The Canadian military will beef up its surveillance capabilities by purchasing a new radar system to guard cities and critical economic areas in the country.

The system, GUARD, is expected to be in place by 2010, according to air force records obtained by the Citizen.

"GUARD will provide the capability to conduct air surveillance and command and control over critical Canadian economic areas and population centres," according to the air force plan, prepared by the service's commander, Lt.-Gen. Angus Watt. The plan looks at the needs of the air force over the next several years.

The system will be ground-based and portable. The radars could see duty at the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver in 2010.

However, one defence official familiar with the GUARD concept said he doesn't expect the air force will meet the necessary timelines to have the system in place for the Games. There are still numerous government approvals to go through for the project, he added.

The radars are seen as a follow-on project to another program that will purchase portable radars for air bases at Bagotville, Que., and Cold Lake, Alta.

A request for proposals is expected to go out by the end of the summer to the aerospace industry for that project, dubbed Tactical Control Radar, which will cost an estimated $40 million for the purchase of two new radars to replace aging equipment. There would also be an option to buy a third radar.

The Canadian military was unable to provide comment on either radar project. Most statements to the media have to be approved in advance by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office and government officials say that process has slowed to the point that it is now taking two to three weeks before any information can be released.

Defence analysts, however, say that radars such as GUARD could be used in situations where the level of aerial threat against a particular location has increased.

That could include everything from Parliament Hill to nuclear power stations, said Robert Huebert, of the University of Calgary's centre for military and strategic studies.

"You can use it to protect a G8 meeting or Parliament," he said. "If someone takes off in a small aircraft and wants to do some damage, this gives you enough warning."

In an interview earlier this year, Canadian Lt.-Gen. Charlie Bouchard, deputy commander of the North American Aerospace Defence Command, said officials were trying to determine how best to provide air protection for the Olympic Games in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.

The RCMP is the lead agency organizing security, but the joint U.S.-Canadian Norad has been given the job of providing protection from the air and monitoring the airspace around the Olympics.

Much of the work will be done by the Canadian Norad regional command, but Lt.-Gen. Bouchard said that organization will have the full capabilities of Norad from which to draw.

"We, at the strategic level, will shape the strategic environment around them to make sure they succeed, whether it is (with) the provision of a co-ordinated air picture, whether it's the provision of additional assets they may require and are looking at (including) everything from fighters to aerial refuellers to AWACS to ground-based radars," he said at the time.

AWACS are specialized surveillance planes that can detect aircraft as far away as 400 kilometres.

Fighter aircraft are also expected to be flying patrols over the Olympic venues.

Last summer, the military created its Joint Task Force Games, which is now operating out of Victoria, B.C. At this point, the Joint Task Force Games headquarters has about 25 personnel, but that is expected to grow this summer and by the time the Olympics roll around, it will be more than 200.

Lt.-Gen. Bouchard said co-ordinating air security for large events is not new for Norad.

In January, fighter aircraft flew missions for Norad to provide protection for the Super Bowl.

Aircraft have also been involved in security for space shuttle launches and will be on hand for the Democratic and Republican national conventions and the Indianapolis 500.