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Canada has selected the Type 702 off-the-shelf design from Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) for its Joint Support Ship (JSS) project. The Canadian DND announced the decision in early June and new design images for the JSS were released by TKMS on 10 June. The company said that it would ‘prepare the design package which Canada will provide to Vancouver Shipyards to review in preparation for actual production’. Vancouver Shipyards was chosen by the DND in 2010 to build the two JSS as part of its National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy that will ensure Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) ships are built in...

The Canadian Coast Guard is also designing a new polar-class icebreaker, the CCGS John G. Diefenbaker, to replace its existing heavy icebreaker, the Louis S. St-Laurent (pictured), which is due to be retired in 2017.The Harper government is going to have to decide whether resupplying Canada’s navy or Arctic sovereignty is more important thanks to a looming collision at a Vancouver shipyard. The Royal Canadian Navy is designing new joint support ships to replace its 50-year-old resupply vessels, which were supposed to have been retired in 2012 and have become environmentally unsound and prohibitively expensive to maintain. The Canadian Coast...

Her Majesty’s Canadian Submarine (HMCS) Windsor returned to sea yesterday at Halifax, N.S., officially marking the completion of a deep maintenance cycle known as an Extended Docking Work Period. “HMCS Windsor’s return to sea is a key milestone and her crew now embarks on another challenging journey as they focus on operations at sea,” said The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence. “I commend the outstanding efforts of Windsor’s crew, our Fleet Maintenance Facilities and of industry that have brought us to this point.” “Over the next few months, Windsor will conduct additional crew training and trials on her...

After more than 25 years of trying to replace the country’s fleet of Sea King maritime helicopters, the Canadian Forces have watched another deadline come and go. Sikorsky International Operations Inc. was supposed to deliver the first of 28 state-of-the-art CH-148 Cyclones in June, after the Harper government agreed in late 2008 to extend the deadline on the $5.7-billion contract by 43 months. In the latest in a string of missteps in military procurements, Sikorsky is pushing back on the delivery, with still no official date being offered for the completion of the contract. “Sikorsky has yet to start delivering...

HMCS Windsor, one of Canada's trouble-plagued submarines, will go into the water this week after undergoing five years of costly repairs. The Department of National Defence hopes to have the submarine in the water on Wednesday, Defence Minister Peter MacKay told reporters at a news conference in Halifax on Tuesday, making it the second submarine to begin sea trials this year after an extensive refit program. Windsor has been in drydock since 2007. A refit was supposed to take two years, but it dragged on and costs skyrocketed. In 2010 alone, the navy spent $45 million repairing the boat when...

The Royal Canadian Navy says one of its troubled submarines has finally managed to fire torpedoes in a test exercise. The navy said HMCS Victoria, its only active submarine, fired the torpedoes in waters off Nanoose Bay, B.C., this week. "As the submarine fleet achieves steady state it will be ready to act decisively at sea in defence of Canada, when and where needed, Capt. Luc Cassivi, director of the Canadian Submarine Force, said in a news release. "These trials represent a major milestone for the Victoria-class submarine program as Victoria is the first submarine in the fleet to fire...

Cdn frigate leaves Halifax harbour for six-month deployment in Persian Gulf HALIFAX - A Canadian warship steamed out of Halifax harbour on Thursday to resume patrols in the Persian Gulf and gain intelligence on potential terrorist activity in the volatile region. Hundreds of weeping family members lined the military dock as HMCS Charlottetown made its way out to sea to begin a six-month mission involving surveillance, boarding suspicious vessels and ensuring the safety of a waterway that's key to the international trade of oil. Commander Patrick St-Denis said the ongoing naval presence is vital in the area despite criticisms that...

MIAMI (AP) - Warships from Canada and more than a dozen other countries joined the U.S. navy for ongoing manoeuvres Sunday near the Panama Canal in an exercise being billed as one of the largest multinational military training events of the year. More than 30 ships began the exercises Wednesday in the waters near the canal, to practise defending the economically and strategically crucial waterway. The exercise is scheduled to continue through Friday in the Caribbean and Pacific approaches to the canal. Thousands of ships pass through the Panama Canal every year, shuttling more than 200 million tons of exports...

Canadian navy out of money GLORIA GALLOWAY Globe and Mail Update OTTAWA — Canada's navy is out of money for operations as the military diverts resources to the fight in Afghanistan. Naval commanders have cancelled discretionary spending to make up for a $25-million shortfall before April 1, the start of the next fiscal year. Until last night, that included a 35-day fisheries patrol for HMCS Halifax, which costs more than $25,000 a day. But when the news spread yesterday, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said his department will come up with the money for the mission, which had been scheduled to...