Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/439940
ANTI-SUBMARINE WARFARE m mARITImE 18 dECEMBER 2014/JanUaRy 2015 www.vanguardcanada.com Meanwhile, in Canada, a similar shift in focus is taking place. Efforts to protect offshore sovereignty along eastern and west- ern coastlines have now expanded to include the emerging waters along the Arctic coast. As the permanent Arctic ice cover contin- ues to recede, opening the region to wider commercial use and resource exploration and extraction, the world's attention will undoubtedly begin to focus on the Arctic, and the areas adjacent to Canada's economic zone in the region. This creates an inter- esting challenge: How can Canada open the doors to the great economic treasure trove and opportunity in the Arctic, while still preserving its sovereignty and sustain our ability to assert control over this jurisdiction? Given the shift in maritime capabilities worldwide, there is no denying that both the Asia-Pacifi c region and the Arctic will see extensive submarine activity. As this happens, underwater domain awareness has begun to emerge as a national interest. Therefore, the Canadian military must reclaim its reputation for excellence in ASW by leveraging homegrown expertise – Canadian engineers, software design engineers, physicists and academics – to position itself to deal with the new realities of maritime defence and secu- rity on all coasts. A reputation for ASW excellence For more than 40 years, Canadian submarine detection and track- ing technology led the world. In the early 1970s, Canada's mari- time role in NATO was focused on providing defence-in-depth, mainly by monitoring and patrolling the Norwegian Sea and the GIUK Gap to defend against a potential outbreak of Soviet navy RECLAIMING CANADA'S REPUTATION IN Commodore (Ret'd) Kelly Williams, OMM, MSM, Cd, MBa, RCn, is senior director of Strategy and Government Relations for General dynamics Canada. T here has been a distinct shift in the way the world thinks about maritime security and defence. As the world's political and economic center of gravity has migrated from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacifi c, and in particular to the vast arc of trade that moves through the Mediter- ranean to the Persian Gulf, up into the Indonesian Archipelago and into the South China Sea, it has led to fundamental changes in maritime capabilities worldwide. Over the last 30 year, the defence and security focus is mov- ing away from expensive large, specialized warships to a renewed focus on multi-purpose ships capable of working closer to shore in a variety of roles. A similar evolution is taking place in submarine capabilities, with at least 40 countries (most in the Indo-Pacifi c region) actively involved in building and operating submarines. At the same time, advances in technology have made submarines faster, quieter and more lethal than at any time in the history of anti-submarine warfare (ASW). In the tight, frequently contested maritime chokepoints through which much of the Western world's trade (including the bulk of its oil) moves, the diesel submarine is once again rising to prom- inence as a strategic weapon system, and an essential capabil- ity in the modern naval order of battle. HMCS Corner Brook during advanced submarine offi cer training and (opposite), HMCS Fredericton and the CH148 Cyclone. Photos: Jacek Szymanski; RCN; Rheinmetall AG