Royal Canadian Navy Discussions and updates

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
I wonder if Canada would even have any subs now if it weren't for the secondhand Upholders being available.
I have previously commented that the RCN knew the Upholders were in poor condition when they accepted them. The RCN knew these subs were the only option to stay in the sub business back in the Chrétien era. The billion dollar expense to make them right is on him, not the RCN. There needs to be a public commitment by junior to renew the RCN's sub fleet.
 

rockitten

Member
I have previously commented that the RCN knew the Upholders were in poor condition when they accepted them. The RCN knew these subs were the only option to stay in the sub business back in the Chrétien era. The billion dollar expense to make them right is on him, not the RCN. There needs to be a public commitment by junior to renew the RCN's sub fleet.
John, I read some books about Collins, and it did mentioned that Canadian navy did sent a few people to "come and have a look", a co-built with Aussie was mentioned/considered, but they went for Upholder class instead.

Would you mind if you can explain a bit why Collins was not chosen by RCN?
 

t68

Well-Known Member
John, I read some books about Collins, and it did mentioned that Canadian navy did sent a few people to "come and have a look", a co-built with Aussie was mentioned/considered, but they went for Upholder class instead.

Would you mind if you can explain a bit why Collins was not chosen by RCN?
GF might have an insight aswell, as he has mentioned before of RCN being in the room when the RAN was toying with the idea of a second Squadron using the Upholders.
 

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
Would you mind if you can explain a bit why Collins was not chosen by RCN?
The Chrétien government would not properly fund the RCN to replace our submarine fleet. Had the Upholders been unavailable, the RCN's submarine capability would have ended almost twenty years ago. The RCN will find itself in the same situation in the next few years unless a firm commitment is started soon to fund the Victoria class's replacement.

If a defence friendly government had existed back then I am not sure if a joint Canadian-Australian effort on Collins would have worked. You may recall that the government prior to Chrétien, the Mulroney government, had proposed 8-10 SSNs. Had the Conservatives won back then the Ontario nuclear lobby would have come knocking at the door.

Should there be a replacement program for the Victoria's, Australia's new subs could very well be our choice but I wouldn't rule out the nuclear version.
 
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byronicasian

New Member
Frankly, we will be lucky if there is a replacement for the Victoria class. The RCN could very well end up out of the sub business when they are paid off, a huge mistake IMHO. The nuclear option would be somewhat more expensive but Canada has substantial capabilities in the nuclear area and unless we start renewing reactors this infrastructure will die off. Maybe 6-8 SSNs, some Hollands, up the DeWolfes to 8 and call it a sovereignty protection navy.
2nd hand Collins once the Short-Fins get commissioned?

Tagging along the RAN build order?

Teaming up with Taiwan to build new subs?
 

t68

Well-Known Member
2nd hand Collins once the Short-Fins get commissioned?
They would be too old by the time the new subs became avalible I would imagine,the Upholder/Victoria were only ten years old when purchased


Tagging along the RAN build order?
Depending on the IP situation I imagine you would like home build as well, tagging onto the RAN build would be logical choice as well


Teaming up with Taiwan to build new subs?
GF would be better to explain the implications of a joint project, Im lead to believe the approached AusGov on a similer proposell which was knocked on the head.
 

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
Assuming money is made available and the nuclear option is off the table I think the Australian sub program would be a strong contender for a future Canadian sub. The IP issues ( France, Australia, US) would need to be sorted of course. The French would probably prefer a SSN choice by Canada. It is still early days and we could see new offerings by the Germans and the Japanese. Needless to say my fantasy choice would be 8 Virginias.:D
 

J_Can

Member
re: Canadian coast guard/ arctic ambitions

New Option for Canada’s Icebreaker Shortages - Canadian Defence Review | Canadian Defence Review

http://www.davie.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/icebreaker-briefing-RESOLUTE-1.pdf

I do not care much for Davie but it seems that this plan might actually be a decent buy. I tried my best to search through government websites to see any other offers but found nothing. Still as far I can tell Canada could get one polar class three ice breaker and three polar class two ice breakers all before 2020. This would dramatically change for the better Canada's ability to maintain a presence in the high north.

This also would not crunch to hard on Seaspan toes because they still have will have to the build the biggest icebreaker at polar class two classification, and any follow on projects. I know this is not directly related to the RCN but with assets like this in the coast guard inventory, it would allow the RCN assets that much more access to the high north. Which would still be lacking even after the introduction of the AOPV.
 

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
It would interesting to see the actual numbers on this fast track proposal. Given the current situation on CCG icebreakers, the government really has no viable alternative. I have serious doubts on how the AOR Berlin class ship program will pan out with SeaSpan. Building two 20,000 ton plus vessels in a resurrected shipyard is likely going to be a cluster that will result in cancellation of the heavy icebreaker. The Liberals and Davie are probably searching for a used heavy icebreaker already. Stuff would hit the fan if Davie were to build a new heavy icebreaker done the road.
 

