Canada X Indo-Pacific 4th Ed. - Australia Clamps Down on Espionage, Major Export Opportunity for Canadian Drones Materializes, MOU with Korea & A SATCOM Project Cancellation Anniversary
10 November - 24 November 2025
Canada – G7, Halifax International Security Forum, and a Major International Sale (Undisclosed)
What Happened:
G7 Ministers met in Niagara Falls on Nov 12th releasing a statement focused on regional security and prosperity across the Indo-Pacific focusing specifically on attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea and South China Sea.
Canada also hosted the Halifax International Security Forum (21-23 Nov), which is truly a world- class event. See here for an interview with Peter MacKay who was instrumental in launching the Forum.
India, Australia and, Canada signed a trilateral agreement called the “Australia – Canada – India Technology and Innovation Partnership,” reported by Noah at True North Strategic Review. While it doesn’t specifically mention defence it does talk about resilient supply chains and critical minerals. Officials agree to convene in first quarter of 2026 for further talks.
The HMCS Ville de Quebec returned from a long deployment Operation Horizon on 10 November. Their deployment included Exercise Talisman Sabre where HMCS Ville De Quebec rearmed while forward deployed.
Kraken Robotics (PNG) appointed BlueZone Group as its authorized reseller for SAS/KATFISH in Australia and New Zealand indicating that they’re actively pursuing some promising opportunities down under. DraganFly (DPRO), HQ’d in Saskatoon announced a ‘strategically significant order’ for its Commander 3XL systems via an undisclosed prime contractor to an undisclosed APAC nation. “The configuration selected includes an AES 256 secure communication link, a rugged ground control station and flexible payload architecture supporting intelligence, real-time surveillance, and logistical applications.”
What to watch:
Will the trilateral agreement between Canada, Australia and India have a defence component?
Will Kraken/BlueZone and any similar Canadian Australian pairings result in RAN/RCN trials or AUKUS adjacent projects?
As more countries look for reliable partners and capabilities for drone/UAS hardware that don’t have risky supply chains (DJI). Will Draganfly and others continue to take market share? And where was the sale? I’d bet Taiwan or Australia in that order.
What to do:
If you’re in undersea, ISR, comms, map where your solutions can be positioned particularly as a subsystem or payload provider.
If you’re a firm with capabilities for payloads for UAS you should be a fast follower into the region.
Australia – Espionage, AUKUS, JP9102
Australia is reminding the ADF of the risks of espionage and malign actors following the release of a report that estimated that espionage cost Australia 12.5B in 2024-24.
Against this backdrop, the Australians are working hard to keep up momentum on AUKUS with PM Albanese speaking at length at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia referencing the presence of the USS Vermont. On the other side of the world, the Australians participated in a recent update to the IAEA on Australia’s naval nuclear propulsion program. Still no public progress on the status of Pillar 2 however.
What to Watch:
We’re coming up on the one year anniversary since Australia cancelled it’s JP9102. Canada’s ESCP-P has some similarities to the Australia JP9102 in that it was envisioned as a consolidated highly exquisite solution, that is unfortunately vulnerable to evolving space threats. We haven’t heard much on ESCP-P lately, but DND was targeting Definition in 2025. Will Canada make a similar call and can the acquisition and pursue a distributed solution?
Whether Australia’s renewed focus on espionage translates into tighter security vetting, data-handling and facilities requirements for foreign primes and SMEs, and if foreign contractors start encountering more red tape
What to Do:
If you’re a potential supplier for ESCP-P in Canada I’d start getting ready to pivot and start packaging your offer explicitly around resilience: disaggregated constellations, rapid reconstitution, cyber-hardening, and more graceful degradation rather than destruction under jamming ASAT scenarios.
If you’re engaged in the Australian market, shore up your security practices and policies!
Japan – Multi and Bi-lateral Exercises
Canada completed a multilateral exercise (Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand) and bilateral exercise “Kaedex 25” to realize a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” in the East China Sea.
What to Watch:
Japan is maintaining an impressive cadence of excercises with allies, see the deepening defence cooperation section here . Will Canada lean in to the opportunity?
What To Do:
If you’re a company, contemplate how your existing solutions can contribute to a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” whether that’s domain awareness, unmanned systems, logistics and resupply etc.
Republic of Korea – MOU and Another Trip to Korea for Canadian Ministers?
What Happened:
In industry news, Canada’s Canadian Commercial Corporation (Canada’s G2G sales entity) and the Republic of Korea’s DAPA signed an LOI to pursue collaboration on space and maritime platforms. There are also reports that there will be another Ministerial trip to the Indo-Pacific.
What to Watch:
What’s the next step in the CCC LOI? Will it result in direct sales to RoK, or offer some kind of supply chain access? If not the latter, how do we think about getting in to RoK supply chains for defence?
