Document created: 24 July 2005
Air University Review, March-April 1967

Defence Research Program

Dr. A. H. Zimmerman

Chairman, Defence
Research Board, Canada

Canada’s first defence scientist was undoubtedly a French soldier assigned to examine and effect repairs to a faulty muzzle-loader about three centuries ago.

We have progressed substantially since that near-medieval period, however, although Canadian defence scientists were not formally organized until 1 April 1947 when an amendment to the National Defence Act created Canada’s Defence Research Board. For twenty years now, DRB has been an integral element in the Department of National Defence and probably unique because it is civilian-directed and civilian-staffed, despite its place in a military milieu.

Under the National Defence Act, the Board carries out research and associated duties relating to the defence of Canada and the development of or improvement in military equipment as assigned by the Minister of National Defence. It also advises the Minister on all matters relating to scientific, technical, and other research and development that, in its view, may affect national defence.

Integration of the Canadian Armed Forces two summers ago has not resulted in major changes in the Board’s operations or its place in the Department as a separate organizational entity.

There exists within the Department of National Defence a Defence Council, chaired by the Minister, and its members are the senior officials of the Department. These include the Chief of the Defence Staff, the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, the Chairman of the Defence Research Board, and the Deputy Minister of National Defence.

The Deputy Minister and the Chairman, Defence Research Board, are the senior civilian appointees in the Department under the Minister. The role of the Deputy Minister may be broadly stated as the principal civilian assistant to the Minister and Associate Minister in the exercise of their responsibility for the control and management of the Department. The Chairman, Defence Research Board, is charged with the responsibility of operating the scientific element of the Department of National Defence.

As a result of his membership on this Council, the Chairman of the Defence Research Board is able to introduce at the highest departmental level the views of the Board.

The Board’s Vice Chairman and Chief Scientists are members of the Development and Associated Research Policy Group formed by the Chief of Technical Services, Canadian Forces Headquarters, to make recommendations to the Chief of the Defence Staff on all matters concerning development policy and programs. The Group provides an important forum for the exchange of information on all aspects of defence research and development. Its secretariat and administrative procedures provide a convenient and effective means of both proposing research and reporting progress to the working staff.

In addition, a number of Board scientists have been integrated into the Chief of Technical Services’ organization, which is responsible for the planning and integration of development programs. Somewhat similar arrangements have been concluded to provide for scientific advice in the formulation of operational requirements, and a senior DRB scientist has been posted to the branch of the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff as Director of Scientific Coordination.

The Chief Superintendent of the Board’s Operational Research Establishment is also Director General of Operational Research at Canadian Forces Headquarters. He heads a single division, organized into a number of functional directorates, and is responsible to the Board’s Chairman for the career management of scientific staff and the technical quality of operational research studies. Through the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, he answers to the Chief of the Defence Staff for the formulation of programs and the establishment of priorities for their execution.

The Board’s research and associated activities are carried on at its headquarters and at its laboratories or field stations located in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. The terms of the National Defence Act also permit the Board to extend its efforts beyond its own facilities by means of grants to universities and contracts with industry.

In practice, the Board has four basic responsibilities:

(a) to provide scientific advice to the Minister and Associate Minister of National Defence, the Chief of the Defence Staff, and the Canadian Forces;

(b) to provide for the research requirements of the Canadian Forces;

(c) to contribute to the collective defence research efforts of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, of other international programs, and to arrange for scientific and technical cooperation with allied nations; and

(d) to support basic research of defence interest in Canadian universities, and applied military research with Canadian industry.

Programs and priorities within these broad responsibilities are determined by Canada’s national security policy, by the current roles and tasks of the Canadian Forces, and by the requirements of international cooperation. Present areas of special interest include:

(a) the defence (and in particular the air defence) of North America;

(b) defence against submarines;

(c) the equipment and tactics of ground and air forces in Europe;

(d) the equipment and tactics of forces in counterinsurgency, limited war, and “peacekeeping” roles;

(e) the requirements of national survival following nuclear attack.

The Board’s research efforts can be divided roughly into five major fields—the physical sciences, maritime research, weapons and engineering research, biosciences, and the defence aspects of nuclear, biological, and chemical research—all contributing singly or collectively to many of the problems that arise in the areas already outlined. In general, the research programs, both pure and applied, are pursued in the Board’s research establishments or laboratories located across Canada, some selected specifically of course for their geographical position.

