Photo by: Multinational Brigade Imagery Technician

BRIEFING NOTE

by Dr. Olena Kryzhanivska

August 2026

DOWNLOAD PDF

Table of Contents

• Summary
• Context
• Key Points 
• Further Considerations
• About the Author
• Canadian Global Affairs Institute

Summary

• The Canadian Army (CA) launched the MINERVA initiative to integrate general-purpose uncrewed systems (aerial, ground, and littoral), along with enabling infrastructure, into its operations. The initiative also aims to strengthen domestic supply chain resilience and establish a pathway for the CA to engage with industry representatives.
• While MINERVA represents one of the Army’s most promising initiatives for accelerating the adoption of uncrewed systems, its institutional status remains unclear. It is uncertain whether MINERVA is intended primarily as an experimental initiative and what permanent organizational structure, if any, will support it.
• Although MINERVA is expected to connect with research and innovation programs such as IDEaS and Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), its ability to transition successful technologies into formal procurement processes also remains uncertain.

TOP OF PAGE

Context

• Launched in September 2025, the MINERVA initiative forms part of the Canadian Army’s broader modernization effort to strengthen land power. It is described as “a capability development program focused on integrating drones and autonomous systems into land force operations.”
• The initiative aligns with the vision of the Commander of the Canadian Army, Lieutenant-General Wright, to "flood" the Army with drones.
• It also reflects the global trend toward drone-centric military strategies, as well as efforts to adapt defence procurement processes and strengthen cooperation between industry and end users, ensuring that armed forces can rapidly acquire uncrewed systems that meet evolving operational requirements.
• MINERVA supports Canada's Defence Industrial Strategy, particularly its tenth key sovereign capability: Uncrewed and Autonomous Systems.

TOP OF PAGE

Key Points

• The MINERVA initiative was developed in response to several weaknesses in the Army’s current use of uncrewed systems, including insufficient numbers and types of platforms, the limited integration of experimental systems into regular Army structures, and the vulnerability of systems that cannot adapt quickly to changing battlefield conditions.
• Canadian Army officials emphasize that MINERVA is not a formal project. As such, it does not come with dedicated new positions, infrastructure, or an end-to-end sustainment framework. Nor does not have a permanent full-time staff. Instead, it is supported by a team of assigned personnel, including Reserve Force officers.
• MINERVA focuses on general-purpose uncrewed systems (GPUS), including aerial, ground, and littoral platforms, as well as the enabling technologies required to operate them, such as command-and-control systems, integration, sustainment, and support infrastructure.
• According to expert interviews, the initiative is primarily aimed at capabilities needed at the tactical level, particularly by infantry battalions and artillery regiments. It seeks to identify how uncrewed systems can strengthen reconnaissance, logistics, casualty evacuation, target acquisition, command and control, and firepower while reducing risks to soldiers.
• Lieutenant Colonel Cory Durant, Director of Land Requirements, Canadian Armed Forces, mentioned that the underlying principle of MINERVA is not to replace personnel in the field, but to employ machines in the most dangerous tasks whenever possible.
• Another distinguishing feature of MINERVA is its emphasis on strengthening supply-chain resilience. Rather than becoming dependent on a single supplier, the initiative seeks to cultivate a broader industrial ecosystem in which multiple companies can provide similar capabilities.
• This approach is intended to improve competition, increase production capacity, and reduce the risks associated with relying on a single vendor. Suppliers are expected to demonstrate that key components can be traced to trusted NATO countries, reflecting growing concerns over supply-chain security.
• The initiative also reflects an effort to strengthen cooperation between military personnel and Canada's defence industrial base, particularly SMEs. Through working groups and collaborative experimentation, the Army aims to draw on industry expertise when shaping future requirements and evaluating emerging technologies, while connecting existing innovation mechanisms such as IDEaS and DRDC into a more coherent pathway from concept development to eventual procurement.
• The project seeks to bring together soldiers, engineers, researchers, government organizations, and industry partners at the earliest stages of defining operational requirements, allowing concepts to be tested and refined before entering formal acquisition processes. This reflects the lessons learned from Ukraine, where cooperation between industry and the military is instrumental to the country’s defence.
• In June 2026, with support from the IDEaS program, MINERVA launched its first innovation challenge, "True North Precision: Low-Cost Drones with Laser Ranging." It provides a total of $2.1 million in development funding to support promising concepts that can rapidly advance toward operational capability.
• MINERVA represents a shift in how the Canadian Army engages with industry. Instead of presenting companies with a fixed list of technical requirements, the initiative encourages industry to participate much earlier in the capability-development process.
• The focus is on defining operational problems first and allowing companies to propose different technical solutions. The process is driven by senior military leaders and end users, ensuring that capability development is informed by operational experience rather than procurement specifications alone.
• To support this approach, the Canadian Army established three collaborative working groups with industry in early 2026. Organized as open consultations, these meetings brought together defence companies and government stakeholders to discuss operational challenges, certification requirements, domestic manufacturing, and potential technological solutions before formal procurement decisions are made.
• The launch of MINERVA demonstrates that the Canadian Army is increasingly drawing lessons from contemporary conflicts, particularly the Russia-Ukraine war and recent operations in the Middle East, where uncrewed systems have become integral to modern land warfare.
• One of the most important lessons is that drones have become highly expendable battlefield assets that must be produced rapidly, at low cost, and in large numbers. This requires procurement systems capable of scaling production quickly rather than relying on lengthy acquisition cycles.
• To address this gap, the government announced the creation of the Defence Drone Initiative Marketplace, a mechanism designed to accelerate the development and acquisition of key uncrewed and autonomous capabilities, as well as counter-uncrewed aerial systems (C-UAS). It is intended to help the CAF rapidly acquire the capabilities needed to meet immediate operational requirements.

