Apr 21, 2022

Kelowna company steps up to help the war effort in Ukraine

It’s not every day a company in Kelowna is asked for its expertise to assist Ukraine in its war effort against the invading Russian army.

That’s exactly what happened when Dan Street, operations and program manager at WS Technologies received an email from the war-ravaged country in early March.

WS Technologies is a Kelowna-based technology company that designs, develops and manufactures beacon testers, which ensure emergency locator transmitters required on all airplanes, are working properly.

“In case they crash, go down or are in distress, the emergency locator transmitter is activated,” says Street.

“That transmitter sends a signal to the satellite system, then those signals get sent to rescue co-ordination centre who send out rescue teams.”

They are one of only a few companies worldwide who provide the product.

“I got an email the first week of March from someone saying he represents the Aviation State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. He listed all the aircraft they are using,” recalled Street who believes the man who sent the email was familiar with their product.

“Because of that he reached out and asked it there was any way we could get them one. They didn’t have any money though.”

After some trepidation, he says the company was more than happy to put a unit together and get it to them.

Shipping the device also proved to be a challenge since they quickly discovered companies such as Fed Ex and DHS were not delivering to Ukraine.

They eventually found someone in Poland who would accept the package and ensure it got into the proper hands.

To the best of his knowledge, the device did reach its ultimate destination.

Street says he was told the tester became necessary after the individual at the border guard service indicated they had to leave Odessa for another airfield to avoid missile attacks — leaving their equipment behind.