Vanguard Magazine

G GlOBal DEFENCE 30 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2016 www.vanguardcanada.com has the means to produce advanced biological weapons means they will require advanced defensive capabilities to counter them. More broadly, significantly expanded naval medical and joint ex- peditionary engineering capacities will be increasingly valuable as "first responders" to natural disasters and pandemics. The mari- time response to the Ebola outbreak was conspicuously absent. Energy technology is already producing weapons that employ "directed energy" beams as an alternative to tradition kinetic pro- jectiles. The threat from swarms of autonomous drones presents the prospect of all ordnance being expended before the threat is countered. Moreover, missiles are expensive to procure and maintain plus their increasing size limits the numbers that can be carried and generally prohibits underway replenishment. The move to lasers and electromagnetic rail guns for defensive and offensive purposes removes the logistical limitation of magazine space but transfers it to energy generation and fuel capacity, which become limiting factors on operations. Underway sustainment will undoubtedly become the Achilles' heel of future naval missions. enablers with limits Technologies can be both enablers of operations and limitations on them. Force multiplying systems (such as communications or logistics) can be disrupted by both direct and indirect means, presenting high-value targets to enemies that understand their importance. Although technology can present an offensive advan- tage, it is usually fleeting when confronted with an equally innova- tive and adaptive opponent. The naval technologies of the future and the complex security problems to be faced indicate that a broadly diversified naval force structure is required. A single-purpose organization focused on a particular type of threat will present a capable counter to it but little else. The complexity and unpredictability of the security environ- ment predicted by The Future Security Environment 2008-2030 makes the case for a new and radically different force structure from the navy of today or that which is being contemplated for the future. Part of the obstacle to transformative change is imposed by the procurement system. Unit cost is driven down by the Trea- sury Board by purchasing in large numbers. The 15-ship Single Class Surface Combatant program is a prime example. Without making provision for the introduction of new technologies dur- ing the decades-long construction process and throughout the roughly 30-year service life of the ships, they are unlikely to be effective. The anticipated pace of technological change is simply too great. The problem of block purchasing has recently arisen with the eleven Hero-class vessels built for the Canadian Coast Guard. In- tended for use on both coasts and in the Great Lakes, these ships will be confronted with a wide range of operating conditions and tasks. Early reports from Halifax-based ships indicate that they have great difficulty coping with Atlantic sea states since their introduc- tion last summer and fall. For a vessel intended for sovereignty patrol and life-saving, this is more than a minor issue. A mismatch between operational concepts of effectiveness and economy has resulted in a conflict of purpose. Clearly, a one-size-fits-all purposes approach will result in times and places where the capability is not adequate to the requirement to uphold national authority and save life at sea. For low-end ship requirements, the Canadian shipbuilding in- dustry should be very capable of designing and building vessels to suit domestic needs. The problems become vastly more complex when considering the needs of long-range expeditionary opera- tions into a high threat environment. Her Majesty's Canadian Submarine (HMCS) Corner Brook during advanced submarine officer training in the vicinity of Nootka Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island. While patrolling off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden, HMCS CHARLOTTETOWN came across stranded Somali fisherman who ran out of fuel, water and food. Aer rendering them assistance with there needed commodities, the fisherman were on their way. Photo: Cpl Robert LeBlanc.

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