A Quebec company has created a new tool to be shipped to the front lines of battle. It comes amid growing demand for surveillance and reconnaissance drone technology across the defence industry. The mobile drone factory known as Forge X fits inside a shipping container, and can double in size in minutes. “It takes us about 30 minutes to set the system up, and we can load it onto an aircraft and within hours have it deployed essentially anywhere in the world,” said Sentinel Advanced Military Solutions chief technology officer Ed Zimmerman. Inside, there are four 3D printers, which use materials like plastic and carbon fibre to produce drones that will be fitted with motors and batteries. The software allows for different models of drones to be produced in the field. “Even though they might choose to produce today model A of a given drone tomorrow, they might be able to produce model B or model C or model D, depending on how the circumstances are changing in their environment,” said Zimmerman. It is the largest model in the Star Forge system created by Sentinel Advanced Military Solutions. The defence industry company is owned by CMP Advanced Mechanical Solutions and is located in Châteauguay, Que., on Montreal’s South Shore. The company says it has been shaped in part by war in Ukraine, where drone technology is evolving rapidly on the front lines. “The face of war is changing,” said Sentinel Advanced Military Solutions CEO John Soares. “The technology is changing, and in order to be able to be in a position to defend your country and its NATO partners, you need organizations who have the experience of developing technology quickly so that you can keep up with the pace of change.” The company says it is in talks with the Canadian defence department, but it has yet to secure a contract. So far, a model is being sent out for testing, primarily to groups in the United States. “What we’re doing right now is working with as many different militaries as we possibly can to generate knowledge and understanding of how they would like to use the system and the improvements that we need to make to the technology along the way,” said Zimmerman. The company hopes to use that experience to adapt its offering, so military forces are well equipped wherever they are in the world.
