Rotor Maxx Support Ltd. acquires Canadian CH-124 Sea Kings

On the same subject

• 

  July 16, 2019 | Local, Naval

  Canada’s Esquimalt navy base to receive four steel barges

  The Canadian Government's Public Services and Procurement department has awarded a contract to Canadian Maritime Engineering to deliver four steel barges. The C$1.99m ($1.52m) contract was awarded on behalf of the Canadian Armed Forces to provide equipment for use by the nation's navy. The four steel barges will be supplied to Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt in British Columbia within 18 months from the contract award date. Under the contract, Canadian Maritime Engineering will also provide a complete technical data package and related training. The contract also includes an option to purchase spare parts. Canada Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility Minister Carla Qualtrough said: “Our government is providing the women and men of the Royal Canadian Navy with the equipment they need to do their important work. “This contract award is a prime example of the National Shipbuilding Strategy in action, providing meaningful opportunities for businesses and Canadians across Canada, and throughout British Columbia.” The steel barges will measure 12m-15m in length and have working decks of 75m². Set to replace six existing wooden barges, the planned steel barges will support maintenance work on the Canadian Navy's vessels. Canada Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said: “Through our defence policy, ‘Strong, Secure, Engaged', we are providing the women and men of our Canadian Armed Forces with the equipment they need to do the important work we ask of them. “Barges are an essential part of the navy's fleet, and this contract for four steel barges will facilitate maintenance on its vessels to ensure the operational readiness of its fleet.” Under the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), the government aims to renew the country's federal fleet of combat and non-combat vessels. The programme includes providing the Canadian Navy and Coast Guard with vessels. The government formed partnerships with Irving's Halifax Shipyard and Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards for the NSS. https://www.naval-technology.com/news/canadas-esquimalt-navy-base-to-receive-four-steel-barges/

• 

  September 2, 2022 | Local, Naval

  Third new Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship delivered to Canada 

  Today, Canada celebrated another milestone in renewing the Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) fleet with the delivery of the third Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS), Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Max Bernays.

• 

  January 18, 2019 | Local, Naval

  Overcoming ‘Boom and Bust’? Analyzing National Shipbuilding Plans in Canada and Australia

  by Jeffrey F. Collins CGAI Fellow Executive Summary While both Canada and Australia share similar constitutional frameworks and imperial histories, they are also no stranger to procurement challenges. Cost overruns, delays, regionalism, and protracted intellectual property disputes have all been part of major defence acquisition projects in recent decades. This Policy Paper analyzes the largest and most expensive procurement projects undertaken by either country, Canada's $73 billion (estimated) National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), launched in 2010, and Australia's A$90 billion Naval Shipbuilding Plan (NSP), launched in 2017. Each project represents an attempt to implement a rational, multi-decade approach to naval acquisition. Driven by a desire to overcome previous boom-and-bust cycles, the NSS and NSP aim to create a sustainable shipbuilding sector capable of meeting the immediate and future naval demands of Ottawa and Canberra. Neither country has attempted a shipbuilding plan on this scale before. The NSS and NSP are still in their early stages but some common themes have emerged. On implementation challenges, old problems persist. For one, the rational approach to naval shipbuilding is not devoid of procurement politics and regionalism. Determining which province or state will be home to billions in contracts over many years remains a zero-sum game no matter how arms-length the process of yard selection. Cost increases also remain a reality. Building domestically can carry a 30 per cent to 40 per cent premium. Project delays increase this premium, something Canada has already experienced when initial NSS acquisition costs, pegged at $37.7 billion nearly a decade ago, jumped to an estimated $73 billion today. Australia's delays in securing an agreement with France's Naval Group on its $A50 billion future submarine project could mean additional cost increases. In this context, schedule is king and avoiding cost increases requires keeping to planned shipbuilding schedules. Failure to do so opens production gaps and necessitates going with alternative options including building overseas (Australia) or converting commercial vessels for naval and coast guard use (Canada). Prolonged cost sensitivities raise the consideration of trade-offs on committing more money to continuous shipbuilding at the expense of acquiring other military capabilities. Canada, for instance, will need to make decisions at some point on whether to spend billions on replacing the North Warning System in the country's North. Australia will have to grapple with an Indo-Pacific region proliferating with relatively cheaper but lethal anti-ship missiles. In this context, money spent on surface combatants may be perhaps better spent on other capabilities. None of this is to say that progress has not occurred in either the NSS or NSP. Ships are getting built, including Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships in Canada, and Offshore Patrol Vessels in Australia. In 2018, both countries selected the British Type-26 as their preferred design for a new generation of surface combatants. It is very possible that these respective strategies will achieve their goals of bypassing the boom-and-bust eras, but ongoing challenges serve as a reminder that even with the best-laid plans, naval shipbuilding is a complicated affair. 1 https://www.cgai.ca/overcoming_boom_and_bust_analyzing_national_shipbuilding_plans_in_canada_and_australia