Cellular search-and-rescue system RCAF’s domestic priority

The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) is currently testing radio technology mounted on search-and-rescue aircraft that communicates with mobile phones of lost or missing people in areas without cell coverage. The project is considered by officials to be its “highest domestic mission,” according to documents obtained by The Wire Report. An interim RCAF report outlines the result of a test of “digital receiver technology” known as Artemis, which was completed in early February by the concept development and experimental branch of RCAF. The report was published later that month. It’s the first project to use a licence issued under the new developmental license program of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), according to the documents. RCAF spokesman Steven Dieter said in an email to this publication that a final report -- which was not provided -- was completed in October this year and the findings are currently being “reviewed and considered.” Work on the project is expected to conclude by late spring of 2019, he noted. The software-defined radio system works by simulating a cell tower and providing a target phone, which is geo-located with a cellular signal. It can also receive GPS coordinates if the phone offers them. Only one phone can be geolocated at a time, it said, and the phone must be turned on. In a 2010 decision, the CRTC made locating cell phones that dial 911 easier for dispatchers to find. In that case, when a 911 call is made, the dispatcher will get both the cell number and an approximate location. The target phone is identified by its unique International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) or International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, which allows the carrier to easily identify which cell tower the phone is communicating with. RCAF would get these numbers from the telecoms themselves when they identify a missing person. The problem Artemis seeks to solve is how to exploit those numbers where there are gaps in cell tower coverage. The interim report outlined Artemis can operate on a cell network, with the wireless operator’s consent and without causing interference. It has a detection range of 37 km, can target a specific cell phone (and no other) registered to a network, can map all cell phones in an area that is without cell coverage, and can send and receive both voice and text communications with the target phone. The system would be the first new SAR capability since the advent of the emergency locator transmitter (ELT) in the early 1970s, the interim report said. The document noted that the system, which can operate on bands including LTE, is unique in that it is made for SAR purposes specifically and is not a repurposed covert system. Its design for SAR operation makes it the only such "known system currently in production,” the report said. The initial meeting to discuss the concept was in September 2017 at the National Research Council of Canada’s Flight Labs in Ottawa. During the meeting, according to minutes obtained via an access to information request, the officials mentioned a sort-of breakthrough in the technology whose “progress was very slow over the past two years.” The reasons for that breakthrough are redacted. To conduct the seven-hour test, which occurred between Feb. 5 and 9 over the air force base in Petawawa, Ont., RCAF received the developmental license from ISED and got BCE Inc.’s permission to use the telecom’s spectrum. Bell also provided field tech and engineering support. The National Research Council and United Kingdom-based device manufacturer Smith-Myers Communications Ltd., which did not respond to a request for comment, were involved as well. The Artemis antenna, processor, and workstation. /Photo by RCAF Smith-Myers said, according to the report, that Apple Inc.’s iPhones don’t provide the GPS location unless they are making a 911 call, but the software of the system can be updated to resolve the issue and accept incoming calls from the phone. The system tested a range of other phones as well, including Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Blackberry Ltd., and Nokia Corp. ISED deferred all questions to the air force. Artemis is currently already in use in several countries and is going through testing in SAR and disaster response conditions in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe, the report said, but it’s not deployed on any Canadian Forces aircraft. The system is installed on new Royal Norwegian Air Force SAR helicopters, which were procured by Italy-based aerospace and defence company Leonardo, spokesman Roberto Caprarella said in an email. He noted that the mobile phone detection system is provided by specialized suppliers. But what separates the RCAF system, the report says, is that the Norwegian system cannot accept incoming calls. To justify the test, the report notes that a search phase is longer, more urgent, more resource intensive and costlier compared to the rescue part. A DND official, in an October 2017 letter of intent to test the system, said the cost of one search attempt can range from $850,000 to $4 million depending on the number of days and aircraft (and type) used. A report from the Senate fisheries committee released last week said there were 10,003 search-and-rescue incidents in Canada in 2017. The report flagged communications and gaps in coverage in the Arctic as a challenge for rescuers, noting there are “dead spots over large tracts of land and ocean.” It said having reliable radio communications is critical, and recommended the government “increase radio coverage in Canada’s Arctic and in other remote communities.” Chart provided by Senate fisheries and oceans committee Typically, lost or stranded aircraft or ships would release a beacon helping SAR teams find them relatively easily. But people who “lack the equipment, knowledge or ability to provide visual clues to SAR personnel” make those operations difficult, the report added. “RCAF SAR operations are conducted using fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft whose speed, although well suited for covering a wide area quickly, make it impossible to cover it comprehensively,” the report said. “Without some assistance, this can pose a significant challenge. “A clear majority of Canadians are in possession of a cell phone which can be considered a beacon as such.” In an October 2017 email, government officials working on the project said that the “desired course of action towards eventual deployment of this capability is to obtain buy-in and agreement from Bell to use its channels (and then from other providers if necessary) which would simplify the spectrum concerns.” It’s been noted in internal documents that the departments would have to wrestle with the fact that similar cell tower technology has been employed before -- by law enforcement and militaries, who use the technology to mimic cell towers and gather information on a person of interest. IMSI catchers or Stingrays, as they are otherwise called, have been in use since 2007 by law enforcement surveillance programs and have garned controversy. Those legal and privacy concerns were looked at, one internal report noted. As such, the manufacturer of the system and representatives from the Department of Justice, the Department of National Defence (DND), and Innovation Canada came to the conclusion that the system would “not be violating current Canadian laws” as it can’t identify personal info, can’t store any info on non-target cell phones, can’t have the ability to read or intercept cell contact lists, text messages or voice calls, must automatically be able to erase all info when shut down and must only be used for the intended SAR purpose. To further satisfy privacy law, the system was also rebooted “at the midpoint of each flight as well as powered-off and restarted prior to landing. The data fields and map display were examined for residual information.” The result was no target phone position information or IMEI data was retained, the report said. When asked if they had been consulted about the system, Corey Larocque, spokesman for the privacy commissioner’s office, said they have not examined this issue. The test of the technology comes amid the government's efforts to upgrade its helicopter fleet, the CH-149 Cormorant. In a letter of notification earlier this year, DND said it would continue the upgrade phase with Leonardo’s newer helicopters used in Norway’s fleet. One reason the government is going with Leonardo is because “potential solutions need to maximize the use of Commercial Off-the-Shelf aircraft and subsystems that have already been certified in accordance with airworthiness regulations,” the June letter said. To be sure, in an email in July of last year, an ISED official said to a colleague that the DND “would like to ‘try then buy.’” “We’re in heated agreement that this project is worth pursuing to the end,” an RCAF official said in another email following the September meeting. One recommendation was to propose the project to the RCAF Innovation Hub at Communitech in Waterloo, which, according to a March document, relayed that “there are no start-ups in the Waterloo region investigating this type of device.” Still, Dieter said in an email, “should a decision be made to proceed with this form of technology, proper procurement procedures will be adhered to.” — With reporting by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Cellular search-and-rescue system RCAF’s domestic priority

News | December 7, 2018

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