Canada's RCN Using the RAN's Attack-class Plan?

Pete Comment

Both Canada and Australia hosted UK RN submarine units post WW2 and both then acquired UK build Oberon-class submarines (aka "O-boats"). Canada commissioned 3 O-boats in the 1960s and Australia 6 in the 1960s-70s. 

In the mid-late 1980s Canada (or mainly the RCN) considered, as its O-boats aged, a plan to buy Canada-class SSNs from the UK or France. Many Canadian citizens and other government departments objected to the wildly unrealistic low cost estimates. Also expecting Canadian industry, having not ever built any submarines, to go straight to building nuclear submarines was a tad unrealistic. 

Probably the main veto was from the ever fickle USA which did not want a rival SSN owner (pressing its own territorial interests) sharing America's Western Hemisphere. But its now OK for Australia, safely not in that hemisphere, to own SSNs. Any hint whether Canada was ever invited to a CAUKUS? 

So once Canada and Australia retired both O-boat fleets, by the year 2000, they replaced them with Canada buying 4 second-hand UK Upholder/Victoria-class SSKs and Australia built 6 Collins-class SSKs.

After the cosy (wet, dripping, smelly) O-boat arrangements the Upholder/Victoria-class and Australian Collins-class solutions both had their problems. The UK laid "up" the 4 Upholders, down in saltwater for years in the 1990s. This led to rust/corrosion, then years of necessary derusting, and perhaps ongoing problems, once handed over to Canada. In a 2004 transatlantic “ferrying” to Canada one of the Upholder/Victorias (HMCS Chicoutimi) suffered an almost catastrophic fire that left one crewman dead and several injured. 

Since then the 4 Victorias, like the 6 Collins, have spent inordinate downtimes undergoing very expensive overhauls. With 20/20 hindsight if the 100 year old UK or US industries had supplied newbuild SSKs in the 1990s. Or if Canada and Australia had imported newbuild AIP subs from the best, most efficient maker, what is now Germany’s TKMS, much of the pain could have been avoided. 

The RAN has always gone out of its way not to choose Germany for a German “Collins” or German Attack-class. Perhaps the Germans build subs too quickly and efficiently, in Germany, for the “slow build, problem plagued, in Australia” post retirement sinecures of Australian admirals and South Australian politicians?! Anyway, I digress. 

The RCN idea in the article below (for 12 very expensive, so presumably very large, tailor made, SSKs) seems to be more than coincidentally reminiscent of the terminated Australian Attack class. Also, following RAN thinking, if the RCN expects in the end just 6 subs (3 on your east coast, 3 on your west) then asking the politicians for 12 subs looks appropriate. The reduction from 12 to 6 will appear to said pollies and a relieved public (worried about health costs, education and welfare etc) as a money saver. That is, until the 6 subs wind up costing the full amount of cash the navy originally estimated would buy 12 subs. I’ll write about RAN and RCN XLUUV ideas another day.

ARTICLE

The article below has been obtained via the O canada.com website and is by David Pugliese, first published at the Ottawa Citizen, dated April 4, 2023.
 

"Royal Canadian Navy pitches $60 billion submarine purchase, say defence and industry sources

But that price tag could climb to $100 billion as military equipment procurement programs are rarely on budget

HMCS Windsor, one of Canada's Victoria-class long range patrol submarines, returns to port in Halifax on Wednesday, June 20, 2018 after completing a 5-month deployment in the Euro-Atlantic region. PHOTO BY ANDREW VAUGHAN /THE CANADIAN PRESS
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The Royal Canadian Navy is making a pitch for the purchase of up to 12 new submarines at a cost of $60 billion, say National Defence and industry sources. 

The navy is pushing for the acquisition of the submarines to be included in the Liberal government’s Defence Policy Update. Last month at a defence conference in Ottawa, Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre acknowledged he was advocating on behalf of the navy for submarines.

The navy has a team examining the replacement of the current Victoria-class submarine fleet and there have been initial discussions with industry officials, sources said.

Asked about the navy’s new submarine proposal, National Defence spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier stated that, “the Defence Policy Update is currently underway, with public consultations ongoing, and we look forward to releasing the DPU in due course.”

The navy has created the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project, or CPSP. “The CPSP is examining all conventional options available, gathering information, and conducting an analysis of potential submarines capable of meeting the Royal Canadian Navy’s requirements,” said Le Bouthillier.

But he noted the work on the submarine project is part of the navy’s routine analysis. “The CPSP does not commit the government to any specific course of action, but is intended to facilitate an informed decision when required,” Le Bouthillier added.

Canadian defence industry sources say the cost of the new subs would be around [all figures in this article are in Canadian dollars] $60 billion but that price tag could climb to $100 billion as military equipment procurement programs are rarely on budget. Industry representatives pointed to the program to build 15 new surface combatants for the Canadian navy. The cost for those vessels has climbed from $25 billion to more than $80 billion.

In 2016, Australia had a project to build 12 conventional-powered submarines at a cost of more than $50 billion. But it withdrew from that and instead entered into a new plan to buy at least eight nuclear submarines with help from the U.S. and Britain. The Australian government has estimated that program will cost between $260 billion to $360 billion over 30 years.

There are hurdles to the Royal Canadian Navy’s proposal to buy new subs. In the past, the navy has had trouble training enough submariners to crew its current fleet of four boats, let alone 12.

The other hurdle is whether the federal government wants to fund such a massive naval project at a time when Canadians are more concerned about the lack of health care system and affordable housing, inflation and increasing costs for basic necessities such as food.

The four Victoria-class boats, originally known as the Upholder-class, were purchased second-hand from the Royal Navy and delivered between 2000 and 2004.

But the latest data provided to this newspaper by National Defence shows the submarines have had limited use since 2017. HMCS Corner Brook has not been to sea over the last five years.

From 2017 to April 2023, the Canadian Forces has spent $1.9 billion on submarine maintenance with three boats totaling 529 days at sea. In 2019 and 2020, no submarine operations were conducted at all by Canada, according to National Defence.

Victoria-class submarines were recognized in the Liberal government’s 2017 defence policy, Strong Secure Engaged, as key contributors to national defence. The Liberal government has committed to modernizing the subs so they can continue to operate until the mid-2030s.

While the Canadian Armed Forces has suggested it could take 15 years for a new submarine to be eventually acquired, National Defence documents obtained by this newspaper through the Access to Information law warn the process could take much longer. “The procurement timeline from project establishment to contract award is highly specific to the project but staff analysis has shown that the procurement of a new submarine class will take a minimum of 15 years total from project establishment to first delivery and could exceed 25 years depending on the adopted procurement strategy,” National Defence and military officials told then-Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan in a Jan. 6, 2021 briefing note.

The Canadian Patrol Submarine Project office would start out small but will be incrementally augmented with “hand-selected submariners, engineers and procurement professionals,” Sajjan was told. The staff will follow the normal project activities leading to departmental government boards, an independent review panel for defence acquisition, and eventual approval by Treasury Board for the project to proceed.

In its 2021 briefing to the then-defence minister, the Royal Canadian Navy noted submarines are a key element of the Canadian Armed Forces continental defence and are critical to the detection of foreign submarines. “Given that submarine technology is being exploited by non-state actors (e.g. Caribbean drug cartels) the significance of sub-surface MDA (maritime domain awareness)/maritime undersea surveillance is an important capability to retain and grow pursuant to recent departmental discussions,” Sajjan was told.

The current Defence Minister Anita Anand also received a similar briefing on the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project.

The Conservative party has supported an immediate replacement program for the Victoria-class submarines.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, including exclusive content for subscribers only, sign up here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe"