Canadian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

As part of its long-awaited defence policy report, Canada has committed to building all 15 surface combatant ships at a projected cost of up to $60 billion. “This plan fully funds for the first time the Royal Canadian Navy’s full complement of 15 Canadian Surface Combatant ships necessary to replace the existing frigates and retired destroyers,” Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said.

The number of new warships to be constructed in Halifax by prime contractor Irving Shipbuilding under the government’s massive shipbuilding strategy has been the subject of speculation since the program was announced. Before Wednesday, the official commitment has been “up to 15” ships. Concerns were renewed last week when the parliamentary budget office released a report saying 15 ships would cost taxpayers $61 billion, more than double the $26 billion originally budgeted by the Conservative government that launched the program. Last year, Ottawa moved away from that number, saying costs were too uncertain at this stage in the procurement process.

According to supplementary documents provided during Wednesday’s report release, as part of the review, DND conducted a year-long re-costing of the surface combatants including “private sector firms as well as international experts, such as the U.S. Navy.” Based on this review, the department said, the cost of 15 ships is projected to land between $56 billion and $60 billion. In the policy report, the government promised to provide $17.5 billion to fund equipment projects for the Royal Canadian Navy over the next 20 years ($53.5 billion on a cash basis), including $14.6 billion to fully fund planned equipment projects. The report says this includes sufficient funding to acquire all 15 Canadian navy ships. However, with delivery of the first ship not scheduled until 2026 and the vessels expected to be in service more than 30 years, much of the predicted $56 billion-$60 billion cost of the project will be spent after the 20 years covered by the policy.

Irving will be paid by the government throughout the build process based on the completion of the vessels. In an emailed statement to the Chronicle Herald, Irving president Kevin McCoy said he applauds Ottawa for establishing a new defence policy and allocating additional resources to ensure Canada’s Armed Forces have the tools and equipment they need to operate effectively. “The government’s commitment to the national shipbuilding strategy and its two partner shipyards is a clear signal that Canada’s shipbuilding industry is being revitalized and Canadians are benefiting from coast to coast to coast,” McCoy said.

Public Services and Procurement Canada requested proposals for the new warships. Just this week the department extended the deadline for the second time for the 12 prequalified firms to submit a combined bid on an existing ship design and combat systems integrator. Though the number of warships to be built has finally been solidified, there are still question marks surrounding how many Arctic offshore patrol ships, also being built by Irving, the government will deliver. On Wednesday, the government committed to building five to six ice-capable ships under the program. The official navy website for the AOPS project still says six vessels will be built, and official phrasing in press releases and announcements has shifted between six and “up to six” in the past few years.

The name of the sixth ship has not been announced yet. The reason for this uncertainty is due to how the contract with Irving is structured to include incentives to keep shipbuilding costs down and deliver six ships within a ceiling price, according to information on DND’s website. If costs increase due to unforeseen factors, the contract guarantees the delivery of five ships within that same ceiling price. “If five ships are delivered to the Department of National Defence, the navy will still have a well-equipped fleet capable of carrying out its missions and operations. However, this could result in reallocating frigate resources to supplement Arctic and offshore patrol ships, as required,” the site reads.

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Hope is very much still alive that Canada will purchase

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, despite indications late last year that the country would choose the

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instead.

Jeff Babione, executive vice president and general manager of the F-35 program for manufacturer Lockheed Martin, told Military.com in an interview Wednesday at the Paris Air Show that he is “confident” the aircraft will be selected in an open competition to replace Canada’s aging CF-18 Hornets.

Babione said he hopes the

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aerial demo at the show, which highlighted the aircraft’s ability to maneuver with ease, had made an impact on Canadian officials.

“I had the privilege of meeting with the Canadian contingent here at the Paris Air Show, and I’m actually very encouraged about our conversation,” he said. “We were talking about how the F-35 can be part of their future fighter competition. Clearly, they were able to see the capabilities of the airplane here with the demonstration and, previously, a significant amount of information about the F-35, its amazing capabilities, its sensor fusion and 5th-generation capabilities, as well as the capabilities they saw here.”

