Vanguard Magazine

the Deep Blue Forum 2022 28 DECEMBER 2022/JANUARY 2023 www.vanguardcanada.com DEEP BLUE FORUM BY CAPT(N) NORMAN JOLIN (RET'D) T his was the first Deep Blue conference to be hosted in person, while simultaneously streaming it virtually, making it possible to engage inter- national expertise from Australia, Chile, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and the United States, as well as across Canada. Over 250 people registered for Deep Blue 2022, with 170 attending in person and 88 vir- tually, spanning both government and industry, with a number of submariners attending from the RCN. The result was an excellent interaction which was only limited by the time available. The one-day conference was preceded by an evening reception where Commo- dore Jason Armstrong, the RCN Direc- tor-General Naval Force Development, gave a key-note speech on why Canada needs to replace the Victoria-class subma- rines as well as an update on the future submarine procurement plan. The follow- ing day was kicked off by BMT Canada President Darcy Brytus's opening address on the complexities of submarine project delivery, where he underscored the need to understand the implications of modify- ing an existing submarine design. He was then followed by Jim Palmer, from Lock- heed Martin RMS, with a presentation on the critical need for a close working relationship between the Platform Sys- tems Integrator and the Combat Systems Integrator. Specifically, the need for the platform to be able to incorporate design modifications of the combat system suite, ON 2 NOVEMBER 2022, VANGUARD'S THIRD ANNUAL UNDERWATER FORUM, DEEP BLUE 2022, WAS HELD IN OTTAWA, WITH A FOCUS ON THE CANADIAN PATROL SUBMARINE PROJECT (CPSP) AND OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO CANADA. LESSONS FROM as well as the ability to add future combat capability, as threats evolve over the ser- vice life of the submarine. The morning then proceeded with pre- sentations by Navantia on the S-80 patrol submarine with its Bio-Ethanol Stealth Technology (BEST) and its flexibility to incorporate US Navy weapons systems, SAAB Kockums on the need for both flex- ibility and balance in submarine design (which takes time) and tkMS showcas- ing the Type 212CD as the baseline for a potential future Canadian submarine. Following a presentation on the oppor- tunities under the IDEaS programme by Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) and a luncheon break, the afternoon keynote address by the Commander RCN, Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, was conducted by a pre-record- ed video presentation. His presentation highlighted a number of important points, while acknowledging that submarines are expensive to own and operate, they are a significant force multiplier as they cause an adversary to commit hugely dispro- portional resources to counter its threat. He then tempered his discussion with the realities of Canadian geography that de- mand an ocean-going submarine capabili- ty in sufficient numbers - a simple one-for- one replacement of the four Victoria-class is insufficient. The afternoon continued with a presen- tation on modularity in submarine building from Babcock Canada, by examining the effective use of infrastructure in manufac-

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