J_Can

Member
It would interesting to see the actual numbers on this fast track proposal. Given the current situation on CCG icebreakers, the government really has no viable alternative. I have serious doubts on how the AOR Berlin class ship program will pan out with SeaSpan. Building two 20,000 ton plus vessels in a resurrected shipyard is likely going to be a cluster that will result in cancellation of the heavy icebreaker. The Liberals and Davie are probably searching for a used heavy icebreaker already. Stuff would hit the fan if Davie were to build a new heavy icebreaker done the road.
The idea from what the proposal says is Davie will buy four almost brand new hulls refit then and then offer a lease buy contract to the coast guard. The hulls themselves are already purpose built ice breakers, they were original made for northern Alaska oil drilling. The large hull was an exploratory vessel the other three multi purpose ice breaking tenders. All that Davie would be doing is refitting to coast guard specs really. For once I hope the government makes the right choice.:D
 

vonnoobie

Well-Known Member
These 4 would be the smart way ahead, But cost's wont necesarily be the same as the fixed price of the contract offer ended on 15th April 2017, 8 days ago.

If funds are an issue, then they should approach the USCG about a joint venture as they too are lacking in ice breakers.
 

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
If funds are an issue, then they should approach the USCG about a joint venture as they too are lacking in ice breakers.
Pollies in both countries would make this next to impossible and then there the unions to consider. Good idea that won't go anywhere.:(
 

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
Today's Globe&Mail newspaper outlines the case around Adm. Norman. While nothing is proven, the article essentially says Normal provided information and a strategy to prevent the Liberal government from cancelling a sole source contract to Davie for a AOR conversion ship. The good news is the RCN will get badly needed AOR long before SeaSpan builds a Berlin class AOR. The bad news the RCN lost an Admiral and he may get convicted for leaking cabinet documents.

Given our horrible procurement system, Normal may well have decided to risk his career to make sure the RCN got an AOR asap. Had this deal been cancelled, there is no way a new contract would have been issued in a timely manner considering three companies would be whining with heavy backing from their respective provincial governments, in short a total cluster &uck.

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/ne...34816333/?ref=http://www.theglobeandmail.com&
 

Novascotiaboy

Active Member
Mark Norman has been highly praised in the past for his dedication to his sailors and the navy in general. What a sad situation that such a passionate member of the upper echelon of our navy may have had to do what was right to ensure the navy remained a blue water force with the equipment it so badly needs. At this point it doesn't look to good for the Admiral. Right or wrong this episode in our military history is a low point that casts a very poor light on the deplorable state our military has been left by successive self serving governments.

It brings to light to those that care to educate themselves that big business, IRVING, needs to be well and truly managed to ensure the government gets what it's paying for. As much as I hate to think the ABI , "Any Body but Irving", group may have been right when Irving got the combat ship portion of the NSPS I hope that we can get through this episode without undue delays to the AOPS program so the CSC steel cutting can get underway.

If guilty of what has been reported I believe the Admiral did it for the right reasons regardless of the consequences. "Ready Aye Ready"
 

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
A sad situation indeed. Hadn't heard the ABI acronym before. Davie was bankrupt at the time NSPS selected the shipyards so I have no idea what any alternative could have been.:confused:
 

J_Can

Member
A sad situation indeed. Hadn't heard the ABI acronym before. Davie was bankrupt at the time NSPS selected the shipyards so I have no idea what any alternative could have been.:confused:
I know there was a shipyard in St. Catherines Ontario that fiscal and technical qualified under the NSPS, but obviously never had built a combat ship prior. Davie im pretty sure was trying to get a fiscal waver at the last second. At the time of the NSPS award though, Iriving was really the only Canadian shipyard that was not in the utter gutter that had at one time built naval combat vessels.
 

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
Even if a yard was the most technologically capable, being located in Ontario would be the the kiss of death. There is no political gain for any party for taking away workfare from the Maritimes or BC.
 

Jkc13

New Member
Canadian Surfrace Combatant

I think the Canadian surface combatant should be equipped with either AN/SPY-1 or AN/SPY-6 Radar because with newly developing threats from nations like North Korea, Canada may have to deal with incoming ballistic missiles. Also, they should be equipped with extensive ASW hardware as these ships could be operating in an environment like the Sea of Japan or the S. China, even the Atlantic where there will always be potentially hostile submarines patrolling, whether they be from Russia, China, or North Korea. And as usual, they need surface warfare and air warfare capabilities to handle enemy bombers and surface vessels. Finally, I believe Canada may need more than 15 or 16 of these ships due to the fact that their potential rivals continue to expand their navies, which will continue to strain the United States as we try to keep pace with our adversaries(without a budget, lol). It will be necessary for our allies to bolster their naval assets so that we keep the edge over our enemies.
 
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