Canada’s Remote Robotic Systems (RRS) and Croatia’s Orqa have signed an exclusive partnership agreement to expand production of Orqa systems and components in Canada, with the goal of supplying both domestic and export markets. The agreement was signed by Orqa co-founder and CCO Ivan Jelusic and RSS CEO Kevin Toderel, with Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, and Andrej Plenković, Croatian Prime Minister present, highlighting the significance of this deal.
“Canada is breaking new ground as the first non-European country to participate in the Security Action For Europe (SAFE) initiative, designed to increase the EU’s sovereign defence capabilities and reflecting the shared ambition of both parties to deepen their defence ties and strengthen joint security cooperation,” said the companies in a joint press release. “The deal itself is worth an estimated $150M CAD over the next five years, and will create up to 100 new high value technology jobs in Ottawa and Toronto by Q4 2027. The partners confidently expect to scale to 1000 systems per month by mid 2027, with a target of 10,000 per month over the course of the agreement.
Ivan Jelusic, CCO at Orqa, said, “This MoU will formalize the strategic framework for cooperation between RRS and Orqa to co-develop, manufacture, and commercialize advanced defence technologies. The specific focus is on uncrewed systems, counter-drone capabilities, and AI integration. RRS is the leading supplier of these systems to the armed forces and first responders in Canada, making them our ideal partner. We are committed to helping our allies create sovereign defence capabilities and this partnership is another step forward towards that goal.”
Kevin Toderel, CEO of RRS, added, “Orqa is the global leader in sUAS systems. We are proud to be able to build these systems in Canada and work with Orqa to increase capabilities and act as a supply chain and software development partner, bringing Canadian IP to the world. Our aim is to build Canadian capability and capacity for sUAS systems, ensuring Canada has ready access to this essential strategic resource now and in the future.”
Orqa will facilitate the transfer of relevant technology and grant production licenses to RRS to enable localized Canadian manufacturing. The companies will partner to develop solutions tailored to meet the evolving operational requirements of Canada’s armed forces, first responders and allied NATO partners and collaborate on the research, development, and integration of RRS’s sovereign AI capabilities onto mutually developed and manufactured platforms.
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Image: From L to R: Kevin Toderel, CEO of Remote Robotics Systems, Andrej Plenković, Prime Minister of Croatia, Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, Ivan Jelusic, CoS and Co-Founder of Orqa.