Windsor, Nova Scotia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 14, 2026) - Coastal Defence Systems Inc. (CDSI), Atlantic Canada's only Indigenous-owned defence drone company, today announced two significant additions to its leadership team. David L. MacDonald, CD2, a retired senior Canadian Armed Forces officer with 25 years of operational and RPAS (drone) experience, joins CDSI as Drone Expert and Business & Military Liaison. Ryan Groom, a veteran software developer, cybersecurity specialist, and mixed-reality entrepreneur, joins as Technology Advisor - Artificial Intelligence. The appointments deepen CDSI's operational and technical bench as the company advances its family of proprietary UAV platforms and AI-enabled autonomy and sensor-fusion systems in support of Canada's sovereign defence capability.

"David and Ryan bring exactly the kind of real-world credibility our platforms are built on — decades of frontline military and RPAS operations on one side, and deep technical experience in AI, cybersecurity, and secure systems on the other," said William Fleming, Chief Executive Officer of CDSI. "As we bring our UAV platforms from development into fielded capability, their combined expertise will be central to how we design, test, and deploy technology that Canada's defence and security partners can rely on."

David MacDonald Joins as Drone Expert and Business & Military Liaison

MacDonald retired from the Canadian Armed Forces after 25 years of service in demanding operational environments at home and abroad, including deployments to Afghanistan, Latvia, the Persian Gulf, and Sierra Leone, and duty with NATO and United Nations missions across more than 80 countries. He commanded an Air Space Coordination Centre during Operation ATHENA in Kandahar, Afghanistan, served as a NATO Tactical Evaluator, and was part of a Readiness Training Flight recognized with a NATO Commendation for the highest training standards ever achieved in Force Protection. His UAV expertise spans both military and civilian operations, including roles as Manager of Operations at ING Robotic Aviation and Drone Delivery Canada, an Authorized Flight Reviewer for Transport Canada, and an instructor for Transport Canada-sanctioned Advanced RPAS licensing.

At CDSI, MacDonald will apply this operational depth to platform development, testing, and training, while serving as a liaison between the company and its military, government, and business partners.

"Every aircraft and every system CDSI builds has to work the first time, in the field, under pressure — that's the standard I've operated to for 25 years, and it's the standard I intend to bring here," said MacDonald. "I'm proud to help build a Canadian, Indigenous-led company that's serious about strengthening our sovereign defence capability."

Ryan Groom Joins as Technology Advisor - Artificial Intelligence

Groom is a software developer, cybersecurity specialist, and technology innovator whose career of more than three decades has centred on solving complex operational and technical challenges through emerging technology. In 2002 he founded CyberSecure, which became the first Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Security Solutions in Canada and the tenth worldwide, and which won the 2004 Microsoft Canada Impact Award for Excellence in Security Solutions before its acquisition later that year. He went on to serve as Chief Engineer and later Chief Technology Officer of VE Networks, where he led development of an email-encryption platform that produced a co-held U.S. patent, and was subsequently named to Microsoft Canada's "Cloud Society" of cloud-solutions innovators.

Groom is Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Kognitiv Spark, whose RemoteSpark platform delivers secure, augmented-reality remote support engineered to perform over low-bandwidth and contested networks, and which has been fielded by industry, defence primes, and NATO member militaries. A TEDx speaker on augmented reality and a frequent speaker on security and technology since 2001, he has also produced a CBC documentary on the use and regulation of unmanned aerial vehicles.

As CDSI's Technology Advisor for Artificial Intelligence, Groom will help guide the company's proprietary AI autonomy, sensor-fusion, and secure-systems roadmap, drawing on his experience across software engineering, information security, cloud architecture, and augmented reality.

"CDSI is tackling one of the hardest problems in the field — building autonomous systems that are both intelligent and secure enough to trust in contested environments," said Groom. "That's the same challenge I've spent my career on, from cybersecurity to augmented reality to AI, and I'm looking forward to helping shape how CDSI builds it."

About Coastal Defence Systems Inc. (CDSI)

Coastal Defence Systems Inc. is Atlantic Canada's only Indigenous-owned defence drone company, developing a proprietary family of UAV, surveillance, and AI-enabled systems in support of Canada's sovereign defence capability. CDSI's platforms combine autonomous target detection, multi-sensor fusion, and GPS-independent navigation across a growing line of strike, reconnaissance, and ISR aircraft. The company operates at the intersection of Indigenous economic reconciliation and national security, and views investment in Canada's defence industrial base and Indigenous-led innovation as a strategic imperative for the country's security. For more information, visit coastaldefencesystems.ca.

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Source: Coastal Defence Systems Inc.