TOP OF PAGE

Further Considerations

• Given the pace of change in uncrewed warfare, MINERVA should be viewed not as a temporary experimentation initiative, but as a long-term institutional capability. Establishing a permanent organizational structure and dedicated personnel would strengthen its ability to translate operational lessons into sustained capability development.
• One of the longstanding challenges within the Canadian defence innovation ecosystem has been the separation between experimentation and procurement, with promising technologies often struggling to transition into funded acquisition programs. Whether MINERVA will be able to bridge this gap and influence procurement decisions remains to be seen.
• It remains unclear what level of coordination exists among the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Air Force, and Royal Canadian Navy in developing, testing, and employing these uncrewed systems for multidomain operations that are actively used in modern combat.
• Another potential area for growth is expanding MINERVA into counter-drone solutions that protect forces on the ground, which is planned for later stages of the initiative.
• The war in Ukraine provides valuable lessons about the direction of technological change, but future conflicts involving the Canadian Army are likely to differ in geography, operational environment, and force structure. The objective, therefore, is not to replicate Ukrainian tactics but to understand the broader trends shaping modern warfare and adapt them to Canada's own operational requirements.

TOP OF PAGE

About the Author

Olena Kryzhanivska is a COVE Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, where she focuses on defence innovations in Canada. She holds a PhD in Political Science from Gazi University (Türkiye). Olena has provided expert analysis to the Norwegian Embassy in Türkiye, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, and the NATO Association of Canada. As an independent researcher for more than two years, she authors the weekly newsletter Ukraine’s Arms Monitor, which covers weapons transfers, defence production, and drone warfare in the context of the Russia–Ukraine war.

TOP OF PAGE

Canadian Global Affairs Institute

The Canadian Global Affairs Institute focuses on the entire range of Canada’s international relations in all its forms including trade investment and international capacity building. Successor to the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute (CDFAI, which was established in 2001), the Institute works to inform Canadians about the importance of having a respected and influential voice in those parts of the globe where Canada has significant interests due to trade and investment, origins of Canada’s population, geographic security (and especially security of North America in conjunction with the United States), social development, or the peace and freedom of allied nations. The Institute aims to demonstrate to Canadians the importance of comprehensive foreign, defence and trade policies which both express our values and represent our interests. 

The Institute was created to bridge the gap between what Canadians need to know about Canadian international activities and what they do know. Historically Canadians have tended to look abroad out of a search for markets because Canada depends heavily on foreign trade. In the modern post-Cold War world, however, global security and stability have become the bedrocks of global commerce and the free movement of people, goods and ideas across international boundaries. Canada has striven to open the world since the 1930s and was a driving factor behind the adoption of the main structures which underpin globalization such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization and emerging free trade networks connecting dozens of international economies. The Canadian Global Affairs Institute recognizes Canada’s contribution to a globalized world and aims to inform Canadians about Canada’s role in that process and the connection between globalization and security. 

In all its activities the Institute is a charitable, non-partisan, non-advocacy organization that provides a platform for a variety of viewpoints. It is supported financially by the contributions of individuals, foundations, and corporations. Conclusions or opinions expressed in Institute publications and programs are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Institute staff, fellows, directors, advisors or any individuals or organizations that provide financial support to, or collaborate with, the Institute.

TOP OF PAGE