Britain-Canada talk about building frigates in joint program: U.K. minister

The Canadian Press ^ | 02/10/2011 | Murray Brewster

[sukhoi-30mki]

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 Howarth, said he was delighted that a "close discussion with the Canadians" was underway over the so-called Global Combat Ship program.

A spokesman for Defence Minister Peter MacKay played down the talks.

Jay Paxton described them as discussions over "best practices, interoperability, costs and numerous other issues."

Canada's Defence Department is refurbishing its 12 Halifax-class patrol frigates, launched in the 1990s but expected to reach the end of their life around 2025.

Planning has long been underway for a replacement vessel, tentatively dubbed the Single Class Surface Combat ship, which would see different kinds of warships built on top of the same basic hull design.

The frigate replacement is a huge chunk of the estimated $35 billion the Conservative government has committed in its recent 20-year national shipbuilding strategy. That plan, which the federal government recently formalized in a request for proposals, would see two shipyards selected as prime contractors.

Paxton said that will not change.

"Every new ship that Canada builds for the Canadian navy will be built in Canada," he said.

BAE Systems, the maker of Canada's submarine fleet, has been promoting its proposal for joint warship development for about a year and has approached Brazil, which plans to build six warships over the next decade. The two countries signed a defence agreement that allows the South American country's naval architects access to BAE's normally secretive development labs.

Louise Mercier, vice-president of the Navy League of Canada, says the British government was already planning to build the Type 26 frigates when it was hit with drastic budget cuts and downsizing — something that may have prompted BAE to begin looking for partners to help defray the cost of developing the warship.

"Britain is facing some financial challenges so there's been some drastic cuts to how they're going to support and procure within the British defence system," she said.

"The Crown has said let's find some partners to work on this with us. It's not unusual to do in terms of international defence programs. Lots of them do this."

Faced with the rising cost of replacing the current generation of fighter jets, the U.S. recruited allies in the 1990s to help pay for the development of a new cost-effective stealth fighter — a process that led to the expected purchase of the F-35.

The difference between the two programs is the U.S. set out from the beginning to involve other countries in the development of the joint strike fighter. The British went looking for partners after their program ran into trouble.

The British High Commission in Ottawa referred questions to Canada's Defence Department on Thursday.

Backgrounders and media reports in Britain say BAE could end up building the first of the Type 26 vessels. For each country that signs on, the defence giant would then seek local partners.

When Ottawa conducted a first round of bidding to replace the navy's supply ships, BAE struck up a partnership with Peter Kiewit and Sons Inc. and proposed to build those vessels in Newfoundland. The navy has since gone back to the drawing board on the joint support ship.

[sukhoi-30mki]

Early Type-26 concept

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

Pointless. We should be building loads of mini-helicopter carriers that can cover a wider area and carry more potent payloads.
Navies just love their little ships with their little guns on them though...