The Canadian Signal Network & The Canadian All-Domain Defence Concept
Opinion
Welp. Here we are again.
I wasn't planning on following up my graphic from the weekend this soon. My intent was for it to mostly be a one-and-done for now, something to throw out for fun during a slow period where there wasn't really much else to post.
I certainly didn't expect it to have such a... reaction from folks. It is by far among the most popular posts I have done. Backed by a fairly simple graphic, one I felt was incomplete in several ways, our little post on the idea of a Canadian Strike Concept certainly captured the minds of many.
And I get why, and it is partially on me for not doing more sooner despite knowing better. There is a serious glut of graphical and visual content for folks, something that they can carry, share, and information they can look at quickly and easily to refresh themselves on a topic.
Graphics aren't asked about often here, but I get it. As a fellow reader and researcher to many of you, I know how valuable this stuff is, and how limited it is in our space. It's why, for example, we have the infographics for both CDC and FASST-V. There is a serious lack of good, accessible resources for this kind of stuff, especially when conversations on a lot of topics just don't exist at all outside places like here.
Aaand I already threw out a couple of other concepts last time, including the main focus of today: the Canadian Signal Network. I thought it deserved its own graphic, especially because compared to others, it is fairly simple and easy to understand.
The Canadian Signal Network covers the future terrestrial and space-based communications infrastructure currently planned to come online over the next decade. It forms one of the five points of the Canadian All-Domain Defence Concept, something we will get into later. It forms the Carry component, to be exact.
It is the sovereign communication backbone that interconnects platforms, sensors, effectors, and decision-makers together, backed by a multi-layered network that exists as resilient layers covering each other's limits and potential failures.
Satellites remain the primary carrier and the most significant in the plans, with the CAF aiming to bring online a multi-constellation network providing global coverage, including in polar regions, before 2035. That covers both tactical and jam-resistant, nuclear-survivable strategic communications.
Fixed high-frequency is the continental backup, providing coverage when satellites are jammed, degraded, or reliably unavailable. We already have an existing HF network, but it is ancient in comparison, based on analog technologies that are increasingly difficult to maintain. VLF, by comparison, remains the standard for subsea communications, even in spite of modern attempts to replace it. It is what will be utilized to provide persistent communications to the future Canadian Patrol Submarine.
Somewhere, someone is screaming about the PACE framework (Primary, Alternate, Contingency, Emergency for those who don't know), and at least a few are screaming at the continued existence of VLF. You know, I never really understood how controversial VLF is with some until I started asking. Hidden, very deep opinions on stuff like this always come from the strangest places, I swear.
Another thing when looking at this list is to count the number of actual sovereign solutions on it now versus planned. Almost all of our existing communications infrastructure rides on American infrastructure and networks. By the time 2033 rolls around, the CAF aims to turn this foreign network into a backdrop, not the primary mode of communications we currently rely on.
All that is within a decade period, at least if everyone gets their way. Of course, there is a chance not all of these end up being new constellations in themselves; in fact, I would be surprised if all of them were. WSC-Narrowband, for example, is already investigating utilizing existing infrastructure, such as a certain soon-to-launch constellation, that might serve to fulfill the existing requirement.
The point, anyways, is that the CSN is not just about having that multi-layered network available; we have an existing capacity through commercial and allied infrastructure. It is about how we do it in a way where Canadian interests are prioritized, where we can craft constellations and networks that fit our unique needs and requirements because relying on others to provide them just doesn't cut it anymore.
Space is an increasingly hostile environment. It is no longer guaranteed that allied infrastructure will be available to support us, and we certainly would not be the priority. We talk about that with domestic launch, but it applies to satellites themselves, to things like VLF. These are increasingly targeted, increasingly threatened assets that we not only need access to, but the ability to expand upon, to support, and to build capacity domestically for when the time comes that these networks are targeted by adversaries.
That capacity comes from building the networks, the workforce, and the knowledge base to build, launch, and operate our own global network. It is a challenge, but not impossible. That's the point.
