Canadian Armed Forces holds major drone testing event with manufacturers

OTTAWA — The Canadian Armed Forces is holding an event today with Canadian drone manufacturers to test their platforms in real-world scenarios.

The event, called the RED COBALT Uncrewed Systems Accelerator, is being held at a NATO test centre in the Ottawa Valley set up for testing cutting-edge technologies.

The federal government is looking to quickly adopt more drones as the technology develops rapidly and becomes more important in modern warfare.

Lt.-Gen. Darcy Molstad, commander of the Canadian Joint Forces Command, says this is an example of how the military must do business with industry to innovate swiftly.

He says this kind of event puts military drone operators and industry experts developing the platforms in direct contact to discuss how they're being developed.

Molstad is co-ordinating the Canadian Armed Forces' efforts to identify the types and mix of new uncrewed platforms the military will need, like the kinds of lower-cost drones that have been deployed in the Ukraine war.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 12, 2026.

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press