Calian and Ukraine's SkyFall to Build Drone Training for NATO Forces
Calian Group Ltd. has signed a strategic agreement with Ukrainian technology and defence company SkyFall to develop drone-based defence training. The Globe and Mail
The agreement
Under the partnership, the two companies will develop training and education programs using unmanned systems (military drones flown without a crew on board) for armed forces in Canada and the United Kingdom, other NATO members and allied countries. The Globe and Mail
The trainer
The training organization named in the deal is SkyFall Academy. It is a training centre certified by Ukraine's Ministry of Defence that specializes in unmanned systems. It has trained more than 30,000 Ukrainian military personnel over the past three years. The Globe and Mail
The strategic agreement is also aimed at advancing operational readiness, meaning the ability of forces to deploy and carry out missions when ordered. Business Insider The collaboration will support international expansion of SkyFall Academy and its training of military personnel in partner countries. Investing.com
The broader context here is how front-line experience is turned into standing systems that produce ready forces, much like a flight school turns flying hours into a set curriculum. Ottawa holds the file. National defence is a federal responsibility, so any Canadian adoption would move through federal doctrine, training authorities and procurement processes, with parliamentary oversight. The scope is multinational. That structure puts a premium on validation of lessons, control of course content, and alignment with alliance tactics, techniques and procedures, the shared NATO playbook.
What this could mean for allied training is that the Canada-U.K. focus provides a workable starting point. Both operate within NATO doctrine and combined exercise structures. A common approach to drone instruction, mission planning, airspace deconfliction (keeping drones and crewed aircraft safely separated) and after-action review (structured debriefs after missions) would support interoperability, the ability of different forces to operate together. Specialists will weigh the mix of live, virtual and constructive training, instructor qualifications, assessment standards and recurrent training. Those design choices will determine whether the framework can mature into a repeatable program.
In my view, the political test in Canada will turn on durability rather than announcement language. A strategic agreement establishes intent and a delivery vehicle. Decisions on adoption, funding profiles, delivery locations and evaluation sit in separate institutional channels. Committees will probe readiness effects. Regional responses will vary. Industry and service communities in Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies and the North read training investments through local employment and basing lenses, even when authority remains in Ottawa. That is normal federal politics. It will shape the next phase more than the signing itself.
