Sea Power - December 2015

the Iroquois and Halifax ships, which have core crews of 250 and

200, respectively.

The RCN also hopes to follow the process similar to the U.S. littoral combat ship, which employs various mission modules and modular ship design. Using a modular approach would provide more flexibility; open architecture would allow new sensors or software to be plugged in as they are developed, RCN officers said.

Even though Canada still is years away from cutting steel on the CSC, potential problems have already surfaced.

In 2013, Canada’s Auditor General Michael Ferguson raised warnings about the project’s funding.

“The CSC project budget of

$26.2 billion is insufficient,” he warned in November 2013 when his office examined the federal government’s ship procurement strategy.

Delays in building as well as increases in inflation could boost the project costs, industry representatives point out. The result could be fewer ships or less capability.

“Cost/capability trade-offs need to be monitored and revisions made to project budgets, if necessary, to make sure Canada gets the military ships it that it needs to protect Canadian interests and sovereignty,” Ferguson said.

The numbers of ships already were being slightly reduced when Ferguson released his report. The RCN had originally envisioned acquiring 16 CSCs to replace 12 Halifax-class frigates and four Iroquois-class destroyers.

But that number later was modified as Canadian government representatives and RCN officers noted the project budget would allow for “up to 15” of the future vessels to be constructed.

But in late September, Department of National Defence documents leaked to news outlets, including Seapower, outlined additional concerns being raised internally about the CSC. The documents, dated May 2015, noted that the CSC was at a very high risk of exceeding its budget and falling behind schedule.

“There is a risk that the project may be unable to
deliver the optimal number of ships with the capabilities
necessary to meet operational requirements as mandat-
ed,” noted the documents produced by the CSC project
office. “This may lead to the RCN’s inability to deliver
operational effect and/or a failed procurement.”
Among the problems identified were the complexity
of the CSC and a lack of skilled military and govern-
ment personnel to shepherd the project.

After details of the leaked documents were reported, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces issued a statement noting that it was in the process of examining issues about cost, delivery schedule and requirements for the CSC so that any future risks could be dealt with. The documents in question were part of that process, the statement noted.

“At this stage of a project, it is not unusual for some
risks to be assessed as high,” the statement said. “This
may change over time as the project plan develops.”
Some RCN officers say that maximizing system
commonality between the two CSC variants will keep
acquisition costs under control as well as provide
through-life savings in a number of areas, including
training, maintenance and logistics support.

But on Oct. 2, Conservative Party government Defence Minister Jason Kenney confirmed what naval analysts were already worried about — the $26.2 billion in funding likely would not produce a fleet of 15 ships. He pointed out that inflation could mean fewer surface combatants.

For the first time, Kenney suggested that the number of ships to be built could drop as low as 11.

“If that happens, it would seriously affect the Navy’s
ability to perform all its roles,” said Martin Shadwick, who
teaches strategic studies at York University in Toronto,
Ontario. “Eleven warships doesn’t give you a lot of flexi-
bility to conduct operations at home or internationally.”
Despite the concerns, international firms already are
lining up for the potential work on the CSC.

BAE Systems will provide the RCN an offer based on the Type 26 Global Combat Ship design.

The Royal Canadian Navy Iroquois-class destroyer Athabaskan, front, and Halifax-class frigates Montreal and Halifax transit together during allied maritime tactical signal and maneuvering operations with the U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans Sept. 23 in the Atlantic Ocean. The Canadian Surface Combatant program originally was envisioned to acquire 16 ships to replace the 12 Halifax-class frigates and four Iroquois-class destroyers, but that number now is somewhat in flux.