CENTUM has announced that the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) has selected Lifeseeker for Royal Canadian Air Force Search and Rescue operations. It is a central part of the Canadian Cellular Airborne Sensor Search and Rescue (CASSAR) project. The DND joins other search and rescue teams across the world who are already using Lifeseeker.

Lifeseeker locates mobile phones, quickly and accurately, making SAR missions more effective and efficient, saving lives and optimizing operational costs. The ability to track phones where there is not network is particularly important in the Canadian wildernesses.

It will be deployed on the Royal Canadian Air Force’s aircraft platforms on search and rescue (SAR) standby, including the CC130H Hercules and CH149 Cormorant, as well as the new Airbus Defence and Space C295W Kingfisher fixed-wing platform, called the CC-295 in Canadian service.

Héctor Estévez, CEO of CENTUM, said, “Everyone carries a mobile phone, even when they head into the wilderness. The CASSAR project, using the Lifeseeker technology, means the teams can locate the SAR subject, wherever they are. They don’t need a signal and they don’t need to do anything. As long as their mobile phone is turned on, the RCAF can now find anyone, anywhere.”

Lifeseeker can also be used to communicate with the missing person to assess any immediate medical needs, the best place to pick them up and so on. However, the technology does not rely on the missing person taking any action.

The Lifeseeker airborne hardware is enclosed in a small unit that is simple to integrate into the aircraft. Combined with CENTUM’s proprietary algorithm, the system provides highly accurate geolocation. The user interface is very straightforward to use and Lifeseeker can be operated using either a PC or a tablet.

Estévez continued, “Lifeseeker turns mobile phones into a beacons. It creates its own network to triangulate the phone’s exact location. It means SAR operators don’t need to rely on line of sight, making it effective in all weathers and all terrains, night and day. Lifeseeker has been used extensively to help SAR teams solve their missions, most difficult scenarios, including find a missing person if they’re hidden by trees, or even buried in snow. Recently, for example, Lifeseeker was used to find a man buried in an avalanche in the Alps in just a matter of minutes.”