Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/196923
DEFSEC D "We are developing a shipyard that will not only be efficient and effective but will meet the target state benchmark for performance required by the NSPS process." — Kevin McCoy plicated and non-risk free business that we are in. If you want a navy to go out in the world and do good, or bad, to others on your behalf, we have to take some risks." In particular, he singled out the subs, highlighting the work of industry partners like Babcock to deliver what he called "a world-class capability." He criticized the debate about their utility, saying that while most people understand the notion of holding terrain in the land battle, they fail to recognize the equivalent in maritime domain. "If you want to hold a piece of water and call it your own you had better come up with something that can replace the capability of a submarine, and at the moment I am not seeing anything on the horizon." He also disputed some of the recent debate about devoting more resources to the west coast to conicde with the U.S. pivot to the Pacific. "Our position is, it's not where our ships are based, it's about where they are and where they are employed that matters." On the NSPS, specifically, he said the Halifax-class modernization (HCM) is the path to the future. "The surface combatant goes through HCM, goes through AOPS (Arctic offshore patrol ships) and drives us into the future. We're looking forward to getting those ships back into the order of battle so that we can start demonstrating to the world that we have the depth that we need and that we in Canada are capable of delivering world-class fighting capabilities. "We have to get this right. Part of getting it right is making sure we have all the right relationships and sustainable partnerships, we have requirements that are achievable, and that we can actually deliver what it is we say we need to deliver. Confidence and credibility will come from us actually doing what we have said we are capable of doing. Anything short of that will undermine the premise of NSPS as a strategic investment for Canada." Rebuilding Irving while building new ships Glance over the A. Murray MacKay Bridge as you descend from Dartmouth into Halifax and it's hard to miss: the construction underway at Irving Shipbuilding. To many in Canada, the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy is a series of government announcements and media stories about bloated costs. But to those in Halifax, especially those employed by Irving, the strategy is already showing results. With the modernization of the Halifaxclass frigates in midstream, and Arctic offshore patrol ship (AOPS) in design, and the Canadian surface combatant in industry consultation, Kevin McCoy equates the renovations to "changing the tire on your car while driving at 100 kilometres." The new president of Irving Shipbuilding told DEFSEC Atlantic that buildings and other features of the shipyard are being demolished even as crews continue to build the Canadian Coast Guard's midshore patrol vessels and perform upgrades to the frigates. The intent of the two-year, $300 million investment, he said, is "to ensure we are developing a shipyard that will not only be efficient and effective but will meet the target state benchmark for performance required by the NSPS process." As of early September, Irving had awarded $120 million of that yard modernization work to companies across the country, including over 75 in Nova Scotia. Among the changes are a new assembly hall, ship launch barge area and pier. Irving is also establishing a steel fabrication site across the harbour in Dartmouth that will require an additional investment of approximately $28 million. Both projects are designed to coincide with the start of AOPS production in 2015. Ingalls floats surface combatant design With visit of the French FREMM-class frigate, Aquitaine, to Halifax earlier this year, much of the discussion about Canada's future surface combatant has been on a European design. One American builder has an alternate proposal. Ingalls Shipbuilding has a history dating back to 1875 and remains one of five large shipyards still standing in the United States. It has produced the USN's landing helicopter assault ship and the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, and continues to deliver five ships a year. Robert Conrad, a former navy captain and now director of business development, believes that design, build and support experience could be leveraged for the Canadian surface combatant. In particular, Ingalls is floating the design of its U.S. Coast Guard patrol frigate. The yard has delivered three of eight to the USCG so far and Conrad says the eventual total could be between nine and 16. The ship has already served from the "Equator to the Arctic Circle" and attracted the interest of the Australian navy, which is exploring the requirements for its next frigate. "We have looked at two variants we could build off the same production line or, in a case like Canada, provide the design to Canada and let them build the ship," he explained, adding that the design and production line were stabilized over the first three ships and the next three ships are being built with minimal cost increases. "We are improving our production efficiency. The hours it takes to build each ship keeps coming down," he said. "It's a proven design, the technical risk has been basically eliminated. We know the price and it's predictable." Conrad said the company has had conversations with both the government and Irving Shipbuilding about providing the design at "little to no cost … with the condition that they come back to us to do the design modifications – that's a lot cheaper than what you are paying for the AOPS – and then we or Irving [would] produce it." www.vanguardcanada.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2013 39