Evil-doers of the world, beware: The Department of National Defence wants to develop silent snowmobiles for covert Arctic operations. The $550,000 project is aimed at solidifying Arctic sovereignty, so anyone who’s thinking about crossing the thousands of kilometres of forboding tundra to get at our sweet sweet natural resources will have to deal with, well, guys with guns on snowmobiles, we guess?
Not much is known about the project beyond the need for silence, as modern internal combustion engines are apparently too loud for whatever clandestine operations the Canadian Forces has in mind for the high Arctic. The tender calls for “hybrid-electric” snowmobiles, proving that yes, the Harper government does care about the environment, so long as it helps them beat back Russian soldiers from stealing our uranium.
