American defence contractor Lockheed Martin has solidified a relationship with another Canadian AI company to support its work on Canada’s military planes.
The news: Lockheed Martin’s Canadian subsidiary has signed a $10-million CAD contract with Ottawa-based industrial AI company Contextere to help modernize maintenance, training, and workforce readiness for its work on the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)’s CC-130J Hercules fleet, the companies announced at the Canadian Aerospace Summit on Tuesday.
The agreement will see Lockheed Martin, RCAF, and Contextere collaborate on a new Intelligent Maintenance, Asset, Personnel and Learning Environment (iMAPLE) platform, which aims to support decisions that Contextere said could improve aircraft availability, maintenance efficiency, and fleet readiness. iMAPLE will be based on Contextere’s Madison platform, which the firm describes as “Siri for the industrial worker”.
From the source: Lockheed Martin vice-president and Canadian regional executive Kristen Leroux said in a statement that the collaboration is “demonstrating how Canadian innovation can build a sovereign defence and dual-use ecosystem right here at home.”
The context: This isn’t Lockheed Martin’s first experience in Contextere. In 2017, the defence contractor invested just under $1.4 million in the company to develop a personal assistant for aerospace and defence maintenance workers.
The new contract is part of Lockheed’s obligations under Canada’s Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) policy, which contractually requires companies awarded defence procurement contracts to undertake business activity in Canada equal to the value of the contracts they have won, such as Lockheed’s contract to build the CC-130J Hercules fleet.
Lockheed made a $3.6-million CAD investment into Ottawa-based AI solutions provider Lemay.ai for similar reasons earlier this year.
Final thought: As Canada makes commitments to increase military spending and reduce its military dependence on the United States, giving rise to domestic defence competitors, Lockheed Martin is doubling down on its Canadian presence. Earlier this week, Lockheed Martin completed its acquisition of Ultra Maritime, a defence company specializing in undersea warfare. Ultra Maritime had a strong presence in Dartmouth, NS, with a headcount of approximately 400, adding to Lockheed Martin’s 1,300 Canadian employees.
Feature image courtesy Lockheed Martin via Flickr.
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