said that what you cannot measure, you cannot manage. In addition, the report of the Senate Standing Committee on National Defence identified another serious surveillance gap on page 38: “For witnesses, the main surveillance gap in the Arctic concerns the detection of threats and underwater activities. They underscored that Canada currently has no capability to detect submarines, underwater UAVs or other types of submersible systems operating in the Arctic Ocean.” Since our submarines cannot operate safely under the ice, one economical way to perform “the detection of threats and underwater activities” could be through the use of unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). Since the UUVs operate underwater, they could be deployed year-round, regardless of the ice cover. They would not have some of the disadvantages of sonar arrays on the seabed such as their vulnerability to damage from iceberg. A combination of short- and long-range UUVs could be used to monitor the underwater approaches to the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The International Submarine Engineering Explorers UUV, with a range of 300 plus kilometers, could be deployed to monitor specific choke points. The longrange UUVs, such as the HUGIN Endurance from Kongsberg, with a range of 2,200 kilometers, could be deployed from Resolute Bay or Cambridge Bay to patrol the key vulnerable passages of the Northwest Passage. The UUVs may have the ability to lie down at the bottom of those passages and silently monitor activity. They could dock into unmanned underwater facilities to recharge their batteries, upload information and download instructions. By moving from one underwater docking station to another, the UUVs could monitor all the approaches to the Arctic Archipelago. When needed, the UUVs would be commanded back to a maintenance facility for servicing. The knowledge that UUVs are patrolling the waters of the Archipelago would be a great deterrent. In addition, while the UUVs collect national defence data, they could simultaneously be collecting scientific data, such as water temperatures, salinity, ocean currents and marine life (e.g., communications between whales). The changes to NORDREG regulations, as well as the deployment of HFSWRs and UUVs, could quickly and significantly improve our arctic maritime domain awareness and deterrence. It is unfortunate that the lack of federal leadership on national defence, the reluctance to meet NATO minimum investment in defence, combined with the present government’s apparent disinterest in protecting Canadians, will make the implementation of those recommendations a challenge. Colonel (Ret’d) Pierre LeBlanc is a former Commander of the Canadian Forces in the Artic 26 / Canadian Government Executive // Summer 2023 The long-range UUVs, such as the HUGIN Endurance from Kongsberg, with a range of 2,200 kilometers, could be deployed from Resolute Bay or Cambridge Bay to patrol the key vulnerable passages of the Northwest Passage. ENVIRONICS ANALYTICS HUGIN Endurance Image: Kongsberg.
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