Anyways, for those wondering about the major projects here, here is the quick rundown:
WSC-WB - Worldwide Satellite Communications Wideband: Provides the CAF with continued guaranteed access to high data rate wideband satellite communications worldwide. It is the big-pipe service carrying ISR feeds and tactical C4ISR traffic, and it will be supported by a new, sovereign constellation of four satellites plus an on-orbit spare with ground stations.
WSC-NB - Worldwide Satellite Communications Narrowband: MUOS replacement, providing narrowband voice and data for handhelds and manpacks from 70 degrees North to 70 degrees South. There is still a bit of a debate, last I heard, between reusing existing infrastructure or going with new, dedicated infrastructure.
WSC-PMT - Protected MILSATCOM Tactical: Aims to provide Canada with a secure, jam-resistant communications capability between the operational authority and the CAF worldwide. It is the protected link that is supposed to keep working through adversarial actions. It's the tactical half of Protected, deliberately built at a protection level above standard milsatcom but below full hardening.
WSC-PMS - Protected MILSATCOM Strategic: The strategic half of Protected. It aims to deliver assured, protected connectivity between the national command authority and deployed forces at the highest threat levels, with the explicit requirement that it must survive and function during and after a nuclear event.
ESCP-P — Enhanced Satellite Communication Project – Polar: Assured narrowband and wideband coverage from 65°N to 90°N. Being pursued through strategic partnership with Telesat and MDA, with initial capability targeted for the late 2020s into 2031 and full capability around 2035, though timelines here are obviously a bit weird with Lightspeed being utilized.
Follow-On Polar SATCOM: The undefined successor sitting after ESCP-P with a horizon towards 2050.
Strategic Radio Capability (HF): Modernization of Canada's 16 or more HF sites, including new software-defined radios, modernized towers, etc. It falls under NORAD Modernization and is being explored as either a domestic network or delivered through an HF-as-a-Service model.
Strategic Radio Capability (VLF): Will establish a Canadian Very-Low Frequency capacity for the first time, providing the CAF with a strategic undersea communication capability to support the future Canadian Patrol Submarine. Candidate locations south of Fort McMurray and in British Columbia are being discussed.
RCAF Air Weapons Control Coverage Expansion: Replaces 189 paired analog radios at 81 Nav Canada transmission sites, delivered through the shared civil-military infrastructure model rather than a defence-owned build.
SLRAC: Similar to SRC, but deliberately carved out as NORAD-specific. It will support Link 11 to Link 22 conversion at CADS sites, along with fixed HF at NORAD Forward Operating Locations.
Of all the layers, CSN is probably the simplest to understand as a concept. I have chosen to be deliberately limiting in what I include, so tactical communications, communication upgrades on naval vessels, minor projects, etc., are all excluded. That does mean cutting out some major communications projects, yes, but I believe it needs to be a bit harsh to keep the list focused primarily on the foundation layer of the communications spectrum.
This also doesn't include anything outside the defence establishment. While it is important to acknowledge that continental communications is not solely a defence topic, to include outside networks, expansions, and such, to me, takes away from the defence focus of the list. This, at the end of the day, is a DND network discussion, even if some, like RACE, have overlap. Anything outside is a benefit, but isn't included here.
Of the five layers of the All-Domain Defence Concept, it is the shortest and simplest. Compare that to the Canadian Sense Complex, which, yeah... in terms of making a graphic, that one's going to take a while to make. I'll figure it out one day, I'm sure of it.
Speaking of the All-Domain Defence Concept, that is something I haven't mentioned before, mostly because it doesn't really exist. It is an internal concept, my own concept for trying to unify everything. Everyone will have one; we have a wider All-Domain Defence Plan in the works, which, as you can guess, is where I got the name.
But what I have found is that once you get to the higher, conceptual layer of unifying everything, almost everyone will have their own distinct concepts and frameworks in place. Many of these, I find, are a bit too confusing to discuss and are a bit all over the place. For the average reader, trying to jump into a dozen layers and a million concepts quickly becomes confusing, frustrating to grasp, and easy to misinterpret.
