1. 1www.canadiandefencereview.com | April 2008
Ffion Llewd-Jones is an Assistant Editor with CDR Magazine
W
ith a presence in Canada for over thirty years,
General Dynamics Land Systems Canada (GDLS
Canada) has grown to be the third largest
employer in its hometown of London, Ontario.
With over 1800 people and with additional
employees in Edmonton, Alberta, GDLS Canada is the coun-
try’s largest builder of military vehicles. Through its parent
company, General Dynamics Land Systems of Sterling Heights,
Michigan, GDLS Canada is part of the General Dynamics
Corporation headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia. General
Dynamics Corporation employs over 80,000 people world-
wide, and reported full year revenue for 2007 of $27.2 billion.
GDLS Canada has earned a global reputation for producing
leading-edge, highly-complex, technology-based, integrated
solutions for land, applications. It integrates individual prod-
ucts and subsystems into total solutions to meet customers’
requirements.
Indeed, as Dr. Sridhar Sridharan, Senior Vice President
GDLS Canada recently told CDR, “We strive to understand
our customers’ requirements and tailor the vehicle for that
customer.”
Known as one of the world’s major defence contractors,
General Dynamics has four major groups: Aerospace; Combat
Systems; Information Systems & Technology; and Marine
Systems.
GDLS Canada, which is part of the Combat Systems
Group, is based in London, Ontario and is headquarters for
the International Wheeled Vehicle Business. They produce the
LAV family of vehicles, and also perform sub system integra-
tion, re-roles, upgrades, and repair work. General Dynamics
Land Systems Australia which builds subsystems such as
turrets reports directly to GDLS Canada.
Other Canadian operating units of General Dynamics
are Quebec-based General Dynamics OTS Canada, which
manufactures ammunition and are also part of the Combat
Systems Group and General Dynamics Canada, headquar-
tered in Ottawa, who are part of the Information Systems &
Technology Group.
GDLS Canada a World Leader in
Military Vehicle Technology
GDLS Canada a World Leader in
Canada’s #1 Defence Company
A world leader in the field of military vehicles,
with a growing international order book and a
record of economic contributions to Canada’s
economy, General Dynamics Land Systems
Canada, is a key supplier to the Canadian
Forces. We sent CDR reporter, Ffion Llewd-
Jones to the company plant in London, Ontario
to learn more about the company that has
earned CDR’s #1 ranking for 2008
Publications Mail Agreement Number 40792504
Volume 14/Issue 2 Price $7.95
CDR THE ONLINE EDITION DEFENCE NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: WWW.CANADIANDEFENCEREVIEW.COM
Canadian Defence Review
CANADA’S #1
DEFENCE COMPANY
GDLS CANADA BUILDS
STRYKER COMBAT
VEHICLE FOR US ARMY
DR. N.S. SRIDHARAN
HEADS UP MILITARY VEHICLE
BUILDER, GDLS CANADA
CF PROVIDES SECURITY
FOR 2010 OLYMPICS
MILITARY FAMILIES FUND
INDUSTRY PROFILES:
PRESAGIS, L-3MAS, NGRAIN
CANADA’S
DEFENCE COMPANIES
2. www.canadiandefencereview.com | April 2008
The land combat
vehicle supplier of
choice
For 30 years, GDLS Canada has been the
land combat vehicle supplier of choice
for the Canadian Forces and major allies,
including the U.S. Army and Marines,
the armies of Australia and New Zealand
and the Saudi Arabian National Guard.
Current production models at GDLS
Canada include the LAV ll, the LAV lll,
Stryker, and RG-31 Mk5E. While carrying
the same name, the LAV lll is bigger than
its predecessor. Globally, there are more
than 7,000 LAVs in service, with the
majority in the USA (3,731) and Canada
(1,544).
The Stryker, named after two U.S.
Army privates from World War II and
the Vietnam War, is built on a LAV lll
platform for the US Army, but has some
unique features. The RG-31 Mk5E, mine
protected vehicle is not manufactured
at the London plant but is marketed
exclusively by GDLS Canada in North
America through a licensing agreement
with BAE Systems’ South African opera-
tion which developed the vehicle.
Current programs for Canada include
the LAV lll Infantry Section Carrier, with
a contract for 33 vehicles. The chassis was
previously supplied under the LAV lll
APC contract, with Rheinmetall Canada
supplying the Remote Weapon Station.
Delivery is expected in 2008/2009.
Also in current production is a 30-
vehicle contract for the Bison Mobile
Repair Team – basically re-roling existing
Bison ISCs into Mobile Repair team vehi-
cles. The work is shared: GDLS Canada
will do the hull modifications, with DEW
Engineering doing the assembly in their
Miramichi, New Brunswick operations.
Delivery schedule is 2008/2009.
After sales support to the Wheeled
LAV fleet is also a part of current GDLS
Canada activities. Support includes
spares, obsolescence management, engi-
neering and technical services, repair
and overhaul, and major vehicle repair.
The LAV Major Vehicle Repair program
expects to repair more than 70 war-
damaged LAV llls, Coyotes, and Bisons
over the next 24 months; there are
currently 14 LAV llls under repair at the
London plant.
