Vanguard Magazine

24OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2024 www.vanguardcanada.com A N U C L E A R S U B M A R I N E Ministry of Defence had not dis- mantled any of the submarines it has decommissioned since 1980. In that time, the government has spent an estimated £500m storing the retired vessels in Rosyth, Fife, and Devon- port, Devon. The NAO estimated cost of fully disposing of a submarine was £96m. "Nuclear submarines: MoD criticized over submarine dis- posal," BBC News (April 3, 2019). 17. Peter Kenter, "Canada has a respon- sibility to safely manage nuclear waste for generations" 18. US Environmental Protection Agency, "Nuclear Submarines and Aircraft Carriers." 19. The US Navy has been procuring Virginia (SSN-774) class nuclear- powered attack submarines (SSNs) since FY1998, and a total of 40 have been procured through FY2024. From FY2011 through FY2024, they have been procured at a rate of two per year. When procured at that rate, they have an estimated procurement cost of about $4.5 billion USD each. Although they have been procured at a rate of two submarines per year, the actual production rate has fallen short of 2.0 submarines per year, and since 2022 has been limited by shipyard and supplier firm workforce and supply chain challenges to about 1.2 to 1.4 submarines per year, resulting in a growing backlog of submarines procured but not yet built. The Navy and industry are working to increase the Virginia-class SSN production rate to 2.0 submarines per year by 2028, and subsequently to 2.33 submarines per year, so as to execute the two-per- year procurement rate, replace three to five Virginia-class submarines that are to be sold to Australia under the AUKUS submarine (Pillar 1) project, and reduce the accumulated Virginia- class production backlog. Congress has appropriated billions of dollars of submarine industrial-base funding to support this effort. See: US Con- gressional Research Service, "Navy Virginia-Class Submarine Program and AUKUS Submarine (Pillar 1) Project: Background and Issues for Congress" (July 24, 2024). 20. Naval Association of Canada, In Ex- tremis (May 2024). Capt(N) Norman Jolin [Ret'd] served 37 years in the Royal Canadian Navy with the majority of his career at sea in both ships and submarines, culminating in the com- mand of HMCS Montréal. He was a mem- ber of the Directing Staff at the Canadian Forces College and later the Branch Head for Exercises at NATO's Strategic Trans- formation Command in Norfolk Virginia. Subsequently he served as the Naval Ad- viser to the UK and Defence Attaché to Denmark and his final service appointment was as a member of NATO's International Military Staff in Brussels Belgium. On re- tiring from naval service, he set up a pri- vate consulting firm and, in 2017, he joined CFN Consultants as the associate special- izing in support to acquisition projects for the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Coast Guard. www.hensoldt.net Trusted, reliable, modern search and attack periscopes for Canadian waters. Installed on over 100 submarines, our periscopes and optronic masts provide exceptional multi-spectral imagery and operator intuitive use to gain a tactical edge on any mission, anywhere. Detect and Protect Detect and Protect

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