Lieutenant-General Eric Kenny, Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, along with Canadian and American senior military officers, as well as other senior members from the Department of National Defence attended the demonstration. This new critical technological capability will bolster the Canadian Armed Forces’ and NORAD’s ability to protect Canadians against new and emerging threats to North America.
"CBC2 incorporates a large number of tactically relevant data feeds as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning to enable decision-makers to maintain detailed situational awareness of the environment. The platform uses this data to develop courses of action from which leaders can make higher quality and faster decisions that improve operational outcomes," says the release.
As CBC2 transitions into its next phase of development, the operators will be able to provide feedback on the new technology before fully transitioning to it. Future releases are planned to take place at Air Defense Sectors in Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington throughout 2024 and into 2025.
“To meet future defence and security challenges alongside our Allies, the RCAF must leverage innovative technologies like cloud-based command and control. These technologies represent significant capability increases in areas key to modern air and space forces. CBC2 incorporates state-of-the-art solutions to enhance NORAD’s effectiveness and will revolutionize the way we operate” explained Lieutenant-General Eric Kenny, Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force
“This continued investment in the CADS and introduction of CBC2 serves as a strong testament to the ongoing commitment to 22 Wing North Bay. The enhancements brought by CBC2 will empower CADS operators to excel in cross-domain collaboration, elevate situational awareness, and enable faster and more informed decision-making,” said Colonel Richard Jolette, Commander 22 Wing North Bay / Canadian Air Defence Sector.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is a United States and Canada bi-national organization charged with the missions of aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning for North America.
The CBC2 program falls under Canada’s plan to modernize NORAD, which was announced by the Minister of National Defence in June 2022. This plan is supported by $38.6 billion in spending over 20 years.
This is the first time that a classified cloud-based technology will be used by Canada.
