Coast guard prepares to survey Arctic using Israeli-made drone
The Hermes 900 StarLiner was shipped to Iqaluit on Oct. 1
The Canadian Coast Guard is planning to begin testing the Hermes 900 Starliner, pictured here in Iqaluit after its arrival in October, in the spring. (Courtesy of the Department of National Defence)
The Canadian Coast Guard is preparing to test the Arctic surveillance capacity of a large Israeli-manufactured drone.
Coast guard staff began testing the Hermes 900 Starliner earlier this year at the Canadian Forces Base in Greenwood, N.S., before it was disassembled and shipped from there to Iqaluit on Oct. 1.
The testing will part of an effort to study whether the drone can fit well into the coast guard’s fleet of smaller drones, said Mark McKeeman, the director of the coast guard’s remotely piloted aircraft program.
“Were still in the contract delivery stages with the manufacturer, so they have to prove that the aircraft is capable of operating in some of the conditions in the Arctic,” he said.
One of the things the Hermes 900 Starliner will be tested for is its ability to operate at 72 degrees north, which is about the same latitude as Pond Inlet.
Canada signed a contract to obtain the drone from the Israeli arms dealer Elbit Systems in 2020, at a cost of $36 million.
Transport Canada was initially assigned to manage its use as part of Canada’s National Aerial Surveillance Program, which was transferred over to the coast guard on April 1.
The program now has a mandate to assert Canada’s presence and sovereignty in the Arctic, McKeeman said.
Climate change is bringing an extended shipping season to the Arctic, he noted, and more shipping traffic demands more monitoring.
Should the drone join the government’s fleet, it would monitor shipping and ice cover, respond to pollution events such as oil spills, and patrol for foreign actors attempting to illegally enter Canadian waters, McKeeman said.
The drone, which is red, has a 15-metre wingspan and is about 8.3 metres long, is stationed at a hanger in Iqaluit’s airport.
He said his team had initially hoped to get the drone airborne early this month, but the mission was called off because of low cloud cover. Now testing should begin in May or June.
McKeeman said if everything goes well, the Department of National Defence could explore purchasing more of the drones.
Canada’s Department of National Defence has awarded Elbit Systems contracts for many years. As recently as 2025, the department awarded a $1.9 million sole-source contract to a Elbit Systems Deutschland, a German subsidy of the company, for the purchase of networking equipment.
Meanwhile, a 2025 UN report named the company in a report investigating how the private sector profits from and is complicit in Israel’s genocide in Palestine.
The Hermes 900 Starliner is among drones long-used by the Israeli military since at least 2014. The Israeli military has also used it during the Israeli-Hamas war, which started in October 2023.
NDP Edmonton MP Heather McPherson, also the party’s critic for foreign affairs and international trade, said the federal government has a moral obligation to cut its ties with the company.
“The Canadian government has a responsibility to live up to the same standards that they have set for other companies in this countries, and that means they should not be engaging with companies who are complicit in human rights abuses in the West Bank and Gaza,” she said in an interview.
In 2024, Canada paused the approval of new direct export permits for military goods to Israel.
Jad Eleid, a Montreal-based organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement, said that the federal government should instead implement a two-way arms embargo, which would end the awarding of contracts to Israeli companies.
“Complicity with genocide is not always about sending bombs and bullets: it’s about purchasing from companies that use the same surveillance technology that allows the bombing of our people,” said Eleid, who is from Lebanon.
The Hermes 900 StarLiner was alleged to have been used in 2024 to target civilians in Lebanon, according to media reports from the time.
Eleid said a loophole in Canada’s export regime also still allows for the export of parts as long as they get to the United States first before being shipped to Israel.
In March, Jenny Kwan, another NDP MP from Vancouver, attempted to pass a bill to close that loophole. It was rejected then, with 295 MP voting against it and 22 voting in favour.
Nunatsiaq News asked Liberal Nunavut MP Lori Idlout for her thoughts on Canada conducting business with an Israeli defence contractor but did not receive a response.
Skynet is coming !!
Is this a news article about the Coast Guard’s plans to monitor Arctic waters, or an opportunity to push an anti-Israel narrative? The article gives plenty of space to people demanding that Canada cut ties with an Israeli company, including genocide allegations, but where’s the balance? Did the reporter seek out anyone with a different perspective, or anyone who could explain why Canada chose this particular drone and what it offers? If the concern is government contracts with companies accused of human rights abuses, then apply that standard consistently to all countries and companies, not just Israeli ones. It’s fair to scrutinize government spending, but when one side gets the platform and the other side is nowhere to be found, it’s reasonable to question the objectivity of the reporting.
I’d love a response from the reporter!
There’s usually a good reason to further enrich one of the deadliest arms dealers in the world with public funds. We must demand reporting that creates the illusion of balance by giving reasons why Canada should invest in technology that’s been field tested exclusively on civilians elsewhere in the world. Then we can all sleep better at night.
If you can only see one side of a story, there’s a problem. We’re talking about one of the most complicated conflicts in the world, with generations of history behind it, and you’re treating it as though it’s black and white: one side is the villain and the other is the victim.
You can absolutely believe Israel has done things wrong. That doesn’t mean you ignore the other side of the history, the security concerns, the actions of the other parties, or the events that brought us here. And throwing around a word like genocide doesn’t magically make your interpretation of the conflict complete or beyond question.
My point was about journalism. You can scrutinize Israel, criticize the government and question a contract with an Israeli arms manufacturer without presenting only one perspective. Asking for balanced reporting isn’t the same as defending Israel or endorsing the contract. It means trusting readers enough to give them the information they need to form their own opinions.
The problem is when you’ve already decided that everything comes down to colonizer versus victim, and anything that challenges that narrative must be dismissed as defending genocide. That’s not understanding a conflict; it’s reducing it to a story that fits your worldview.
And honestly, if you haven’t taken the time to understand the history and the perspectives of the people involved, there’s nothing wrong with listening and learning before lecturing everyone else. You don’t have to agree with both sides, but you should at least make an effort to understand them.
Couldn’t agree more. Any other company would be a Defense Contractor, while Elbit is branded as an “arms dealer”. Total Israeli hit-piece. Do people forget that Israel is a Canadian ally and many Canadians visit every year?
Yea, how dare the media report what is happening when what is happening casts light on Israel’s genocide. We’re allies after all, Canadians visit there! Is that supposed to matter somehow?
Wild how uncomfortable some folks get when the subject of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza is brought up. I suppose calling it a narrative creates a sanitized distance from reality where they can feign interest in objectivity.
Does anyone buy this?
Too many people buy it. Especially the ones who point out that we’re allies with this openly genocidal nation. Oh, we’re FRIENDS with them? Well! Excuse my humanity! Let’s look the other way, then, and go for a visit!
…a conflict you don’t understand using words you apparently don’t understand. you’re free to dislike or like any countries actions you want, but you don’t know what’s hppaneing there and don’t understand what a genocide is.
Rwanda 75% of the tutsi population wiped out.
Holocaust over 75% of the jewish european population wiped out
Gaza 3.5% of the population killed
It’s awful what is happening but please understand the history, the people, and what is actually happening. and if you don’t have a stake in it and don’t know the history or the facts, listening is an option. 2 ears and 1 mouth for a reason!
Did the coast guard ensure there’s no mossad spyware in the drone?
they turned it off and on.
twice.
No one, that is NO ONE, should be giving ANY money to iz-reel for ANY purpose whatsoever until they end their relentless killings of their neighbours. We have no need to support their purchase of the killing tools they use everyday.
Hangar
Aircraft are in hangars
They are not in hangers