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I’ll say this for Canada’s military procurement system: it’s predictable. Predictably bad, yeah, but there’s something for consistency. I’ve been writing about our bipartisan history of absolutely catastrophic military procurement for more than a decade. If anything, it’s actually gotten worse. In fact, it was only about six weeks ago that I was writing here about the latest embarrassment in Canadian military procurement — our 10-year plan, which will probably end up running long, to procure 25,000 new 9 mm pistols to equip our military, replacing the Second World War-era pistols we currently use. Britain pulled off a similar procurement...

OTTAWA — In a surprise twist in Canada’s shipbuilding saga, a foreign consortium is offering the country a way to build a fleet of warships at a guaranteed price of $30 billion — a potential savings of $32 billion. Fincantieri of Italy and Naval Group of France — major forces in international shipbuilding — don’t believe the current $62-billion Canadian Surface Combatant program, already beset with delays and increasing costs, will be successful, industry sources told Postmedia. Instead, the French and Italian governments have proposed that Canada’s chosen contractor, Halifax-based Irving Shipbuilding, build 15 ships based on the consortium’s FREMM...

Hull for hull, at least one landlocked country can match Canada's Atlantic fleet. How the Royal Canadian Navy stacks up on the high seas In 2017, Canada's last destroyer, HMCS Athabaskan, will be retired, forcing the Royal Canadian Navy to lean on the U.S. to protect its ships from air attack. Last year, the vessel, flagship of the Atlantic fleet, twice broke down while at sea. Meanwhile, even Canada's newly renovated submarines won't last more than a few years without a few billion dollars in upgrades. Critics have called the Royal Canadian Navy "decayed," "neglected" and "embarrassing." But how small...

OTTAWA — The navy’s submarine fleet will have to be retired in the next decade unless the federal government opts to spend billions to upgrade the ships, according to Defence Department documents. The documents show the first submarine, HMCS Victoria, is scheduled to reach its end of service life in 2022. The other three vessels will follow until the last, HMCS Windsor, retires in 2027. The documents, released to the Canadian Press through the Access to Information Act, peg the cost of extending the lives of the submarines at between $1.5 billion and $3 billion, depending on how long the...

More bad news for Canada's problem-plagued submarine fleet: two of the boats will be out of commission for most of this year because of shoddy welding. HMCS Chicoutimi and its sister, HMCS Victoria, are stuck in their Vancouver Island port for months because several hundred welds can't be trusted to hold tight when the boats dive. "Numerous welds are located outside the boats' pressure hull, which will require docking to complete the review and effect repairs," says a briefing note for Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, obtained by CBC News under the Access to Information Act. "Both submarines will be alongside...

For the first time in its history the Royal Canadian Navy has successfully fired a ship-based precision missile at a target on land. The frigate HMCS Vancouver fired the missile last week off the coast of California during a joint training exercise with the U.S. navy. The Harpoon Block II missile is an improved version of the anti-ship missile carried by Canadian frigates for decades. Before the upgraded weapons system was installed, the only way for a frigate to attack a target on land was to use its 57-mm main gun, which has a range of only 17 kilometres, compared...

It’s no real surprise that buying a fleet of new warships for Canada’s navy is an incredibly expensive, complicated and lengthy endeavour. With $26 billion earmarked for the vessels and construction expected into the 2030s, it’s the most substantial military procurement in the country’s history. This week, the government announced it would try and streamline that process by seeking pre-existing warship design bids for its new Canadian surface combatants instead of designing its own unique class of ship, as well as combining the design and weapons system integrated into a single competition. The department of public works and procurement touts...

OTTAWA, Dec 12 (Reuters) – The Royal Canadian Navy on Friday imposed an almost total ban on sailors drinking at sea, after a warship had to be recalled from an international exercise because inebriated crew members got into trouble. Sailors had hitherto been allowed to drink off duty. Now, they will only be able to sample alcohol on special occasions such as Christmas, if the captain gives permission.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper settled a dispute between Treasury Board and the Defence Department to approve an $800-million, sole-source purchase of next-generation Sea Sparrow missiles for the Royal Canadian Navy’s aging frigates, sources familiar with the situation say. The decision was taken early this week following a written request earlier this month by three ministers — Industry Minister James Moore, Defence Minister Rob Nicholson and Public Works Minister Diane Finley — that won out over the objections of Treasury Board president Tony Clement, sources say. The Sea Sparrow is built by U.S.-based Raytheon. The next-generation version, the Evolved Sea Sparrow...

Setback leaves Royal Canadian Navy with just one fully operational subCBC News has learned there is more trouble for Canada's fleet of used British submarines. The Royal Canadian Navy has confirmed that HMCS Windsor – fresh from a $209 million refit – is unable to perform as expected because of a broken mission-critical diesel generator. "We have restricted her in range of operations and her endurance," Captain Luc Cassivi, director of Canada's submarine force told CBC in an interview. That means that the Windsor will only be able to operate in Canadian coastal waters until the diesel generator – a...

