The Ship Model Forum

State Department Approves $1.7 Billion Aegis Sale To Canada
A representation of the Lockheed Martin team's winning design of the Type 26 Global Combat Ship variant as a Canadian Surface Combatant.
By Rich Abott |
2 days ago |
05/10/2021

The State Department on Monday approved a potential $1.7 billion Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of the Aegis Combat System (ACS) to Canada for use in its new Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) ships.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress of the sale on Monday as well.

Canada will use this equipment to help deliver its first Aegis-capable CSC. DSCA said this will increase Canadian maritime forces� interoperability with the U.S. and other allied forces and �significantly improve network-centric warfare capability for the U.S. forces operating globally alongside Canada.�

The requested sale includes four shipsets of the ACS; one Aegis Combat System Computer Program; four shipsets of AN/SPY-7 Solid State Radar Components; four shipsets of Cooperative Engagement Capability; and three shipsets of the MK 41 Vertical Launch System.

The FMS also includes other equipment and services like the Mode 5/S capable Identification Friend or Foe equipment; early ACS development activities for the CSC Project; hardware to support development and testing in U.S. facilities; and various training and technical support services.

The prime contractor for this sale is Lockheed Martin [LMT]. DSCA noted in its announcement of the sale that �there are a significant number of other companies under contract with the U.S. Navy that will provide components, systems, and engineering services during the execution of this effort.�

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It's time to ban the buying of made-in-Canada warships
Scott Gilmore: Decades of waste and failure prove Canada is simply incapable of building ships for our navy. There's only one way to end the insanity once and for all.
Have you ever witnessed someone do something utterly shocking, but because they have done it so many times, you are no longer capable of being shocked on an emotional level, even though intellectually you know you should feel something?
That is where everyone who pays any attention to Canadian defence procurement is right now, and has been for years if not decades.
This week the parliamentary budget officer, Yves Giroux, went through the annual ritual of revealing that the Royal Canadian Navy�s badly needed frigates will now cost more money, and will arrive later than expected. What began as a $26-billion project 13 years ago will now take an extra decade, and will likely cost $77 billion. And, spoiler alert, Giroux added that the final price tag may (read: most certainly will) exceed $82 billion.
How many thousands of ships will we get in return? 15.

Canada could buy similar frigates from the Americans, French or even Australians. Our current price tag is between four and five times more expensive than theirs. Why? No one ever really has an answer. Our defence officials continually tweak the designs, with more and more expensive additions. Our sclerotic shipbuilding industry can�t tie its own shoes on time or on budget. And both have small armies of supporters who convince gullible Canadian politicians that there is nothing more sacred than a shipbuilding job. All of them and none of them are to blame. It is what it is: a chronic, painful, incurable, mess.

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DND refuses to change course on warship project even as price rises to $77 billion
National defence has launched a PR campaign to highlight the proposed new ship, the Type 26 from the consortium of Lockheed Martin and BAE.
Author of the article:
David Pugliese � Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date:
Mar 02, 2021 � 2 days ago � 3 minute read

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan is featured in newly released ads highlighting the Type 26. Photo by Adrian Wyld /THE CANADIAN PRESS
Article content
Despite warnings that its new warship fleet continues to rise in cost, national defence is refusing to make changes to the $77-billion project.
It has instead launched a PR campaign to highlight the proposed new ship, the Type 26 from the consortium of Lockheed Martin and BAE. In addition, national defence officials hope to, within the year, have the Liberal government sign the contract to begin construction of the vessels known as Canadian Surface Combatant.(..>EDITED)

Cost of Canadian Navy warship program jumps to $77 billion, says PBO
The controversial surface combatant project has faced delays and significant increases in cost as the price tag has climbed from an original $14-billion.
Author of the article:
David Pugliese � Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date:
Feb 24, 2021 � 4 hours ago � 2 minute read
The cost of Canada�s proposed fleet of warships has jumped to $77 billion, according to a new report from the parliamentary budget officer.
The report, released Wednesday by PBO Yves Giroux, outlined how the cost of the Canadian Surface Combatant fleet increased by $7.3 billion in less than two years.
The controversial surface combatant project has faced delays and significant increases in cost as the price tag has climbed from an original $14-billion estimate to $26 billion and then to $70 billion in 2017. Giroux warned that further delays in the project which proposes the purchase of 15 Type 26 warships will only drive the price upwards.
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Ultra awarded subcontract to provide Hull-Mounted Sonar
Naval News February 2021 Navy Forces Maritime Defense Industry Posted On Thursday, 18 February 2021 16:07
According to a press release published by Ultra on February 18, 2021, Ultra is delighted to announce a contract award to commence work on the S2150-C HullMounted Sonar (HMS) system for the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) program. This award comes soon after Ultra�s recent award of a contract to provide the CSC Variable Depth Sonar (VDS). These subcontracts move the development of CSC�s anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability from the program definition phase into the substantive manufacture and delivery of the vessels� suite of sonars.
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It will be at least a decade before Canada sees any of its new frigates
Murray Brewster 7 hrs ago
It will be 2031, at the earliest, before the navy sees the first of its new frigates; a setback brought about partly by the fact Canada, Britain and Australia are still feeling their way around how to build the ultra-modern warship.
The outgoing president of Irving Shipbuilding Inc., which is in charge of constructing combat ships for the federal government, said he anticipates steel will be cut on the first of the new generation high-end warships by mid-2024.
"We have been trying to take an honest look at where we are and what it will take to build the ship," said Kevin McCoy who recently announced his retirement from the East Coast shipbuilder.
The current estimate is that it will take up to seven-and-a-half years to build the surface combatant, a timeline being used by Britain's BAE Systems Inc., which is constructing the first of what's known as the Type 26 design.

