In a column for his self-published newsletter, journalist Paul Wells reported that Canada’s new ambassador to Latvia, Timothy Edwards, received a operational briefing on Nov. 4 inside a mobile command post outside Jēkabpils.
Ambassador Edwards was updated on the progress of Mission Rehearsal Activity Resolute Reforger, which deployed 3,000 troops across Latvia on various assignments. Canada leads a substantial multinational brigade in the country to defend NATO’s eastern flank.
That contingent has grown steadily since 2017. Great Britain leads a comparable multinational force in Estonia to the north, and Germany heads a similar brigade in Lithuania to the south.
During the briefing, soldiers described day-to-day plans to Edwards. Two civilian entrepreneurs stood nearby, representing private businesses supplying equipment for modern military needs.
One of the civilians was David Thanh, co-founder and COO of FireSwarm Solutions. His company builds command-and-control systems that allow multiple drones to operate together.
On a tarmac near Jēkabpils, Thanh demonstrated a drone lifting a stretcher carrying a dummy. The flying machine carried the cargo several hundred metres before lowering it to the ground.
Ukraine announced the world’s first drone evacuation of a wounded soldier just weeks earlier. Canadians aren’t there yet, but they’re working to close the gap.
Based in Squamish, British Columbia, FireSwarm launched three years ago to automate search and safety operations during wildfires. It bought drones from established firms, mostly in Europe. The company joined NATO’s multinational brigade network through the DIANA accelerator program launched in 2023.
“Being able to get in front of defence and integrating into real-world needs is super-important,” Thanh told Paul Wells.
The second civilian present was Elliot Barry, a manager at Barry Cordage, a Montreal family business with a 45-year history. The company manufactures ropes and nets traditionally used with helicopters.
Barry Cordage is developing specialized netting designed to stop enemy attack drones. Canadian Army engineers in Latvia showed Wells their widespread use of protective netting while upgrading a base near the Russian border.
Barry stated his team is working on netting capable of stopping Shahed-scale drones, which are larger than a king-sized bed and incomparably deadlier. He declined to reveal the specific design mechanics.
“We’re keeping that to ourselves for now,” Barry told Paul Wells.
Barry said that selling new product classes to NATO armed forces is often easier than breaking into entrenched commercial markets. The brutal funnel of the DIANA program accepted only 150 companies out of 3,680 global applicants for its eligibility round.
Ambassador Edwards received his briefing on Nov. 4 inside a mobile command post outside Jēkabpils.
A total of 3,680 companies applied for the program, while only 150 qualified.
FireSwarm Solutions is based in Squamish, British Columbia, where it launched three years ago.