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A mobile solution designed for battlefield superiority

Big, bold ambitions

The 'Strong, Secure, Engaged' plan, published in 2017 by the Canadian Department of National Defence, outlined the major ambitions of the Canadian Armed Forces for the coming years. And stressed the need for them to keep up with the constant progress of digital technologies to ensure superiority on ever more connected battlefields.

It is these technologies and their implementation that will help Canada's air, land and naval forces fulfil their main missions: protecting the world's second largest territory, from the North Atlantic to the North Pacific, including the Arctic, assisting populations during natural disasters, and participating in NORAD and NATO operations to protect and defend Canadian interests wherever they are threatened.

A Canadian leader in digital technologies

A trusted partner of the Canadian Department of National Defence for 50 years, collaborating with 500 other Canadian defence and security suppliers, Thales Canada is committed to supporting the Canadian Armed Forces in their ongoing effort to achieve technological superiority on land, at sea, and in the air.

More generally, Thales Canada, a Canadian leader in the digital field, is proud to mobilise its 2,000 employees every day for decisive innovations in the civil and military fields, ranging from rail signalling to aerospace, as well as cyber security and critical systems. A leader in research and technology, it provides the entire country with its cutting-edge expertise, reinforced by massive R&D investments. Thales Canada is helping to make Canada one of the leading countries in digital transformation.

Making the difference on the battlefield

Since 2008, for example, Thales Canada has maintained and developed the real-time tactical command software that has made the Canadian Army's Land Command Support System (LCSS) a global best practice. The LCSS demonstrated its effectiveness in war conditions during the deployment of Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

Building on this experience, Thales Canada engineers recently developed a solution called the Tactical Battlefield Management System (TBMS). Part of the overall LCSS framework and interacting with other software, TBMS is designed for crew commanders of the Canadian Army's light armoured vehicles (LAVs).
To describe it in a single sentence, TBMS is a real-time battlefield information-sharing app.

This highly intuitive, user-friendly app was designed by Thales Canada engineers, and is based on game design user interface best practices. Simple to use, the app is accessible from a tablet, in or near an armoured vehicle. Its features correspond exactly to the critical needs of officers, namely to ensure superiority and protect soldiers in hostile terrain.

Thanks to TBMS, crew commanders can visualise and share digital maps—similar to Google maps—in real time. These maps and diagrams can include their own position, that of friendly forces, enemy positions, plus threats and obstacles of all kinds. A text chat allows soldiers to chat as needed.

Developed in Canada for the specific needs of the Canadian Forces, TBMS was successfully field-tested by officers of The Royal Canadian Regiment during testing at the Petawawa military base in Ontario. It will soon be deployed on over 1,000 mobile devices.

Having previously been deployed as a Field Service Representative with the Canadian Army in Afghanistan, I was very proud to see how the commanders embraced TBMS. Seeing first-hand how they were able to use our solution within the tight confines of the LAV (Light Armoured Vehicle) was a personal moment of pride for this project.    
Senior Software Tester at Thales Canada, and TBMS Integration Test Lead, Jeff Corbin

TBMS will allow the Canadian Army to consolidate its tactical superiority, on all terrain where it is engaged, and at every decisive moment.