Are there going to be any additional commitments, MOUs or LOIs between Canada and the RoK that come out of the Ministerial visit?
What To Do:
While probably designed to address the needs of a large prime (If I had to guess I’d pick MDA based on the flavour of the MOU) if you’re a Canadian firm in LEO/Space or Maritime Domain Awareness you should be talking to CCC to see if you can piggyback or otherwise use their recent MOU/LOI
New Zealand – FVEYS Navy Talks
What Happened:
New Zealand hosted the navies of the FVEYS under the FVEYS Navy Talks Charter singed in 2017. Not many specifics, but topics included science and tech, maritime warfare and future fleet concepts.
What to Watch:
Will the FVEYS Navy talks result in any concrete deliverables like common future concepts in key areas like (uncrewed systemsm undersea warfare, logistics) shared S&T roadmaps, new excercises?
Any public hints that these talks may be shaping or feeding in to AUKUS Pillar 2 discussions, and convergence in requirements like sensors, comms, UxV architectures)
What to Do:
If you’re in government or uniform looking to foster industrial cooperation, use terms like interoperability, shared standards, and experimentation and focus on concepts that can be tested or scaled across all five navies.
If you’re industry, map your offerings to FVEYS-relevant themes—maritime ISR, uncrewed systems, secure comms, data fusion—and be ready to brief them as enablers for “future fleet concepts” that could be trialled in multinational exercises or testbeds.
Singapore - New High Commissioner
Paul Thoppil presented credentials as Canada’s new High Commissioner on Nov 17.
Taiwan - Export controls tightening
Taipei launched a 60-day public review to add items like quantum computers and advanced semiconductor equipment to dual-use export control. Important for Canadian firms touching chips quantum hardware or tooling. Check out the 18 items.
India - Tragedy in Dubai
A Tejas crashed during a display on Nov 21, killing the pilot; HAL calls it an “isolated occurrence,” with an inquiry under way. Near-term optics could affect air-show marketing and export messaging, but the structural Tejas program and related supply chains (e.g., engines, avionics) are unlikely to shift absent safety findings.
Our condolences to all affected and the family of the pilot.
Indonesia
Australia–Indonesia security treaty (substantively concluded): Announced Nov 12, to be formally signed in Jan 2026. Commits regular consultations and consideration of joint measures if either’s security is threatened.
Policy Opacity: As Fauzan Malufti, a leading Indonesia Defence Analyst notes, Indonesia still lacks an updated, public defence white paper leaving acquisitions and initiatives hard to map against a published strategy. See his analysis here. Expect ambitious spending and headline deals, but with planning uncertainties for industry
Philippines
ADMM/ADMM-Plus chairship: Manila formally took over the 2026 chair earlier this month positioning it to steer regional defence cooperation agendas (maritime security, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief), counter-terrorism and capacity building). Useful backdrop for Canadian engagement in the region.
Pushback on Canada–Philippines SOFVA troops pact: Beijing criticized the new Status of Visiting Forces Agreement that lets Canadian and Philippine forces train on each other’s soil framing it as “flexing muscles.” Expect continued PRC messaging pressure around joint activities. SOVFA was signed Nov 2.
Thailand
Defence & Security 2025 (Nov 10–13, Bangkok) wrapped up. Outside the Canada Pavillion exhibitors included: JSI Telecom:AI-enabled digital intelligence/lawful access platform (4Sight) and Pratt & Whitney / P&WC and Newcon Optik.
Upcoming Events:
Creating Pan-Domain Continental Defence, 27 November 2025, Ottawa, Canada, https://www.cgai.ca/2025_continental_defence
Force Development Series – Sustaining Canada’s Future Submarine Fleet, 3 December 2025, Ottawa, Canada, https://cdainstitute.ca/force-development-series-sustaining-canadas-future-submarine-fleet/
RSIS Webinar – Navigating Great-Power Competition: Malaysia’s Role in Semiconductor, Rare-Earth and Data-Centre Value Chains, 3 December 2025, Online (Singapore), https://rsis.edu.sg/event/rsis-webinar-on-navigating-great-power-competition-malaysias-role-in-semiconductor-rare-earth-and-data-centre-value-chains-on-3-december-2025/
Forging the Future – Strengthening the Canada–Republic of Korea Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Through Defence Co-operation, 8 December 2025, Vancouver, Canada, https://www.asiapacific.ca/events/december-8-forging-future-strengthening-canada-republic
Space Summit 2026, 2 to 3 February 2026, Singapore, https://www.sginnovate.com/event/space-summit-2026
Singapore Airshow 2026, 3 to 6 February 2026, Singapore, https://www.singaporeairshow.com
Subsea Security & Defence 2026, 10 to 13 February 2026, Singapore, https://www.defenceiq.com/events-subsea-security-defence
What did we miss? What countries or developments should we be tracking? Reply to this email or reach out directly.