EU-Canada security and defence partnership supports Smiths Interconnect’s supply of fibre optic transceivers for space and defence applications to EU member states
Press ReleaseJuly 21, 2025
Smiths Interconnect, a leading provider of technically differentiated electronic components, subsystems, microwave, optical and radio frequency products, and a business of Smiths Group plc, welcomes the new EU-Canada security and defence partnership signed at the 20th EU-Canada summit on June 23, 2025.
The partnership aims to deepen cooperation and launches talks on a new bilaterial agreement for Canada to access the Security Action for Europe (SAFE), part of Europe's broader ReArm Europe initiative establishing joint arms procurement programmes.
As a premier global supplier of fibre optic transceivers for the Space and Defence markets, Smiths Interconnect’s 10G and 25G LightABLE™ transceivers (for defence applications) and SpaceABLE® transceivers (for multi-orbit space applications) are developed and manufactured in Canada at the company’s Montreal, Quebec facility.
These products are used to enable and enhance essential communications in a wide variety of settings around the world including geo stationary (GEO) and low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, military vessels and ground vehicles, defence and commercial aircrafts.
Tullio Panarello, General Manager/VP, said: “Smiths Interconnect is at the vanguard of cutting-edge connectivity solutions for critical industries, and our products have a long track record of excellence and high-performance. We are well-positioned to support future EU procurement programmes and look forward to expanding our collaboration with EU partners to build on the deep foundations of the long-standing Canada-European Space Agency Cooperation Agreement.”
Smiths Interconnect has secured Technology Readiness Level 9 (TRL 9) for this product range. TRL is a global scale developed by NASA that denotes the level of space readiness of a component – with 1 lowest and 9 highest. Smiths Interconnect’s TRL 9 approval means its technology is already proven and trusted to work during a flight mission in space SpaceABLE® products are flight proven, having been deployed in successful mission operations since 2022 (10G) and 2024 (28G).
