Nunatsiaq News: Coast guard prepares to survey Arctic using Israeli-made drone

The Canadian Coast Guard is preparing to test the Arctic surveillance capacity of a large Israeli-manufactured drone.

Coast guard staff began testing the Hermes 900 Starliner earlier this year at the Canadian Forces Base in Greenwood, N.S., before it was disassembled and shipped from there to Iqaluit on Oct. 1.

The testing will part of an effort to study whether the drone can fit well into the coast guard’s fleet of smaller drones, said Mark McKeeman, the director of the coast guard’s remotely piloted aircraft program.

“Were still in the contract delivery stages with the manufacturer, so they have to prove that the aircraft is capable of operating in some of the conditions in the Arctic,” he said.

One of the things the Hermes 900 Starliner will be tested for is its ability to operate at 72 degrees north, which is about the same latitude as Pond Inlet.

Canada signed a contract to obtain the drone from the Israeli arms dealer Elbit Systems in 2020, at a cost of $36 million.

The Hermes 900 StarLiner was alleged to have been used in 2024 to target civilians in Lebanon, according to media reports from the time.

Eleid said a loophole in Canada’s export regime also still allows for the export of parts as long as they get to the United States first before being shipped to Israel.

In March, Jenny Kwan, another NDP MP from Vancouver, attempted to pass a bill to close that loophole. It was rejected then, with 295 MP voting against it and 22 voting in favour.

Nunatsiaq News asked Liberal Nunavut MP Lori Idlout for her thoughts on Canada conducting business with an Israeli defence contractor but did not receive a response.

Click image or link to read the news story - https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/coast-guard-prepares-to-survey-arctic-using-israeli-made-drone/

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Click image or the link to read Leilani Farha’s article - https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-lets-call-canadas-housing-crisis-what-it-is-a-purposeful-profit-driven/