One of Canada’s buzziest defence startups has found a new partner in Ukraine.
What happened: Dominion Dynamics signed a memorandum of understanding with Tencore to assemble the Ukrainian defence firm’s TerMIT armoured vehicles in Canada. Exact logistics are still up in the air, but both sides hope production can begin next year.
The TerMIT is a “ground drone” and has become an integral part of Ukraine’s military operations over the past year or so. TerMITs were involved in the first documented unmanned drone attack that resulted in the capture of enemy soldiers.
Dominion would start by building five prototypes, but aims to crank out between 500 and 1,000 units over the next two years. Tencore has already produced more than 5,000 uncrewed vehicles.
Why it matters: Dominion has great expectations, especially after securing the largest-ever Series A raise for a Canadian defence startup earlier this year. However, it has yet to secure any procurements from the Canadian federal government. The Tencore deal is an encouraging sign that it will be able to successfully field clients outside of the feds.
Zoom out: Speaking of the feds, Ottawa is committing harder than ever to Ukraine’s war efforts as U.S. support wavers, recently signing a 100-year strategic and political partnership as well as another agreement pledging a third of all Canadian-made drones to the country.—QH