The majority of the Board’s research programs are integrated closely with those of the United States. This integration arises for many reasons: because of the geographical implications, mutual defence problems, and also because of the need to share specific equipments and facilities. The nature of this cooperation varies considerably, from the discussion and design of programs at formal international levels to mutual exchanges and understandings at the working level between field stations with related tasks. This type of cooperation has resulted in the sharing of facilities, staffs, and equipment. Many examples of this type of liaison exist, particularly in some of the Board’s extended field operations such as at-sea research or in the execution of some of its large-scale trials in the area of biological, chemical, and nuclear defence.

In addition to the exchange of technical information at the working level, an effective procedure for the exchange of information through reports and documents has been established. This system originated during the early days of World War II and has progressed to an extensive degree. It ensures in fact that Canada’s defence research scientists fully understand activities in U.S. allied fields. The system, of course, works just as successfully in reverse.

The Board’s scientists also take an active part in seminars, technical meetings, and symposia held in their respective fields in the United States. The Board presents reviews and papers on all aspects of its work at an annual symposium held in Ottawa. This draws a wide audience from many defence science fields in the United States. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that some of the strongest and most fruitful programs are those closely allied with similar activities in the United States.

It might prove useful to present some typical examples of the close collaboration existing between the two countries in nearly all defence research fields.

In the weapons and engineering field, one of the main programs at the Board’s Canadian Armament Research and Development Establishment involves the use of hypersonic ranges and light-gas guns. This program, to investigate the properties of hypersonic wakes, has developed over several years in close cooperation with the Advanced Research Projects Agency and Redstone Arsenal of the U.S. Army Missile Command. The U.S. provides substantial financial and personnel support to the program, and of course scientific information resulting from the experimentation is exchanged freely.

The same establishment is engaged in another cooperative project with ARPA, investigation of infrared radiation in the high atmosphere, particularly transmission and airglow measurements carried out by instrumented high-altitude aircraft. Here again Board personnel receive logistic support from their United States partners.

During the past twenty years the Board has built up extensive and unique test facilities at its Suffield Experimental Station on the Alberta prairies. The ranges are ideally suited for large-scale tests and trials dealing with the problems of defence against biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons. This establishment has conducted joint Canadian/United States trials for a number of years, with every likelihood that the degree of U.S. participation will increase. It has not been unusual during a specific trial at Suffield to find more than 100 U.S. technical representatives participating.

In other research areas, such as submarine warfare, communications, and biosciences, mutual projects between the two countries have resulted in very close collaboration.

The Board’s main contribution to Canada’s space program is another instance of close and successful cooperation with our U.S. counterparts. This effort began with the concept and eventual launching of the Alouette I, an all Canadian ionosphere topside sounder spacecraft, which established clearly the Board’s ability and competence in this complex and sophisticated design and development field. Design and manufacture of the satellite of course represented only one aspect of the problem. The other aspect, that of launching it into orbit, was a phase that was entirely contributed and directed by the resources of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Since that successful launching, a joint Canada/U.S. program known as International Satellites for Ionospheric Studies (ISIS) has been established with the objective of orbiting four Canadian-designed and—built topside sounding spacecraft. The first satellite in this program, Alouette II, was launched successfully by a Thor-Agena on 29 November 1965 from the Western Test Range in California. Designed and built by the Board’s Defence Research Telecommunications Establishment with Canadian industrial support, it achieved a nominal orbit with a perigee of 501 km, an apogee of 2982 km, and an inclination of 79.8°. Alouette II carries equipment for five experiments: three (topside sounding of the ionosphere, measurement of galactic and solar radio noise, measurement of very-low-frequency radio emissions in the upper atmosphere) are DRB experiments; the fourth (detection of energetic particles) is a project of the National Research Council of Canada; and the fifth (measurement of electron densities and temperatures) was designed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Like its predecessor, all of Alouette II’s systems are operating satisfactorily to date.

Explorer XXXI, a NASA satellite, was launched by the same Thor-Agena rocket. For experimental purposes, the two satellites remained in the same orbit for about a month, separated along the orbital path by less than 1000 kilometers. Fifteen days after launching, the separation was 83 km and was increasing at a rate of about 9 km per day.

Both Alouette II and Explorer XXXI are part of the ISIS project, and many of the experiments in the two satellites were planned to be complementary. Their simultaneous operation in the same region of space is expected to make possible a considerable advance in knowledge of the physics of the atmosphere, ion composition, and electron and ion temperatures.

Leading from the experience and success gained with Alouette I and Alouette II, the Board is developing a program for cooperative studies for communications satellites, again with considerable U.S. cooperation.

