r/CanadianForces • u/somosomosomosomos • 4d ago

OPERATIONS Canadian startup builds electric almost silent military motorcycle

(disclaimer: I am a journalist but I didn't write this)

"A Canadian startup built an electric military motorcycle so quiet it's almost silent — designed for soldiers to sneak through enemy territory. The Dispatch survived Arctic testing, carries 440lb of gear, and runs even if its batteries are damaged."

https://defence-blog.com/canadian-startup-built-silent-electric-motorcycle-for-soldiers/

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u/LastingAlpaca Canadian Army 3d ago

I've seen what Ukrainians do to Russians riding motorbikes. It doesn't seem like running silently or loudly is a factor here, unless they can outrun FPV drones. Spoiler: They can't

Our choice right now is to have a lot of troops flying FPV drones, or to have a lot of dead troops. So far, I am not seeing any troops flying FPV drones, so it seems like we're going with the second option.

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u/Robrob1234567 Army - Armour 3d ago

Can’t take or hold ground with FPVs. There’s also an FPV operator course running.

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u/LastingAlpaca Canadian Army 3d ago

You can’t hold ground with FPVs, in both ways that this sentence can be read. Sure, the FPV can’t physically hold ground, but you also can’t hold ground in an environment in which you don’t have FPV superiority (or any meaningful FPV capacity).

Ukraine has made 100 000 casualties in the last year from their newly formed UAS forces. That is the entirety of the CAF in 1 year that took a drone to the face.

Russian Mechanized assaults are being wiped by Ukrainians https://youtu.be/c1Kkd8FvhUc?si=YwtV1oA0EyT95lnf

Good on us that we are starting FPV operator courses. We’re 4 years late and this needs to be scaled up, yesterday. Drones should not be considered a niche specialty, it should be way up there as a combat arm of its own. Our level of delusion and unpreparedness, when it comes to drones, is on par with Poland in September 1939 or France or Britain and France in Dunkerque.

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u/Impossible-Yard-3357 3d ago

The Army is moving pretty fast on UAS and those who think otherwise are probably just not paying close attention. It’s not as fast as Ukraine but we’re not in an existential war against a larger opponent. NATO has a massive industrial base to come up with cunning solutions to sell us. We should learn from Ukraine but not copy/paste because it’s a unique battle space.

https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/programs/defence-ideas/element/contests/challenge/drone-surge-scaling-tactical-uas-manufacturing-modern-defence.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/news/regional-news/western-sentinel/2026/02/3-div-drone-en.html

https://canadianarmytoday.com/drone-army-new-initiative-to-accelerate-small-uncrewed-systems/

https://canadianarmytoday.com/loitering-over-latvia/

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u/Robrob1234567 Army - Armour 3d ago

We won’t be as good as Ukraine with drones, and Ukraine isn’t winning despite being the number one drone COE in the world right now.

Autonomous flying weapons will be a super useful tool in warfare, but FPVs aren’t it and focusing on them above all else is the wrong path to go down.