Vanguard Magazine

34 DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022 www.vanguardcanada.com NAVAL LESSONS FROM DEEP BLUE 2021 BY CAPT(N) NORMAN JOLIN (RET'D) V anguard's second annual underwater conference, the Deep Blue Forum 2021, was held virtually over two- days with the focus on con- ventional submarine capabilities. Earlier this year the Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) had announced that a small team was being stood up in preparation for a replacement submarine project - this generated significant interest into what are Canada's future submarine options. Moreover, the recent decision by Australia to cease their conventional- submarine replacement project in favour of nuclear-powered submarines has added further grist to the speculation of what submarine Canada should be looking for the future. Therefore, Vanguard decided to focus the Deep Blue Forum 2021 on a future Canadian patrol submarine. Understanding that a Canadian Patrol Submarine Project will be a tough sell to a government recovering from the post pandemic fiscal reality, the RCN will need to put forth a well-articulated and afford- able plan to meet Canada's future subma- rine requirements. To do this they need industry support to assist in the develop- ment of specific RCN requirements, as projects of this magnitude typically take 18-20 years to deliver the first unit and Canada is late to the game. This was the reasoning behind the decision to split the Deep Blue Forum 2021 agenda into two specific areas – what is achievable today and what will likely be achievable in 2040 when the current Victoria-class subma- rines reach the end of their service lives. By hosting the conference virtually, it was possible to engage expertise from Sweden, Germany, France, and the Unit- ed States, as well as across Canada. Over 280 people registered, with 201 attend- ing the first day and 159 on the second day. The audience spanned both govern- ment and industry with a number of ju- nior officers and NCMs attending from the RCN. The result was an excellent in- teraction which was only limited by the time available. Day One – What is achievable today? The first day started with an excellent opening keynote address by the US Na- val Institute's Dr Norman Friedman on future submarines for Canada, where he observed that a nation needs to think about what it needs to counter the threat, as navies are expensive and national poli- tics will decide where you go. This was followed by a timely update on the RCN by Commodore Jason Armstrong, the Director General Naval Force Develop- ment, who highlighted the priority for Canada is continental defence in partner- ship with the United States, which in- cludes the Arctic. The first panel discussion of the confer- ence, on conventional submarine design considerations, was moderated by Jake Ja- cobson with Saab Australia, BMT Canada and Babcock Canada – specifically focus- ing on what is achievable today. The key factors to consider were highlighted as: • What do you want the submarine to do? • Political will for submarines - how im- portant is sovereignty? • Funding • Time constraints • Willingness to accept Military-Off-The- Shelf solutions Following presentations by Rheinmetall, on the benefits of simulation on predic- tive maintenance and digital twinning, and opportunities under the IDEaS pro- gramme by Defence Research and De- velopment Canada (DRDC), there was a powerful presentation by retired US Navy Admiral James Foggo on the next gen- eration submarine. His presentation high- lighted a number of important points, no- tably there exists a very real threat today, however, budget will always drive the de- cision-making process. He recounted the benefits the US Navy reaped by forming a Defence Science Board to look into the future and cautioned the American expe- rience in choosing your partners wisely. The final presentation of the day by Babcock Canada on flexible designs un- derscored the future of Autonomous Un- derwater Vehicles (AUVs) by building in THE SECOND ANNUAL DEEP BLUE FORM WAS HELD VIRTUALLY ON OCTOBER 28 AND 29, 2021 ON THE THEME OF FUTURE SUBMARINES FOR CANADA. F O R U M 2 0 2 1 DEEPBLUE

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