The breakthrough into space research by the Board has added a new dimension to Canada’s industrial capacity. As a result of the Board’s interests and requirements, encouragement and support have been extended to many Canadian industrial firms to develop and expand their technical resources to meet the challenge of space. From modest beginnings, many of the companies have developed equipments and components which are now finding their way into U.S. space vehicles.

Although the Board does not operate an aeronautical establishment, it has encouraged the development of work in this area through a system of development contracts with industrial manufacturers. In the late 1950’s concepts and feasibility studies of V/STOL aircraft were supported by the Board at the Canadair Limited plant in Montreal. Emphasis in this early work was placed on optimizing the means of coupling aerodynamic and direct lift devices as well as on solving stability and control problems.

On the results of this research, the contractor has designed and developed a prototype V/STOL aircraft designated the CL84 “Dynavert.” Although DRB engineers were involved also in an advisory capacity during the prototype construction phase, the actual costs of production and flight tests were supported by Canada’s Department of Defence Production. The Dynavert is a research aircraft incorporating the hybrid tilt-wing deflected-slipstream concept. Since its first flight in May 1965, it has been flown successfully in the normal flight mode as well as through all hovering and transition requirements. The design point of the aircraft is a VTOL payload of 1500 pounds over a 300-nautical-mile range at a cruise speed of 200 knots on a hot day (95°) at sea level. Although these objectives have not been fully attained, means for additional thrust are under consideration, and development is proceeding satisfactorily.

In 1961 a program of research assistance or grants was initiated with a wide segment of Canadian industry to broaden research in Canada, particularly in areas relating to defence technology. This program has had remarkable results in a short time and has led to the encouragement and expansion of basic and applied research in many areas of Canadian industry. New facilities have been built and research staffs hired and trained to support the many projects under way. The program is operated on a cost-sharing basis, the Defence Research Board grant being matched by an equal financial contribution from industry. Since its inception some 167 grants have been awarded, and the total shared cost amounts to approximately $46 million.

Within the past year this Defence Research Board Industrial Research Sharing Program has been extended as a result of an agreement with the U.S. Air Force. This recent venture is designed to encourage Canadian defence-oriented industry to participate in programs of interest to the USAF. Although a comparatively new arrangement, already several successful jointly funded projects have been established, and there is every indication that others will be initiated this year.

Since the DRB was formed in 1947, it has operated a very successful grants-in-aid program with Canadian universities. The prime purpose of the program is to initiate and encourage research in institutions of higher learning and thus strengthen the heritage of research in Canada. About 330 grants are distributed annually among some 34 universities across the country. The annual expenditure for these grants is approximately $2.5 million.

The Board participates in a large number of international scientific activities arising principally from military and political alliances abroad. Many of these stem from NATO operations. The Board sponsors defence research scholarships which are offered to scientists from NATO countries and are tenable for a minimum of one year in any field of defence science in the Board’s establishments.

The Technical Cooperation Program involves a considerable amount of cooperation with member countries—Canada, U.S., Britain, and Australia—and has proved to be a most useful and productive means of exchanging information and skills.

Canada is one of the strong supporters of the Commonwealth Defence Science Organization and acted as host to a meeting of the Organization held in Ottawa in September 1966.

A strong link is maintained in Washington, London, and Paris through the offices of the Canadian Defence Research Staff. These offices are responsible for all aspects of overseas operation and work very closely with the Canadian military components in these capitals.

During its brief history of some twenty years, the Defence Research Board has progressed in size and competence. As a leading partner in the field of Canadian research, it takes its place with other research agencies of the government, industry, and education. In addition, many of its staff and its programs have gained recognition in various fields of international science. These accomplishments are but a prologue to Defence Research Board challenges and achievements of the future.

Ottawa, Ontario

Contributor

Dr. Adam Hartley Zimmerman (B.A.Sc., University of Toronto) is Chairman, Defence Research Board, and member of the Defence Council, Department of National Defence, Canada.  After finishing college in 1924, he was for six years engaged in mining engineering, then joined the Moore Corporation in Toronto, where from 1932 to 1941 he was Assistant Director of Research and from 1945 onward Director of Production, Moore Corporation Ltd., and General Production Manager, Moore Business Forms, Inc. During World War  II he served first as Director of Small Arms Production  and later  as Director-General of Signals Production with the Department of Munitions and Supply, for which services he was awarded the Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.).  During the Korean War he established the Electronics Division of the Department of Defence Production.  In 1951 he was named member of the Defence Research Board, in 1955 became Vice Chairman, and has been Chairman since 1963.  Dr. Zimmerman has been awarded honarary degrees by McMaster, Dalhousie, and Ottawa universities.

Disclaimer

The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University.

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