General Dynamics Mission Systems - Canada, formerly Computing Devices Canada, is a technology-based electronic systems, systems integration, and in-service support to defence organizations and public security markets in Canada and abroad. Its parent company is

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Un ...

History

Computing Devices Canada was incorporated on August 31, 1948 as a global defence contractor. The company was founded by two Polish immigrants to Canada, George Glinski and Joe Norton, to support the rebuilding of Canada's military after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The company got its start by manufacturing the Position and Homing Indicator (PHI), a device developed at the National Research Council that kept track of an aircraft's position and indicated its return route to base. One large contract that had a significant influence on the company's growth was for the ''Kicksorter'', a digital-pulse counter designed for the Atomic Energy of Canada Laboratories (AECL) in

Chalk River Chalk River (2016 population: 1029) is a small rural village, part of the Laurentian Hills municipality in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Upper Ottawa Valley along Highway 17 ( Trans-Canada Highway), inland (west) fr ...

. If the Kicksorter had been slightly modified to do simple arithmetic operations, it would have been a rudimentary computer. AECL purchased a large number of these devices between 1957 and 1963, when they were replaced by one of the early computers in the PDP series manufactured by the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). Another contract was to design and construct a large digital simulator for the Royal Canadian Navy that was never completed. During the 1990s, Computing Devices Canada implemented the Iris Digital Communications System, which was a thorough communications upgrade for the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases acr ...

, and on the strength of that effort, was awarded the Bowman contract to perform a similar effort for the British Army. In 1998,

purchased the company, renaming it to General Dynamics Canada.

Products and programs

The Aurora Program is the mid-life upgrade of the CP140 Aurora aircraft operated by the Canadian Department of National Defence as a long-range maritime patrol platform for surface and undersea surveillance roles. GD Mission Systems – Canada has been contracted to develop the Data Management System (DMS) and Acoustic Suite subsystems. The latest release brings with it new capabilities in terms of Link 16, BLOS-WGS satcom and self-defence in the form of a Directed IR Countermeasures system (DIRCM). In 2014, they were awarded two contracts on the Mercury Global Project. The first contract is for the design-and-build of a network of Mercury Global anchor stations valued at $59.1 million. Through this network of antennas, the Department of National Defence will access the Wideband Global Satellite (WGS) constellation and will be able to provide secure communications for deployed Canadian Forces. The second contract provides ongoing in-service support and is valued at $8.5 million.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control General Dynamics General Dynamics Mission Systems Defence companies of Canada Aerospace companies of Canada