News

Absent the personnel and support needed, additional ships could spend more time at the piers and be less capable at sea.

The commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command said industry needs to start delivering ordnance on time.

Four members served on the 2018 National Defense Strategy Commission, which defense hawks in Congress wielded to argue for higher military budgets.

Adm. Mike Gilday said Congress has given the Navy record-breaking sums for shipbuilding. Now, industry needs to deliver more ships on schedule.

It will cost Canadian taxpayers upwards of $6.5 billion to acquire six Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships for the navy and two additional similar vessels for the coast guard, according to newly tabled documents and a statement from the federal government.

As governments pick foreign ship designs for modernizing their naval fleets, local industries hope to grow from the deals.

National Defence and Public Services and Procurement Canada noted in a statement sent Wednesday to this newspaper that the extra money was needed to deal with reduced labour availability, higher costs as a result of COVID protocols such as screening and cleaning, and price increases on transportation and spare parts.

“We have lost significant flexibility,” said Rear Adm. David Proctor, “and we have lost the ability to undertake a number of concurrent activities.”

It might be a stretch to describe Gen. Wayne Eyre as a modern Cassandra. Still, over the latter half of 2022, Canada's top military commander delivered — in public and before House of Commons committees — increasingly stark warnings about the future geopolitical landscape, where the war between Russia and Ukraine could go and the intentions of other disruptive international actors, such as China.