The government of Canada announced plans to spend approximately $3.8 billion over the next six years to modernize North American Aerospace Defense Command and continental defense capabilities amid a rapidly evolving threat environment.
The investment will support the modernization of the North Warning System with the procurement and installation of two radar systems in the polar and Arctic regions to improve NORAD’s capability to detect threats, the Canadian government said Tuesday.
Established in 1958, NORAD is a combined organization of the U.S. and Canada that provides aerospace warning and protection for the two countries.
Canada will work with the U.S. to build Crossbow, a network of sensors that will serve as a complementary platform and equipped with classified capabilities to enhance threat detection.
The Canadian government said it will also collaborate with the U.S. to broaden support for the NORAD Pathfinder program to advance the use of machine learning and cloud computing to help NORAD commanders speed up decision-making as well as further develop a positioning, navigation and timing capability that could be used to support air navigation in remote locations.
