Vanguard Magazine

Le to right: Cdr Thomas Luna USN (Ret'd), US Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory: Cdr Martin Byrne, DNMCP-S; Cdr Corey Gleason RCN (Ret'd); Howard Reese, US Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory J Richard Jones, Vanguard Radio host and luncheon keynote: Anthony March, VP Marine & Mission Systems, Babcock Canada Le to right: J Richard Jones, Vanguard Radio host and DK Kim, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Simon Carroll, Saab Canada which purchased the four ex-Upholder- class submarines as an interim submarine capability, resulted in a submarine that was not what was wanted. Now the CPSP has an opportunity to get what the RCN wants, and it all boils down to people. Day One is the day you sign the contract and start getting people trained, including the support infrastructure, not just the crews. As to sustainment, Earl reminisced that in the years leading up to the Upholder pur- chase in 1998 there was a lot of talk about sustainment. However, with subsequent trade-offs and decisions, a lot of sustain- ment and funding issues were forgotten. Critically, for CPSP he asked, who is going to make the decisions to support, sustain, and deploy, and how are those decisions going to be made, as it is all about avail- ability. Lessons identified from the intro- duction of the Victoria-class included that they were not just new Oberons, the RCN did not have the Intellectual Property (IP) rights, and they adopted policies and pro- cesses that were not fully understood. Moreover, the people implications of adopting SUBSAFE had a huge implica- tion on schedule. In short, Canada was not ready for the first submarine on arrival. Also, as part of the transition process, there is a need to consider how legacy subma- rines will be supported as they transition to a new submarine. Finally, a submarine ca- pability is not about a platform – it is about the entire enterprise. Jamie Clarke opined that by forcing North America's adversaries to go under- water, it makes a Canadian submarine ca- pability very important. His top two points were: reliability and training – reinforced by the fact Canada didn't get it right with the Victoria-class submarines. There is a requirement for a clearly defined end-state, understanding that the SUBSAFE pillars will drive it all. SUBSAFE is linked to the design of the platform, therefore there must be an understanding of the parent design, and this may change how Canada does SUBSAFE. In the quest to build a cadre of competent submariners, schedule comes second only to safety. It will always be challenging. Make everyone risk-aware and decision-making must be clear. In the closing segment of Deep Blue 2024, the eloquent Master of Ceremonies, Jake Jacobson, Strategic Adviser, Babcock Canada, summed transition up neatly when he said the devil is in the details and the worst-case scenario would be to under- play/under-fund the transition to CPSP. He reminded the audience that Canada has only a decade to get this right, and it will need significant resources to be successful. Summary Deep Blue 2024 was a natural continuation from the previous four conferences, which exploited the opportunity afforded by the recent CPSP RFI to explore issues encom- passing the entire submarine enterprise. Regardless of which submarine design is eventually selected, what does transition to a new submarine entail for Canada? With a stated requirement for delivery of the first submarine in 10 years, there is much to do to prepare for its arrival. As the conference proceedings made abundantly clear, submarine infrastructure and In-Service Support are quite difficult and require significant resources to be in place prior to the arrival of the first sub- marine – notably a trained and experienced workforce. Hopefully the frank inter- change during the Deep Blue Forum 2024 will facilitate greater discussion between the RCN, government, and industry, as only with a team effort by all participants will the Canadian Patrol Submarine Proj- ect succeed. Capt(N) Norman Jolin RCN (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. www.vanguardcanada.com DECEMBER 2024/JANUARY 2025 25

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