National Defence committee  Yes. There are IEDs outside those theatres of operations and they remain one of the major threats to the deployment of personnel. According to our intelligence reports and the experts we are working with, this threat will be around for many more years.

National Defence committee  Yes, it is very present and significant. That is why we are still working on it, even though we are no longer in a combat mission in Afghanistan.

National Defence committee  No country can claim that its vehicles are fully protected.

National Defence committee  In the first days of deployment in Afghanistan, DRDC has assigned almost 80 people to work on armour, known as underbelly armour.

National Defence committee  Let’s talk about the V hull, which is designed to strengthen the most vulnerable spots. That is why we have a database on the damage done to vehicles. We want to understand which spots are the weakest and take steps to strengthen those vehicles.

National Defence committee  That was a significant development in the war in Afghanistan, a major lesson for all the allies. DRDC provides advice on how to select the next generation of vehicles—

National Defence committee  —that Canada will acquire.

National Defence committee  Thank you for the question. You have visited Toronto, so I speculate that you have seen first-hand the ultrasound devices that are being developed there. We're trying to adapt the technology to work in the theatre of operation, to be able to enhance the 3-D ultrasound diagnostic tools that are available to medics on site.

National Defence committee  The studies on the psychological impact try to cover all the factors that increase the stress levels experienced by soldiers. An explosion under a vehicle is a source of stress, in a larger sense. Of course, just being in a theatre of operations also causes stress.

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, that is a great question. You are absolutely right. Defence Research and Development Canada is a research, not a commercialization organization. New technologies and inventions are commercialized through Canadian and sometimes foreign private industry. We are transferring technologies to those companies to enable them to provide equipment to the Canadian Armed Forces and to the Department of National Defence.

National Defence committee  Which increase are you talking about?

National Defence committee  The budgets will sometimes be allocated to technology transfers. There is no specific budget for the transfer itself. It depends on the case. When an opportunity arises, we are going to support the technology transfer.

National Defence committee  I'll ask Dr. Dursun to expand on this.

National Defence committee  Our mandate is to provide the Canadian Armed Forces with the best opinions, knowledge and technologies so that they can deal with all the challenges that come their way. That includes both mental health and technology, such as armoured vehicles and sensor technologies on the military side.

National Defence committee  The exact PTSD percentages in terms of personnel and investment will be included in the information we are going to send to the committee.