Reliable short-term capability will deliver long-term defence strength

Imagine two countries facing the same threat. Both know the technology will evolve quickly and the first solution will be incomplete. One spends years refining requirements and  waiting for certainty. The other gets a workable first version into testing, learns with users,  fixes what matters and moves again. A few years later, the second country usually has the  stronger position. It has a better tool, stronger suppliers, sharper operators, better data and  a clearer sense of what should come next. In defence, capability often grows through  movement. That lesson matters for Canada.  

Canada’s starting point makes time especially important. National Defence’s 2026  evaluation of capability acquisition modernization found that a risk-averse culture and a  slow procurement system contributed to limited innovation, delays and increased costs.  Innovation, Science and Economic Development reports that Canada’s defence sector  contributed more than $9.6 billion in GDP and 81,200 jobs in 2022. That base is  economically significant, but it is not deep enough to absorb years of drift without  consequence. Delay weakens industrial confidence, slows supplier learning and narrows  the pool of firms willing to stay engaged. 

This is why speed has strategic value. It shortens the time between a military need  appearing and the system learning what can actually be delivered, integrated, maintained  and upgraded. The operational gain is immediate: users learn what works in real  conditions. The industrial effect follows quickly: firms understand whether demand is  credible enough to justify investment. The institutional payoff follows from both:  government can identify where rules, approvals and security processes are barriers. Each  cycle leaves behind capability, knowledge and confidence. Over time, those gains  compound. 

Other countries have organized their systems around that logic. The United Kingdom’s  Integrated Procurement Model emphasizes pace of delivery and spiral development, with  reform intended to keep programs from becoming overly complex, over budget and over  time. The United States uses the Defense Innovation Unit to pull forward learning, with the  ability to award prototype agreements in 60 to 90 days through its Commercial Solutions  Opening process. That speed does not eliminate failure, but brings failure, learning and  adaptation to bear on the final outcome. Front-end risk is often easier to manage than  years of refinement built on untested assumptions.

The countries that combine strong R&D intensity with strong defence industrial  performance reinforce the same lesson. The World Intellectual Property Organization  reports that Israel’s R&D spending reached 6.33% of GDP in 2024, embedding speed at the  front end of the system. Eurostat reports that Sweden led the EU at 3.57% of GDP in 2024 and Stockholm has moved to increase the pace and capacity of defence innovation.  Research intensity creates greater value when it is connected to systems that can move  from need to validated use fast enough to matter. 

Canada has the beginnings of that kind of system. The Bureau of Research, Engineering  and Advanced Leadership in Innovation and Science can provide the mission-setting  discipline that turns broad ambition into a short list of operational problems with near-term  timelines. Defence Innovation Secure Hubs provide the secure environments where  promising solutions meet users, sensitive information, integration requirements and hard  validation. Around them, a wider network can make speed practical: firms, primes, government research agencies, regional test sites and academic institutions, including  polytechnics, that prepare technologies before they enter secure environments and help  carry them forward afterward. The task now is to make this architecture function as a  sequence rather than as a collection of separate entities. 

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North  Atlantic (DIANA) sites shows how this kind of environment creates momentum. DIANA  connects innovators through more than 200 test centres across the Alliance, with 16 in  Canada in the 2026 program. That matters because modern defence systems improve  when many points of entry exist for trial, feedback and refinement. Canada’s participation  has already drawn in institutions such as Saskatchewan Polytechnic and the Southern  Alberta Institute of Technology, which help innovators test and validate emerging  technologies.  

Skills sit at the centre of this story. A faster system needs people who can integrate,  operate, maintain, secure and scale. Canada already has an underused talent pool in  Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members transitioning to the civilian labour market. A 2026  evaluation of the Military Transition Program says more than 10,000 CAF members leave  each year. Many bring operational knowledge, experience working inside defence  structures and familiarity with secure environments. Fanshawe’s Military-Connected  Campus offers one practical Canadian example of how civilian education can support CAF  members, veterans and their families before, during and after their studies. The UK is  investing along the same line through Defence Technical Excellence Colleges, with the  government expecting that successful institutions will serve as hubs of excellence for 

defence skills. Workforce development works best when technical training, applied testing  and employer demand are connected early. 

Security clearance belongs in the same operational picture. Countries that move quickly  make secure participation more routine. The UK uses a formal facility security framework, while Australia’s Defence Industry Security Program gives firms a structured path to  become defence-ready and allows eligible members to sponsor and manage their own  clearances. Secure environments move faster when firms, facilities and people are  prepared in advance. 

A serious Canadian approach would read like a chain. Define a small number of urgent  missions. Invite solutions quickly. Prepare firms and people to engage. Validate securely.  Buy early enough to create industrial confidence. Upgrade on the basis of evidence.  Measured this way, speed becomes part of a working environment that leaves something  durable behind: stronger suppliers, stronger skills, stronger institutions and a stronger  defence posture overall. 

References

1. Department of National Defence. Evaluation of Capability Acquisition Modernization.  Government of Canada, 2025/2026. https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/reports publications/audit-evaluation/eval-capability-acquisition-modernization.html

2. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. State of Canada’s Defence  Industry 2024. Government of Canada, 2024. https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/ised/en/industry-sector-intelligence/manufacturing industries/aerospace-and-defence/state-canadas-defence-industry-2024

3. UK Ministry of Defence. Integrated Procurement Model: Driving Pace in the Delivery of  Military Capability. GOV.UK, 2025. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/integrated-procurement-model-driving pace-in-the-delivery-of-military-capability/integrated-procurement-model-driving pace-in-the-delivery-of-military-capability 

4. Defense Innovation Unit. Work With Us: Open Solicitations. U.S. Department of Defense,  accessed 2026. https://www.diu.mil/work-with-us

5. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Global Innovation Index – End of Year  Edition 2025. https://www.wipo.int/en/web/global-innovation-index/w/blogs/2025/end-of-year-edition 

6. Eurostat. R&D Expenditure Statistics. European Commission, accessed 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=R%26D_expenditure
7. Government Offices of Sweden. Defence Innovation. Government.se, accessed 22 April  2026. https://www.government.se/government-policy/defence-innovation/

8. Department of National Defence. Canada Advances Defence Innovation Through NATO  DIANA. Government of Canada, 2026. https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/maple-leaf/defence/2026/03/canada-advances-defence-innovation-through-nato-diana.html  

9. Department of National Defence. Evaluation of the Military Transition Program.  Government of Canada, 2025/2026. https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/reports publications/audit-evaluation/eval-military-transition-program.html

10. Fanshawe College. Military-Connected College. Fanshawe College, accessed 2026. https://www.fanshawec.ca/admission-finance/military-connected-college
11. UK Ministry of Defence / UK Government. Defence Technical Excellence Colleges  Announcement. GOV.UK, 2025. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/next-generation-empowered-through-technical excellence-colleges
12. UK Government. Industry Security Assurance Centre (Facility Security Clearance  Framework). GOV.UK, accessed 2026. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/security-policy-framework/hmg-security policy-framework 

13. Australian Government, Department of Defence. Defence Industry Security Program  (DISP). Defence Australia, accessed 2026. https://www.defence.gov.au/business-industry/industry-governance/industry regulators/defence-industry-security-program