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Navy needs to prepare for tough talks over warship delays, cost increases: Norman
By Lee Berthiaume The Canadian Press
Posted February 3, 2021 7:44 am
Updated February 3, 2021 7:54 am
OTTAWA � Retired vice-admiral Mark Norman is warning the Royal Canadian Navy to start preparing for some hard discussions as delays and escalating costs continue to buffet the country�s $60-billion plan to build new warships over the coming decades.

The Department of National Defence revealed this week that the first of 15 new warships being built to replace the Navy�s 12 frigates and three already-retired destroyers will be delivered in 2030 or 2031, years later than planned.

News of the schedule slip comes ahead of a highly anticipated update from the parliamentary budget officer on the cost of the overall project, though defence officials have maintained the $

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PBO comes under fire as navy worries about watchdog's report on troubled warship project
Author of the article:
David Pugliese � Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date:
Jan 26, 2021 � 2 days ago � 3 minute read

An association representing serving and retired Royal Canadian Navy personnel is telling MPs to be wary of the parliamentary budget officer and the watchdog�s upcoming report on the troubled $70 billion project to buy new warships.
But a Conservative MP is pushing back against what he labels as an attempt to discredit the PBO, saying he fully supports the watchdog�s efforts to get straight answers on what the Canadian Surface Combatant program will actually cost taxpayers.
President Biden plans to move U.S. government vehicles to electric power
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Battle of the budget: DND gears up to defend cost of new warships in the New Year
Murray Brewster 9 hrs ago
No matter which way they are going to be sliced, the numbers will be jaw-dropping.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) is set, early in 2021, to deliver an assessment of the Royal Canadian Navy's long-anticipated frigate replacement program, a review that will give the public perhaps the clearest view yet of the kind of investment taxpayers will be asked to make in the future fleet.
A respected former senior defence official, writing in the military magazine Esprit de Corps this fall, took a stab at running the numbers and they are eye-watering, especially in a post-pandemic world.

Alan Williams estimated that when construction and lifetime operating and maintenance expenses are included the new fleet of 15 warships could cost between $213 billion and $219 billion.
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Top of the line Canadian-made naval equipment shut out of $70-billion warship program
A spokeswoman says DND is �confident that we have competitively selected the best design to meet Canada�s needs.�
Author of the article:
David Pugliese � Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date:
Dec 16, 2020 � Last Updated 4 days ago � 6 minute read
Citizen@175: Winston Churchill � 'Mr. England' � takes Ottawa by storm
Canadian equipment that taxpayers spent hundreds of millions of dollars to develop isn�t being used on the country�s new $70-billion fleet of warships because the consortium that won the bid selected its own affiliated companies and their foreign systems.

A number of Canadian firms repeatedly tried to warn ministers and deputy ministers at the Department of National Defence, Public Services and Procurement Canada as well as Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada that they would be shut out of the Canadian Surface Combatant project, according to federal government documents obtained by this newspaper.
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Lockheed Martin Signs SPY-7 Radar Contract for CSC Frigate
Lockheed Martin announces contract signing for the SPY-7 Radar for the Canadian Surface Combatants.
Naval News Staff 11 Nov 2020
Lockheed Martin press release
From humanitarian assistance to high-intensity conflicts, the Royal Canada Navy�s future fleet will perform a wide range of missions requiring advanced technology and multi-role versatility. Lockheed Martin�s latest generation SPY-7 radar and Canadian-developed Combat Management System (CMS 330) will form the backbone of the Canadian Surface Combatant. Under a contract awarded by Irving Shipbuilding Inc. in September 2020 for the SPY-7 radar system, CSC will have the capability to keep Canada�s sailors safe and prepared in the face of modern threats.
�We optimized the CSC ship design with this particular radar to ensure the Royal Canadian Navy can fulfill a variety of missions with its flexible architecture. Partnering with our teammates, Lockheed Martin Canada has also begun the technology transfer of selected components of the radar system to Canadian suppliers for design, construction and implementation. The work in Canada will open doors to a new export market for local industry, producing high value jobs in Quebec and across the country through subcontractors and suppliers involved in the production.�

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Seven Things You Should Know About the Canadian Surface Combatant
The new Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) will be the world�s most advanced and modern combat ship, equipped with next generation technology to support the men and women of the Royal Canadian Navy as they fulfill their wide range of missions around the world, from humanitarian assistance to high-intensity conflicts, for the next 30+ years. Keep reading to learn more about this capable, Canadian-built ship.
1. The Canadian Surface Combatant replaces the existing HALIFAX Class ships and will serve for 30+ years.
Introduced into service in the 1990s, Canada�s HALIFAX class ships have been in the fleet for almost 30 years, and many of the companies who helped design and then modernize these ships are also on the Canadian Surface Combatant team.
2. The new ships will be capable of serving multiple missions around the globe.
CSC will be capable of serving missions ranging from humanitarian aid to high intensity conflict missions. The ships will be built in Canada and will support Royal Canadian Navy men and women in deployments around the globe. In fact, CSC will be fully interoperable with 5-eyes and NATO nations.(...SNIPPED)