www.vanguardcanada.com DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 23
D E E P B L U E
egy, spend more on defence, especially in
the Arctic (and especially the Navy), di-
versify our trade, while working with Al-
lies to develop common approaches.
The afternoon continued with a pre-
sentation by Tony March of Babcock
Canada on submarine in-service support
considerations in design. In discussing
what constitutes design intent, he noted
that standards alone are not enough. In
addition to the concept of operations,
there must be a concept of support that
defines the operating cycle of the sub-
marine – "adopt the certification pro-
gramme to the design, not the design to
the certification programme" and "mini-
mize change to everything involved with
the platform."
The final panel discussion was moder-
ated by retired Rear Admiral Luc Cas-
sivi on waste disposal and management
in a submarine, which discussed statutory
conventions and whether or not navies
had to adhere to them. Specifically, the
IMO Polar Code is quite demanding, and
if a submarine is to be fully compliant it
will require modification to any Military-
Off-The Shelf (MOTS) submarine design.
The final event of the forum was a fireside
chat on procurement considerations with
CGAI's David Perry and CFN's Dave Ha-
therall, which discussed possible govern-
ment procurement strategies, mechanisms
to move forward quickly on a submarine
procurement and the need to get down to
a short list of potential bidders as soon as
possible.
Summary
Deep Blue 2023 was a significant develop-
ment from the previous three conferences
where specific details of a future Canadian
submarine, particularly those impacting
endurance, were discussed in an open fo-
rum. Canadian submarine operations in
the 21st century will demand a conven-
tional submarine that, when it comes to
endurance, has much more in common
with a nuclear-powered-submarine than its
20th century predecessors. The need to be
able to covertly transit and patrol, for many
weeks and at enormous distances from
supply and support must be the founda-
tion of Canada's future submarine.
Capt(N) Norman Jolin (Ret'd) is an
Associate Consultant with CFN Consultants
specializing in naval and maritime issues.
Prior to joining CFN, he provided advice
on Canadian defence procurement in the
private sector, following a 37-year career in
the Royal Canadian Navy.
