Vanguard Magazine

R A P I D LY E V O LV I N G T E C H www.vanguardcanada.com APRIL/MAY 2025 31 to add that we should really be thinking long term and about the potential replace- ment, and how long those ships are going to serve. It's not an easy problem to solve. Fortunately, there is no shortage of young smart people that I think can help us with that challenge. RICHARD GRAVEL: Q: Thanks very much, David. I'll turn to you first for any closing thoughts. Is there anything you'd like to add coming out of today's discussion or any final reflections you'd like to share? DAVID ST. CYR: The only other point I'd add is around capacity—specifically, the limited availabil- ity of dry docks, particularly on the West Coast. It's not just about people; physical infrastructure is also a constraint we're fac- ing. We have a number of ships that are requiring longer and longer stays in the dry docks. People might ask, "What does shipbreaking have to do with ship repair and capability insertion?" The answer is: quite a lot. Right now, we don't have dedi- cated capacity for shipbreaking on the West Coast of Canada. As a result, we're start- ing to use some of our already-limited dry dock space for ship disposal. My ask is that we start thinking seriously about dedicated shipbreaking solutions—because if we con- tinue to use dry docks for this purpose, it will absolutely impact our ability to repair, modernize, and maintain the fleet moving forward. RICHARD GRAVEL: Q: Thanks for that. Admiral any last words? RAdm STEVE McCARTHY: I think I'll start by going back to 1916, to a report from an admiral reflecting on a First World War battle that has stuck with me. He wrote that "the prelude to action is the work of the engineering department." I don't think that's changed—and it remains just as true today. Being ready to be able to fight and win the next conflict is our focus as an engineering and technical community. And we have a huge responsibility to make sure that the people we send into harm's way are equipped to fight and win. We can't relieve ourselves of that obligation. But as I offer a shout out to Commo- dore Keith Coffen who I'm sure is in the audience today, I'll say that we do it best, but we do it together. And I'm very much looking forward, Keith seeing you in Bel- fast in a couple of weeks time, where we bring the community people who do this; ourselves, Australians, New Zealanders, colleagues from the United States to col- laborate on the right things. Because we can't do it by ourselves. None of us can succeed in any future combat operation on our own. We need each other. We need to collaborate with the right things, and we need to be ready because the world is not getting any simpler. TATRA TAKES YOU FURTHER TATRATRUCKS.COM LOGISTICS VEHICLES FOR EVERY MISSION

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