Current US programs include the
Army Stryker (2773 for 7 brigades), US
Marines LAV-A2 (157 vehicles), and US
Army/USMC Mine Resistant Ambush
Protected (MRAP) with a contract for 624
RG-31 Mk5 vehicles.
Another vehicle which is being
marketed by GDLS Canada is the DURO
Armoured Patrol Vehicle. Already
in production at a General Dynamics
European company for the Danish
Army, the DURO APV is ideally suited
as a platform for tactical mission roles
such as reconnaissance, surveillance,
command or military police tasks and
tactical entry.
Senior Vice President, Dr. N.S. Sridharan,
3. www.canadiandefencereview.com | April 2008
Engineering to
maximize survivability
Much of the company’s success is
based on strong engineering capabili-
ties. Important skills include system
integration, modeling and simulation,
and testing and validation. According
to Dave Crocker, Manager Systems
Engineering, “The key to designing the
vehicles is to get the right balance of
survivability, mobility and firepower.
Then when you add on weight and
volume constraints, elements such as
systems designs, stowage and soldier-
machine interface become a challenge.
This is the importance of system inte-
gration.”
With the ongoing threats posed by
RPGs, mines and IEDs in Afghanistan
and Iraq, it is understandable that the
company is very active on soldier surviv-
ability. Protection upgrade kits have been
developed and continue to be developed
for all of their customers. In fact, due to
the survivability modeling and testing
skills developed at GDLS Canada, they
are recognized as a centre of excellence
for this type of work by other General
Dynamics business units.
New LAV H
incorporates lessons
learned from
Afghanistan and Iraq
GDLS Canada vehicles have been
deployed globally, with the majority
in current operational deployment in
Afghanistan and Iraq. Dr. Sridharan
emphasizes that the goal for their vehi-
cles is always the safety, survival and
protection of the soldier. With the threat
posed by the enemy constantly evolving,
he explains that he sees the company’s
role as “anticipating the next require-
ment and then putting options in front of
the customer – to show them what is the
art-of-the-possible.”
Based on lessons learned in
Afghanistan and Iraq, the company
has invested a considerable amount of
dollars in developing the new LAV H
technology demonstrator. With a gross
vehicle weight of 55,000 lbs and a
payload increase of 10,000 lbs, the LAV H
offers enhanced mine and IED protection
Lav III
Duro APV
The GDLS-C plant in London, Ontario boasts state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques
4. www.canadiandefencereview.com | April 2008
with no compromise in the LAV’s proven
mobility or high reliability.
Additionally, the LAV H also offers
upgraded vetronics and situational
awareness, increased mechanical and
electrical power and the ability to apply
the majority of these upgrades to existing
LAV fleets.
Highly Skilled
Workforce
To manufacture LAVs require a very
highly skilled workforce of welders,
machinists, painters, assemblers, inspec-
tors and testers. They are complemented
by state-of-the-art manufacturing tech-
nology which includes laser cutters to
cut the ballistic steel, robotic weld cells
for the structural ballistic welding, a
new flexible machining centre and paint
booths capable of applying Chemical
Agent Resistant Coating (CARC) paint.
The production workforce at GDLS
Canada is proud of what they do. As
Dr. Sridharan stated, “They realize that
the vehicles they build are an impor-
tant part of protecting and ensuring
the safety of Canadian soldiers and
allies as they conduct their missions in
a very dangerous and uncertain world.
They know that it is incumbent on them
to produce the best product they can
because soldiers entrust their lives to the
quality these vehicles.”
Supporting the
Customer
“We don’t see ourselves as producers of
a product but rather as a partner with
our customers to help them execute their
mission,” Sridharan says. With over
7000 LAVs in service, GDLS Canada
is working with their customer base
to provide an integrated, cost-effective
approach to through life support for
their fleet of vehicles. There has been
considerable growth in the support
services area of spare parts, repair and
overhaul, obsolescence management,
engineering and technical services and
major vehicle repairs. In addition an
Edmonton facility, opened in November
2006, does repair, retrofit and modifica-
tion activities in support of the Canadian
LAV fleet and employs approximately
80 workers.
Another program which may be of
interest to the company is the opportu-
nity to provide upgrade and through
life support services for the recently
contracted fleet of Leopard II main battle
tanks for the Canadian Forces. Since
GDLS Canada is part of a division that
has extensive experience in the produc-
tion and support of main battle tanks,
this may be a logical program to pursue.
Benefits to Canadian
economy
In addition to the major design, produc-
tion and support activities performed
at GDLS Canada, over 400 Canadian
suppliers in 9 out of 10 provinces (the
missing one is PEI) provide a wide variety
of mechanical and electrical components
for their domestic and export contracts.
Says Dr. Sridharan, “We work with good
suppliers, but we constantly challenge
them to be competitive and to provide
the best value and the best quality.”
And, Dr Sridharan is proud of the
company’s significant growth combined
with steady business relationships,
“Customers who bought 25 years
ago come back to buy now.” says Dr.
Sridharan, adding, ”A repeat order from
a valued customer is the ultimate vote
of confidence.” However, he concluded,
“While recognizing that Canada and our
other franchise markets are critical to our
business, we must continue to grow our
business in the export market. We have
been on a growth path for the last three
years, and we intend to stay on a growth
path for the foreseeable future.”
Helping customers execute their mission
The LAV H has enhanced mine and IED protection
