Airbus has partnered with Medicine Hat-based Landing Zones Canada to advance simulation and training for the Canadian Armed Forces. The partnership will bring advanced drone simulation training to the Canadian market.
The news was announced at the UK’s Farnborough International Airshow, where Airbus Defence and Space Services revealed its strategic partnership with Landing Zones Canada. This partnership includes an undisclosed investment from Airbus into Landing Zones Canada, and a slot on its board of directors.
According to the filing, the partnership will see the two companies work together to advance simulation and training capabilities to prepare the Canadian Armed Forces and allies for complex, drone-heavy battlefields.
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Spence Fraser, founder and CEO of Landing Zones, said in a press release: “This strategic investment accelerates our world-leading threat emulation technologies focused on modern drone threats proliferating on today’s battlefields.” He added that they will provide highly realistic, large-scale simulation solutions for Canada and its allies.
This investment is not the first time Airbus has partnered with Landing Zones Canada. In 2023, the two companies signed a cooperation agreement to design, develop and deploy remotely piloted aerial systems for live training.
Today’s announcement broadens that longstanding partnership and serves to help Airbus meet its industrial spending requirements for its contract with the Canadian government to deliver military transport ships. Under its agreement, Landing Zones Canada will also become a dedicated representative of Airbus Defence and Space Services within Canada.
The partnership between Airbus and Landing Zones Canada is a significant development in the Canadian defence industry. It highlights the growing importance of defence in Alberta’s innovation economy, with recent investments in defence-adjacent startups and defence manufacturing in the region.
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Landing Zones Canada will now play a key role in providing simulation and training solutions to the Canadian Armed Forces, and its partnership with Airbus will help to drive growth and innovation in the Canadian defence industry.
The company’s expertise in threat emulation technologies will be invaluable in helping to prepare the Canadian Armed Forces for the complex challenges they face.
Airbus’s partnership with LZC adds to the mounting evidence that defence is increasingly becoming a pillar of Alberta’s innovation economy. The announcement follows the launch of the Banff Capital Summit, which specifically identified space and defence as “right to win” industries and key areas of focus for Alberta’s startup and tech sectors. It also comes amid recent investment in defence-adjacent startups and in defence manufacturing in Alberta. BetaKit’s Prairies reporting is funded in part by YEGAF, a not-for-profit dedicated to amplifying business stories in Alberta. Feature image courtesy of Medicine Hat Talent Ambassador Program on LinkedIn.
