The Ottawa-based defence company Dominion Dynamics is partnering with Ukrainian robotics company Tencore to start building its ground-based drone vehicles in Canada as early as next year.
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding at a defence conference in Washington, D.C., today which outlines their plans to manufacture Tencore’s Termit drone in Canada and install Dominion’s software in the vehicles.
The Termit drone, which runs on treads and looks almost like a miniature tank, has been deployed to Ukraine’s front lines for operations that would be hazardous for humans, such as resupply missions and mine-laying.
The federal government has been pushing for joint production of drones by Canadian companies and Ukraine’s battle-tested defence industry.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met in Calgary last month and signed a joint declaration on defence production.
Dominion is also independently developing its own autonomous collaborative platform: drones guided by humans that fly alongside fighter jets, such as F-35s or Gripen fighters.
