Ottawa-based Gastops provides engine sensors for F-35 warplanes now being used to bomb Gaza
The Breach reports: “According to a Breach investigation, Gastops is the only company in the world that produces engine sensors that go into U.S.-made F-35 combat jets—including the ones dropping 2,000 pound bombs in Gaza.”
That article adds: “ To make the F-35 warplanes sold to Israel, Lockheed Martin has relied on a global supply chain for components, with critical contributors from Canada, the UK, and Australia. Their manufacturing operates on a vulnerable ‘just-in-time supply chain’, with parts intended to arrive as needed. Gastops makes unique sensors that are designed to detect engine wear and tear and ‘keep aircraft in the air’, resulting in ‘less downtime, more flight time’, according to the company. Approximately two dozen employees are responsible for making the sensors at the company, which produced at least 3,500 of them over the past decade.”
What else do we know?
The relationship between Gastops and the Lockheed Martin F-35 program goes back more than 10 years.
In December 2012, Industry Canada noted in its Canadian Industrial Participation in The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program report that: “GasTOPS Limited of Ottawa developed the debris monitoring sensors for use on the F135 engine that powers the F-35 JSF.”
Journalist David Pugliese also noted in the Ottawa Citizen the relationship between Gastops and the F-35 program in January 2014.
MetalSCAN Oil Debris Monitoring sensors
A March 2021 media release from Gastops further notes: “Gastops, a company located in Ottawa, Canada that specializes in equipment intelligence technology, provides up to 4 engine sensors on the F-35A, B and C variants and is proud to announce that it has recently delivered its 3,500th engine sensor to the F-35 program.”
It adds: “At the forefront of these sensing technologies is Gastops’ MetalSCAN Oil Debris Monitoring sensors. MetalSCAN sensing technology offers a real-time condition indication of the health of critical components in the engine by enabling condition-based maintenance decisions rather than the outdated time-based methods.”
Image by Gastops.
Manufactured in Ottawa
In January 2024, Canadian Defence Review highlighted: “The company’s products, MetalSCAN and ChipCHECK … are designed, manufactured, and supported from its headquarters in Ottawa… With some 230 employees, Gastops now has offices in Halifax N.S, and Mount Pearl, NL, and a U.S. affiliate which services the U.S. DoD [Department of Defense].”
Government of Canada funding
In September 2005, Research Money reported: “GasTOPS Ltd, Ottawa, has received $1.4 million from Technology Partnerships Canada to undertake a $3.5-million project to further develop its MetalSCAN sensor technology to detect metallic debris in lubricating oil systems. The technology is being developed for specific applications related to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.”
Gastops Ltd. also confirmed in May 2018 that “they are part of the Bell-led aerospace consortium to receive a $49.5 million Government of Canada investment” noting that “Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Minister Navdeep Baines announced the federal investment at the Aerospace Innovation Forum in Montreal” earlier that month.
Relationship with Carleton University
A December 2021 Ottawa Life article also notes: “Rooted in Ottawa, Gastops supports Carleton University’s Women in Engineering and Information Technology program, one of the first industry and government-sponsored programs of its kind in Canada.”
At CANSEC
Gastops has also highlighted that it participated in the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa this year.
CADSI member
Gastops is also listed as a member of the Ottawa-based Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), a business lobby group and the organizer of the annual CANSEC arms show.
The full article from The Breach can be read at Ottawa-based company is key to keeping Israeli warplanes bombing Gaza (September 12, 2024).
Further reading: 1,358 Palestinian human rights defenders may have been killed over the last 10 months (PBI-Canada, August 17, 2024).
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