Roshel associates with Swebor to produce ballistic shielding steel in Canada

The Canadian manufacturer of armored vehicles Roshel is associated with a Swedish steel company to produce ballistic protection steel in Canada for the first time.

Roshel will now be able to use Swebor’s intellectual property to produce ballistic steel in Canada.

This agreement comes in the context of the current trade war with US President Donald Trump, while Canada seeks to stimulate its steel consumption and strengthen its defense sector to reduce its dependence on the United States.

Ballistic steel is a particular type of relatively light tempered steel which protects against explosions or balls.

The founder and director of Roshel, Roman Shimonov, said that, despite the production of huge quantities of steel in Canada, there is currently no national installation towards which companies like his can turn to obtain ballistic shields, necessary for armored vehicles and drones.

It’s amazing, said Shimonov during an interview with the Canadian press. It is quite similar to what is happening in the petroleum industry, where we have oil sources, but we do not refine it.

Shimonov said that the current lack of ballistic steel of Canadian origin is a source of problems for national defense companies, which must import steel from the United States, Europe and Australia.

We are faced with a bottleneck in terms of ballistic steel. Even when we have to meet an immediate need, we must get [l’acier] More than a year in advancehe explained.

Our government, like many others, does not plan for several years. It is therefore never known how many vehicles and products will be ordered the following year.

He added that not only would this initiative meet the needs of his business, but it would also provide a more widely usable product in the defense, mining and even agriculture sectors.

Roshel has installations in Brampton and Mississauga, Ontario, where the first phase of steel production will take place. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of armored vehicles, mainly for G7 countries, such as Canada. Some 2,000 of its vehicles are deployed in Ukraine.

Stronger links with Europe

David Perry, president of the Canadian Institute of World Affairs, said that this new partnership would provide Canada foreign expertise and knowledge transfer.

The Canadian Steel markets have the potential to provide this type of armor products, but have not yet done so, because they focus on other customers, mainly American, whose production requirements are different, said Perry.

The steel used in the manufacture of commercial buildings does not need the same tolerances as a ballistic product, summed up Mr. Perry. It takes an intrinsic level of protection to be able to stop a ball. It is a different final product. The manufacturing process is different, the machines with high capital intensity are different, and the training is not the same.

Perry also indicated that this initiative is part of a limited but increasing number of projects aimed at strengthening links with Europe in terms of defense, while Ottawa plans to expand its defense partnerships abroad in a context of disagreement with the United States.

The Minister of Industry, Mélanie Joly, attended the signing of the agreement in Sweden on Monday.

Ms. Joly is currently making a week -long trip to Stockholm and Helsinki with the Secretary of State for Defense Purchasing, Stephen Fuhr, in order to seek ways to expand links with Europe in the Defense field.