Canada may buy nuclear submarines Harper government considers mothballing 4 British-made diesel subs by Greg Weston, CBC News CBC News has learned the Harper government is considering buying nuclear submarines to replace its problem-plagued fleet of diesel-powered subs, all of which are currently awash in red ink and out of service for major repairs. The four second-hand subs Jean Chrétien’s Liberal government bought from the British navy in 1998 for $750 million were portrayed at the time as the military bargain of the century. Instead, they have spent almost all of their time in naval repair yards, submerging Canadian taxpayers...

All Canadian submarines now out of commission By David Pugliese, Postmedia News September 4, 2011 The navy’s last operational submarine is now sidelined until 2016, leaving the service without an underwater capability and potentially throwing into question the future of the submarine fleet. The submarine program, which has already cost around $900 million, has been plagued with various maintenance issues that have prevented the boats from being available for operations on a regular basis. A media report in July noted that one of the subs, HMCS Windsor, arrived in Canada in the fall of 2001 but since then it has...

Navy to upgrade torpedoes for troubled subs CBC News Canada's navy plans to spend about $120 million to upgrade 36 torpedoes, but they still won't work in its four submarines without further refits, CBC News has learned. The navy has MK-48 American torpedoes in stock, but the four British-built submarines aren't capable of firing them. Even after the weapons are converted, Canada would still have to spend millions more to refit the submarines to fire them. Canada's plan to upgrade the torpedoes was revealed by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees arms sales to foreign countries. The agency...

Ottawa won't be working with U.K. on building warships The Canadian Press Updated: Sun. Mar. 6 2011 6:33 PM ET OTTAWA — The Conservative government is slamming the door shut on a British proposal that wants the two countries to work together in building new warships. "Canada will not be pursuing collaboration with the United Kingdom on our new surface combatant fleet," Jay Paxton, a spokesman for Defence Minister Peter MacKay, said Sunday. Paxton was reacting to comments made by London's top diplomat in Ottawa, who told The Canadian Press that Canada and Britain could make better use of scarce...

Britain-Canada talk about building frigates in joint program: U.K. minister By: Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press OTTAWA - Canada and Britain have been holding quiet but lengthy discussions to develop replacement frigates for both of their navies. The shipbuilding program is being proposed by British defence giant BAE Systems Inc., but has also been pitched to other countries including Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Turkey in what could be described as a watered-down naval version of the F-35 fighter jet. Word of the talks emerged recently in debate before the British House of Commons. Britain's parliamentary secretary for defence, Gerald...

Slipping back into the deep Blink and you may very well miss Cmdr. Christopher Ellis’s quick-as-lightning descent down more than a dozen ladder rungs. “You get used to it,” he says, appearing all of a sudden, it seems, deep inside the submarine he commands at CFB Esquimalt, where the sun’s rays are replaced by artificial lighting and the only view outside is through two periscopes. The submarine captain’s every movement is economy in motion, exuding precision and control – important qualities for submariners to have when working at depths known only to marine life, and 400 other submarines possibly lurking...

Cdn. submarine fleet cut to one until late 2009, minister's note says Mike Blanchfield , Canwest News Service Published: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 OTTAWA - For the next year and a half, Canada's Navy will have only one submarine at sea from its small fleet of four troubled, second-hand Victoria Class boats, Canwest News Service has learned. And the damaged HMCS Chicoutimi might not be seaworthy until as late as 2012 - two years longer than officials said it would take for repairs - meaning it will have been mothballed for eight years, according to documents recently released under the...

Tories may be considering new submarines, say military sources By Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press OTTAWA - The defence minister's office recently requested a briefing on how long it would take to introduce new submarines - a move that could set the stage for the replacement of the troubled Victoria-class boats, defence sources have told The Canadian Press. At the same time, a key refit contract involving the compressed-air system aboard HMCS Victoria has been put on hold, an upgrade which left incomplete would mean the warship would not be able to fire torpedoes. Both actions raise questions about the...

Naval group urges refit for Victoria-class subs to patrol Arctic 16 hours ago OTTAWA (CP) — The Navy League of Canada says the federal government should refit the country's often maligned Victoria-class submarines for limited under-ice operations if it is serious about defending the Arctic. The defence group's national deputy director, Jerod Riley, says the biggest military threat faced in the North comes from foreign submarines. The ability to track them and neutralize them should be a key plank in any defence strategy, he said. The navy conceded last week that the country's new Arctic patrol ships, announced by Prime...

Successful trip to Arctic seen as key step in boosting image of Cda's subs Published: Sunday, August 26, 2007 | 6:26 PM ET Canadian Press: TARA BRAUTIGAM HMCS CORNER BROOK (CP) - The crew aboard HMCS Corner Brook, hoping to leave behind a fatal disaster aboard its sister submarine three years ago, have returned home in a bid to instill public confidence in Canada's much-maligned submarine program. The 59 men and women on board Canada's only operational submarine want to move on from the shadow of the HMCS Chicoutimi fire that has haunted them since it claimed one of their...