Airbus and Landing Zones sign strategic partnership for advanced UAS in Canada
Press Release + Noah Note
FARNBOROUGH, United Kingdom, July 22, 2026 /CNW/ -- Airbus Defence and Space and Landing Zones have signed a strategic partnership agreement for advanced uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) in Canada at the Farnborough International Airshow. The agreement includes an investment from Airbus and a representation on Landing Zones' board of Directors to expand competitive simulation capabilities and training services in the Canadian market.
"Landing Zones is thrilled to welcome Airbus as a strategic partner alongside the Business Development Bank of Canada's investment through the StrongNorth Fund," said Spence Fraser, Founder and CEO of Landing Zones. "This strategic investment accelerates our world-leading threat emulation technologies focused on modern drone threats proliferating on today's battlefields. By combining Airbus's global expertise with our agile Canadian capabilities, we will provide highly realistic and relevant, large-scale simulation solutions for Canada and its allies -- enabling rapid development of complex and representative battlefield scenarios while strengthening sovereign Canadian capabilities."
"Airbus is proud to partner with Landing Zones, making our investment in this pioneering Canadian UAS company the latest addition to Airbus' extensive footprint in the country," said Jean-Brice Dumont, Head of Air Power at Airbus Defence and Space. "This collaboration brings new strategic live training simulation capabilities with advanced glide targets and expands our training services across North America. Together we will deliver essential, advanced real-world system verification capabilities against emerging threats, directly supporting Canada and its Allies in preparing for the complex, drone-heavy battlefields of today and tomorrow."
This collaboration will facilitate rapid solution development by combining European expertise with Canadian local presence, thereby facilitating the simulation of complex, large-scale battlefield scenarios across Canada. Landing Zones will also serve as a dedicated representative for Airbus Defence and Space Services in Canada.
The investment supports Airbus' commitments under Canada's Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) Policy as part of the Strategic Tanker Transport Capability (STTC) acquisition programme. The STTC acquisition programme includes four new Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft and the conversion of five used A330-200s.
With more than 5,300 employees, Airbus has robust industrial activities in Canada across the commercial aircraft, helicopters, defence and space sectors, built over 40 years. For more information about Airbus' activities in Canada, visit our website.
Noah Note: An Investment AND a seat on the board. How interesting… Landing Zones Canada is an interesting company. They have an extensive history of doing Threat Emulation & Simulation, as well as Meteorology stuff through their GITPO RPAS, utilizing them as reusable alternative in place of weather balloons, with a particular focus in cutting down on E-Waste. They love E-Waste there.
It's still carried into the atmosphere by a balloon to gather weather data, but rather than crashing to the ground, it detaches and flies itself autonomously back to its base station.
They also have their Eagle Advanced Payload Delivery System, their own version of a balloon-launched Glide Vehicle that builds off this concept. Eagle is a high-altitude system carried into the stratosphere by a balloon before being released to glide autonomously toward its target.
This unique launch profile eliminates the thermal and radar signatures normally generated during a powered takeoff, which is theory makes it exceptionally difficult for adversary air defense networks to detect. Once deployed, the Eagle utilizes a variable-geometry wing profile that allows it to seamlessly transition from supersonic speeds to low-speed loitering.
Eagle can be equipped with a number of payloads including ISR, Long-Range Precision Strike, and Electronic Warfare. It is an interesting concept, to say the least. They aint the only ones doing it, but as far as I know they're the only Canadians doing so. The focus of this partnership though is on training and simulation, something I think the company can do quite well utilizing Balloon-launched systems to accomplish replicating dofferent threat profiles.
It'll be interesting to see, at least, how extensive this goes. You dont put someone on the board for a token partnership. I imagine there is more interest there, but we'll see.