The next time a warship tests its missile system, there’s a chance the “enemy” zipping toward it will be a Canadian drone from southern Alberta — part of a military simulation business supercharged by a new tie-up with Airbus.
These drones — built and designed by Landing Zones Canada Inc. — aren’t coming from big cities like Calgary or Edmonton; they’re coming from Medicine Hat, where years of research and development on the sidelines is coming out of the woodwork.
“We can’t hide in the bush anymore,” Spencer Fraser, the company’s founder and chief executive, said in an interview.
“This is an industry niche that’s mostly located in Alberta, and we’re very good at it,” said Fraser, who served two decades in the Royal Canadian Navy and has worked in defence for 23 years.
Last week, Airbus, Europe’s largest aeronautics and space company, inked a deal with Landing Zones worth an undisclosed amount, allowing for a massive expansion at the southern Alberta firm.
Landing Zones has been exporting its drones to NATO countries and their allies for several years after it was founded in 2022. Fraser says they’ve sold Canadian systems in Japan, Sweden, Norway, South Korea and more.
“Why the hell would we be in Medicine Hat?”
Fraser gave a simple answer: it’s all because of the nearby Suffield Research Centre, where many defence technologies are put to the test, including Landing Zones’.
One way to picture its technology is to think of Duck Hunt, the retro game where players shoot at clay targets thrown by a pesky dog on their TV screen. Fraser’s company is, in a sense, designing the clay targets that massive, high-tech weapons systems are tested or practised on.
The company’s main product, a drone called the Eagle, travels up to 1.3 times the speed of sound, according to Fraser. In some cases, the high-speed flying vehicles will simulate fast-moving threats, such as bombs.
“It’s used against the world’s most advanced Patriot missile system,” Fraser said. The Patriot is a ground-based, missile and aircraft defence system used by NATO and its allies.
Fraser also said weapons systems aboard destroyers for the Royal Canadian Navy may be tested with the Eagle.
“If you’re the Canadian taxpayer and you spend $100 billion on new ships, you have to make sure that the system works before you know they’re used for real,” he said.
In terms of Landing Zones’ agreement with Airbus, Fraser said several details can’t be disclosed for security reasons.
He wasn’t specific, but Fraser said the company is likely to double or potentially triple its staff in Alberta in the next two or three years.
“Getting above 100 employees in the next year is not unlikely,” he said, adding Airbus’ investment will also help the company bring new variants of its drone system to market faster.
Airbus will gain a seat on Landing Zones’ board, and Fraser hopes the partnership will lead to closer connections with some of the aerospace giant’s customers.
Landing Zones is a member of the Alberta Aviation Aerospace and Defence Council, and Kevin Wong, a chair at the organization, said they’re “delighted” that the company landed this deal with Airbus.
“Airbus making their investment into Landing Zones is great news,” Wong said, noting it’s part of a growing trend of activity from incumbents like Airbus into Alberta.
United States-based defence giant Boeing put $2.7 million towards a collaboration with Calgary’s ConvergX last year, aimed at innovation in the sector.
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Wong said it had been “decades” since Boeing made that type of investment in the province.
“I don’t know when the last time Airbus had made one, but it has been a while, so that makes this notable,” Wong said.
Harish Consul, chief executive of private equity firm Ocgrow Ventures, said Medicine Hat is a centre for drones. But it’s not just the small city, traditionally known for its badlands, with this kind of rep.
“Alberta is becoming an increasing global destination for aerospace autonomous systems and defence innovation,” Consul said. “It’s absolutely expected to continue.”
Consul’s firm has ties to aerospace and aviation, and various other sectors. They were an early investor in some big names, such as Amazon.com, Inc. and Shopify Inc.
“It’s not just a win for one company,” Consul said. “It’s another milestone for Alberta’s emergence as this global competitive hub for AI, aerospace, and autonomous systems.”
The deal with Airbus comes several months after Landing Zones received an undisclosed sum from the Business Development Bank of Canada’s defence-focused StrongNorth Fund, which the Crown corporation expanded to $6 billion earlier this year.
The federal government has bolstered defence spending over the past year and a half, finally hitting the NATO target — two per cent of GDP — during this fiscal year, about 12 years after the target was set.
Ottawa plans to continue its defence-related spending surge, increasing the defence budget to 3.5 per cent of GDP and security-related investments to 1.5 per cent by 2035 to align with NATO’s new target.
While the new partnership is entirely defence-focused, the applications for Landing Zones’ tech don’t stop at defence. Some of its drones can lift scientific instruments high into the atmosphere for weather monitoring and other measurements.
“Think of us more as a stratospheric pickup truck,” Fraser said.
Fraser argues there’s renewed optimism among those in the defence sector, particularly towards the federal government’s spending plans.
“Okay guys, we’re talking a good game,” Fraser said. “We’ve got to put the puck on the ice and get going.”
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