, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg suggested publicly he was happy with improvements in Canadian defence spending. “Under your leadership,” he said to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, ​​”Canada has stepped up its contributions to our NATO alliance including with forces for NATO missions and operations and increased spending.” But one former defence minister said the letter from the U.S. — NATO's leader in defence spending in relation to its GDP — was not a good sign. Peter MacKay said such a letter amounts to “a very serious diplomatic slap — not on the wrist, but in the face.” During his time in government, the former Nova Scotia Conservative MP said he had talks with defence secretaries regarding Canadian military spending and the country's goal of reaching two per cent. “Those discussions can be forceful and frank but they took place face to face,” said MacKay, who was defence minister for six years under former prime minister Stephen Harper. “Sending a démarche (diplomatic letter) is really ratcheting it up a notch.” https://globalnews.ca/news/6210623/canada-defence-spending-nato/

Toutes les nouvelles