The All-Domain Defence Concept, as I look at it, keeps things simple. Five points, any one of which can be mixed and matched like blocks to formulate different concepts. Those five being:
The Canadian Sense Complex: The Detection block of ADDC. It includes every radar, satellite, aircraft, and ship whose job is knowing what is approaching or already here, from the seabed to space, across the electromagnetic spectrum. It is the broadest of the five blocks, covering almost any platform that can be used to gather information.
The Canadian Signal Network: The Carrier block of ADDC. It is, again, the communications backbone to everything, moving what the sensors see to the people and systems that need it.
Pan-Domain Command and Control: A bit outdated of a term, and likely to be changed. This is the Decision block of ADDC. It is the layer that turns information into orders, assigning threats, tasking effectors, and coordinating action across every domain at once. It is the largest block by consequence, and as a concept, it is probably the most important initiative that the CAF has. It is the foundation to the foundation. Every other block's output flows through it; every bit of information, every decision, and every response runs through this network. Without it? There is nothing. There is no concept.
The Canadian Strike Complex: The Delivery block of ADDC. This includes offensive effectors across every launch domain, covering near, rear, and deep strike layers, from a future anti-tank missile at 800 metres to ship-launched cruise missiles at 1,600 kilometres. This was covered in detail here previously.
The Canadian Defensive Fires Network: The Defend block of ADDC. It consists of the interceptors and effectors that deal with what is coming the other way, and includes Counter-UAS, Ground-Based Air Defence, Naval Air Defence, and Fighter Intercept.
Almost every aspect of our Continental Defence, every project Canada is currently running fits inside one of those five blocks and I have yet to find a need for a sixth. I choose to call it Polaris, because it needs a cool name, and I realized that the five blocks also work nicely with the five points of a star. I like it. I feel people can form a deeper attachment to something that has a real name, a proper name. The symbolism of naming our grand defence concept after the North Star is also not lost on me. I think there is a sort of spirit there.
Again, the idea is to provide an easy set of blocks that can be organized, discussed, and used to build broader concepts. Take IAMD as an example. Sensors detects an incoming threat, CSN carries that message, Pan-Domain C2 assigns it, and Defensive Fires kills it. Four blocks, all brought under one loop.
Swap Defensive Fires out for Strike, and the same loop becomes the Sense-Strike Complex that we've been talking about over the last few months. You take these broad, often isolated concepts, and you turn them into configurations, different selections of the same five blocks. That's the entire trick… breaking down these complex, multifaceted initiatives into understandable sections that only require you to mix and match to fit your needs. Any initiative, any response, and any project should have a way to plug in. You don't need a constellation to understand; you just need a single star.
Of course, I am still working on the concept, still figuring out what fits and how they all fit together. You need to find a place for each thread in the tapestry, but I am confident enough in the concept to throw it out there, especially as it is what I use to group things and to organize information into coherent structures.
And that's the big thing. This, at the end of the day, is a thought exercise, an organizational tool. It is not scripture, nor is it anything official. It is a way to categorize information and create an easy concept to follow, something I hope many of you can take and use to better understand all that we discuss and talk about. Nothing in here is unique or new, but it is something that doesn't currently exist: an easy, simple framework that I hope anyone, no matter your field, knowledge base, or experience, can use to understand all the wonderful things going on.
A universal framework, one could say. It is able to absorb and adapt to whatever is thrown at it, especially in these ongoing times of great change where the future a year from now is no longer guaranteed or even truly predictable. At least something will exist to keep it coherent, I hope.
Of course, as I said the other day, we will dive deeper into these concepts in the future. Consider this an introduction, a glimpse into the idea. It's honestly quite fun. I don't get to do many thought experiments anymore. I don't get to have a lot of this kind of fun anymore, so taking the time to visualize and think about something low-stakes but enjoyable like this is refreshing for the brain.
Maybe I need to do more graphics like this sometime. If not me, then who else, right? Someone has to do it.