National Defence committee  Oh, absolutely. For robotics it's time to jump in.

National Defence committee  When you jump into new technology, there is always a temptation to wait just a little bit longer, because there is always the next great thing just about to come out. We're used to that with computers and cellphones and things like that. I think that part of the reason there has been a reluctance to jump in is that the next systems are always going to be so great.

National Defence committee  The other thing is that if it does crash, and everything that flies crashes eventually—

National Defence committee  You don't have a pilot stranded 2,000 miles from the middle of nowhere, right? This is what happens if an aircraft is flying on the northern patrol and it goes down. Even if you know exactly where the guy is, just the rescue bit is not going to happen. It's just not going to happen in time, right?

National Defence committee  I should just say something quickly. Remember earlier I showed you the small ones, the medium ones, and the big ones. The big ones are not better than the small ones, and vice versa. For example, you have the Mexico border with the United States and they have, let's say, one $22-million Predator flying alone.

National Defence committee  I actually can speak to that a little bit. NORAD and NORTHCOM...the U.S. military has had a very difficult time with drones over the United States. They asked for permission, after the New Orleans flood disaster, to put some unmanned aircraft up, and that permission was denied. The U.S. military has some very specific areas they can fly in, and that's about it, within the United States.

National Defence committee  I have to apologize, as I can't answer your question in French.

National Defence committee  That's an excellent question. I know Mr. Glenn is probably on top of this very closely, but the regulatory environment in Canada has generally been better, making a little more allowance for drones over our own airspace than that of our cousins to the south. The American FAA is supposed to come out with some new regulations and has been supposed to for quite awhile.

National Defence committee  Thank you, honourable member. I don't think I'm qualified to speak to the costing of the relative systems. In Canada we don't use.... The Predator, for example, is a $22-million system. It is very cost-effective as compared with a combat aircraft. But it's not combat aircraft capable.

National Defence committee  Yes, sir. The tactical UAVs are the most numerous in the world. They're used for military reconnaissance, agriculture, and even high-end real estate listings. They're used most often to gather HD video and that sort of thing. UAVs are being embraced by unfriendly groups. In 2011 the FBI arrested an American physics graduate—this fellow shown here—who was planning to fly those two little aircraft laden with explosives into the Capitol building and the Pentagon in the United States before he was arrested by the FBI.

National Defence committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, members, for giving me the honour to appear before you. My name is Charles Barlow. I'm a former military officer. I ran the Afghanistan intelligence response team, the national level team for Afghanistan at the Department of National Defence. They've sent me to pretty much every place that Canada sent people for the last 20 years.