Defence Research from TCE Standar
Defence research, initiation and development of weapons or technologies likely to be useful in national defence, is a comparatively
recent phenomenon in Canada. Although there were some rudimentary efforts at developing new defence technologies during WWI, it was only with WWII that the Canadian government began to pay attention to innovations in equipment and techniques. Various research establishments were set up to investigate problems as diverse as ordnance, ballistics, radar, winter warfare, chemical warfare and aviation medicine.
At the end of the war, at the insistence of Chief of the General Staff General Charles FOULKES, Canada's defence research programs were consolidated and preserved as much as limited funds would allow. It was obvious that certain limitations existed: only a few projects could be pursued at any time; research had to be co-ordinated with that of Canada's principal allies, Britain and the US; and the research program should be integrated as far as possible into other research enterprises. The best means of securing a relatively independent and prestigious research enterprise was to set up a Defence Research Board (DRB) under the Department of NATIONAL DEFENCE (DND). In addition to members and staff of the board in Canada, liaison officers were appointed to work in London and Washington, and later also in Paris.
In co-operation with the navy the DRB developed new antisubmarine technologies such as the Variable Depth SONAR and helped to adapt helicopters for antisubmarine work. The DRB also contributed heavily to locating and developing the EARLY-WARNING RADAR of the 1950s across the Canadian North (seeNORAD).
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DEW Line Sit The DEW at Hall Beach, NWT (photo by Sergeant Jim Smith/courtesy Canadian Forces). |