Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/407740
S SuRfACe coMBAtAnt www.vanguardcanada.com octoBer/noVeMBer 2014 29 type) was delivered to the Royal Moroccan Navy last January and more recently, the Normandie was put to sea for a series of trials and is expected to be handed over to the French Navy at the end of this year. I arrived at the Lorient shipyard in Brittany a few days after the company floated the Languedoc, the fourth 6,000-tonne frigate, while DCNS was conducting quayside work on Provence. When first entering the latter, I was struck by its modular prin- ciple and its extreme flexibility. The vessel offers, inter alia, wide lower-deck passageways, specific doors for equipment access and maintenance as well as longer and higher engine rooms. A great deal of effort was put into the design to enhance operational avail- ability. However, what really sets the FREMM apart is the combination of frontline capabilities and the latest technologies in one hull, which the RCN is lacking. The FREMM has been designed from the outset to cover the full spectrum of operations at sea: from participating in maritime safety and security missions, commanding a carrier or an amphibi- ous assault group, to contributing to both force protection opera- tions and power projection missions using the deep-strike capabil- ity of the MDCN naval cruise missile. The MDCN or "SCALP Naval" is a land attack cruise missile that can be pre-positioned on frigates and submarines in theater and stay for extended periods. With up to a 1,000 km increase in range over the Storm Shadow/ SCALP EG – used in Libya by French Rafales – the naval-based version is a much more capable stand-off weapon. Starting this year, the ASW variant of the FREMM will deploy 16 MDCN cruise missiles, designed to be launched from SYL- VER A70 vertical canisters. For antisubmarine warfare, the ves- sel uses the lightweight torpedo system MU90, which is the pre- ferred choice by first rank navies. The Herakles multifunction radar – capable of detecting an aircraft within 250km – the SETIS combat management system with its five million lines of codes, an Otomelara 76/62 main can- non (with the possibility of adapting the 127/64 version), active and passive towed sonars as well as the high-performance hybrid CODLOG (COmbined Diesel eLectric Or Gas) power package complete the FREMM's skill sets. As for the crew, decreasing crew size is a trend reflected in other navies, whether we like it or not. With a minimum of 108 sailors (including helicopter crew), the FREMM would divide by two the operating costs of the vessel in comparison with older frigates where the crew was usually over 200 (Halifax-class frigates are operated by a crew of 229). However, thanks to space provision onboard, the number of accommodations can be easily revised upward in accordance with RCN's needs. "Today we are in full compliance with the contract [signed with the French government]. We are delivering frigates on time and with performance as promised," says Hervé Boy, DCNS' frigates marketing manager, adding that there are "no disruptions and no extra costs in the French FREMM program." Pursuant to the contract's dispositions, DCNS must assemble and deliver one FREMM every 10 months. A daunting task for any shipbuilding company, yet I could see work was already well underway on the next two FREMM, Auvergne and Bretagne. However, therein lies the paradox. No matter how able and fit- ting the FREMM may be, "buying French" might not be per- ceived as the best selling argument in Canada. There is a per- ception that choosing the FREMM would run counter to the Canadian strategic partnership with the U.S and undermine the RCN's interoperability with its American counterparts. There is also another barrier facing French firms: over the past year French defence companies looking to participate in Canadi- an competitions have seen some discouraging signs, starting with Nexter Systems' dismay after the Close Combat Vehicle program was cancelled last December and more recent reports that Canada might reject the Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft in favour of the F-35 or Super Hornet without an open competition. How might this affect other potential French bidders? Olivier Casenave-Péré, DCNS' senior representative in Canada, gives me a straightforward answer: DCNS is here to stay. He points to the creation last April of a wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary, DCNS Technologies Canada, and a project to deploy a fully grid-con- nected 4MW tidal array through subsidiary OpenHydro in Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy as evidence of that commitment. The oft-repeated concerns and misleading myths about interop- erability – debunked by the French embassy's defence attaché in a compelling article in the Aug/Sep issue of Vanguard – should not overshadow the primary objective of the Canadian defence procurement strategy: "to get the right equipment at the right time and at the right price." Chronic delays have made the CSC project an ever more press- ing matter, not least because of the looming capability gap created by the retirement of the destroyers. It is past time to move for- ward with a fair, open and transparent competition that will allow companies to show what the next generation of Canadian combat ship should look like. As a major player offering both a highly versatile frigate and a 100 percent industrial and technological benefits package, DCNS Technologies Canada should be among the contenders.