HMCS Windsor, a Victoria-class submarine, sails with HMCS Montreal along the Atlantic seaboard in November 2005. (Department of National Defence/CP)
Posted on 04/08/2011 9:03:31 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
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 said the equipment, parts, training and support would cost more than $120 million Cdn. It notified the U.S. Congress about the sale in mid-March.
Since Canada already has the torpedoes, it will have "no difficulty absorbing these additional conversion kits," the agency said in a new release.
Canadian Defence Department officials have yet to respond to questions from CBC News.
Scott Taylor, publisher of Esprit de Corp, a military magazine, said the navy's submarine program has become an expensive national embarrassment.
"This is probably a little more icing on a cake we probably should never have had," he said.
"Upgrading armaments on submarines, which have never really patrolled, with no war imminent — I mean people have got to be questioning that."
The British Royal Navy launched the Upholder-class, diesel-powered submarines in the late 1980s and withdrew them from service in 1994. Canada bought four of them in 1998 and renamed them Victoria-class.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbc.ca ...
HMCS Windsor, a Victoria-class submarine, sails with HMCS Montreal along the Atlantic seaboard in November 2005. (Department of National Defence/CP)
That’s right. These subs have never fired a round in anger, so don’t spend any money on them. The Chinese aren’t a problem, never will be......... Besides, we don’t have a Pacific Coast any more, do we?
Why didn’t they buy some British torpedos for the British Subs?
And all this time I thought the Canadian navy was two Mounties in a canoe.....
Canadians with submarines capable of firing is like the insane being given steel forks.
All four of them are more danger to themselves than others.
Never fire a Standard torpedo from a Metric submarine.
Are our subs still experiencing problems with the acoustic tiling coming off the hulls (glue failures)? Anyone know if things are getting better?
LMAO !
Stay Safe....
“Upgrading armaments on submarines, which have never really patrolled, with no war imminent — I mean people have got to be questioning that.”
Scott, maybe you need to re-examine your premise.
Indeed.
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