Canada is the only one of eight international partners in the F-35 program that has yet to commit to purchase any aircraft, though it continues to pay annual dues to remain a partner.

Babione confirmed that Lockheed had submitted a proposal to the F-35’s Joint Program Office for a “block buy” that would bundle three consecutive low-rate initial production lots and include more than 400 aircraft, about half of which would be purchased by international buyers.

Officials are currently negotiating the next purchase lot, LRIP 11, which includes about 130 airplanes, he said. The prospective block buy would include lots 12, 13 and 14, and would likely be valued at more than $40 billion, Babione said.

“A certain number of the partners have already authorized the ability to do a block buy, and then the U.S. services will be a series of options on that contract,” he said. “… So that’s what we’re going to propose to our Joint Program Office customer later on, next year.”

Other countries, in addition to the original international partners, have expressed interest in the aircraft. Babione said the F-35 is slated to be part of fighter buy competitions in Finland and Belgium, and added that Germany recently expressed interest in the aircraft. It’s not clear yet, however, how many F-35s Germany might be interested in acquiring.

Also unclear is whether Canada will be able to participate in a block buy, even if it opts to pursue the F-35. National news outlet

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that a decision won’t be made on which fighter to go with until the start of the next decade.

“They’re a good standing partner in the program,” Babione said of Canada. “And we encourage them as soon as practical to make a decision with their fighter competition.”

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Jura said:

kinda fun to read fanboish sources:

"Speculation is mounting that XXX is seriously considering the YYY for its ZZZ project."

as in Canada to increase military spending by 73%

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vincent said:

We would have more tax money if the Cons didn't cut the GST for no good reason

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The commander of the Royal Canadian Navy is defending the Trudeau government's plan to spend billions of dollars on upgrading Canada's submarine fleet.

Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd tells The Canadian Press that having a submarine is the best way to spot others that may be approaching or have even entered Canadian waters or those of NATO allies.

But Lloyd won't say whether Russia, China or any other country has been sniffing around Canadian waters, citing the need for secrecy.

Such silence is not new, but it does underscore the long-standing challenge in justifying repeated government and military assertions in Canada about the need for submarines.

Canada's four existing Victoria-class vessels, purchased from the U.K. in 1998, have a reputation for breakdowns and other problems, even though Lloyd and others say they have turned a corner.

Lloyd does note that foreign countries are building submarines faster than most other weapons, particularly Asia, where the navy has been increasing its operations amid growing regional tensions.

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PiSigma said:

GST got nothing to do with it. Its the fact the liberals have the wrong spending priorities. You can have 100% tax, but if people don't have jobs or businesses fail, 100% of 0 is still zero. We don't have HST or PST in Alberta, but we do fine even in a recession, because government spending is low (before), until the damned NDP came in. If the federal government and other provinces just get their budgets in order and actually encourage business growth, then they wouldn't need PST either. Considering BC have the same population as Alberta, they have a very high HST because they rather tax than develop their resources or promote business development, which the problem all tree huggers have. Eventually there will be no one left to tax.

It is the government's job to encourage business growth, but they have been making it harder to grow any business here in the west, because all liberals care about is their voter base in Ontario and Quebec. Quebec is supported by equalisation payments from western provinces but rejects our pipelines! Just wtf!
The liberals if they want western support need to make sure our interests are also heard in Ottawa.

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ahho said:

Well this is a bit off topic, but the Alberta economy was going downhill before NDP took over since world commodity prices was heading down. Both Liberal and Conservative, have their strength and weakness. Alberta feel neglected, well so did some other province during different government.

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PiSigma said:

Saskatchewan and Alberta were in the same boat economically in 2014 due to oil crash. Yet in 2017, Saskatchewan is ranked 4th in north america after Permian for investability for oil and Alberta was 26th. The oil in Alberta and Saskatchewan is very similar. This is all because of government policy and the instability of ndp's inexperience.

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vincent said:

Saskatchewan got potash, Alerta doesn't

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