2nd Hand Ice-Breakers Available...if GoC Wants Them

By Colonel (Retired) Pierre Leblanc 

The Maritime Executive 

I recently attended the Maritime and Arctic Security & Safety Conference in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, where I learned of an interesting unforeseen opportunity for the Canadian Government to acquire a number of modern icebreakers at deeply discounted prices.

On January 30, 2017 I raised my concerns with the aging of the Canadian Coast Guard fleet of icebreakers. The ships in that fleet are coming to the end of their technical designs. The average age of the fleet is 36 years. The CCGS Louis St-Laurent is 48 years old.

Although there can be life extending programs in place there is still a need to replace those ships with modern ones. There is only one vessel that I can clearly identify in the Ship Building Strategy. At the moment, the replacement for the Louis-St-Laurent is planned to enter service in 2028 at which point the Louis St-Laurent will be 59 years old.

Building a new fleet will provide an opportunity to introduce more environmentally friendly propulsion systems to reduce the pollution of black carbon and nitrous oxide in the Arctic since the momentum to ban heavy fuel oil from the Arctic is increasing.

Two related elements are creating stress on the Canadian icebreaker fleet: global warming and demand for services. I believe that most Canadians are by now aware that global warming is taking place and that the arctic ice is disappearing. What might not be realized is that the breaking up of the ice means that the winds and currents will move the ice, especially thick and hard multi-year ice, in unexpected places and at unexpected times. One day the ice may be gone from the shore of a community but the next day it may block the departure of the supply ship requiring the support of an icebreaker. The opposite may happen with a supply ship not being able to reach the community because the wind will have pushed a barrier of ice against the coast line. All of the communities of Nunavut are resupplied by ship; it is therefore essential that icebreaker services be readily available.

The other element of stress is that the level of human activity in the Arctic is on the increase, allowed by the easier access caused by the disappearance of the ice. There is more activity requiring icebreaker support. A cruise ship in distress may divert the support of an icebreaker from community resupply. This will more than likely continue to increase which will in turn likely call for more icebreaker support.

When I commanded Joint Task Force North, my Coast Guard colleagues used to tell me that “if there is more ice you need more icebreakers, and if there is less ice you still need more icebreakers.” Although counter-intuitive, the need for more icebreaker when there is less ice is because the Arctic ice starts moving around early and throughout the shipping season causing largely unpredictable ice dams. This is already reported by the Coast Guard and the marine companies resupplying the Canadian Arctic communities.

The oil and gas company Shell is reported to have spent in excess of $9 billion dollars exploring and developing a capability to drill for oil in the Arctic. For several reasons forming a “perfect storm,” in September of 2015 they canceled their Arctic project. To support their Arctic operations they had secured a number of icebreakers that are now surplus.

The m/v Aiviq is a Polar Class 3 icebreaker built by North American Shipbuilders in 2012. It is reported to be the world’s most powerful icebreaker privately owned. In addition, m/v Tor Viking II, m/v Vidar Viking  and m/v Balder Viking are three Norwegian built Polar Class 4 icebreakers that were destined to support Shell’s arctic operations. All these vessels are now available to be secured by Canada and more specifically the Canadian Coast Guard.

The M/V Vidar Viking 

Given the state of the Canadian icebreaker fleet and the increasing demand for icebreaker support in both the Arctic and in support of the Saint-Lawrence Seaway, Canada might be wise to consider the offer of those icebreakers.

The ships will likely need some modifications to meet the Coast Guard requirements, but those should be relatively easy to complete in a short period of time compared to building a ship from the ground up. The U.S. has also identified a need for icebreakers to replace and augment the two that are in operation today. They may also be interested in acquiring the ones that were once destined to support the Shell Arctic operations that have been canceled.
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Colonel (Retired) Pierre Leblanc is a former Commander of the Canadian Forces in the Canadian Arctic. www.arcticsecurity.ca

Forbes: Why We Are Buying Canadian Warships

By: Gordon Forbes, The Ottawa Citizen - Opinions 

It is so simple, according to some: Just go out to your foreign new warship dealer and buy the warship of your dreams for billions less than you can build it is Canada. Take the savings and pay ex-shipyard workers Employment Insurance for 10 years.

This would, of course, close every shipyard capable of building large ships in Canada – all three of them. Why did nobody think of it before?

Well, they have, and for decades the idea has been rejected by every type of government. Because it is not just the shipyards that would lose business, but hundreds of small, medium and large businesses across the country. Businesses that not only provide such things as steel and copper but that produce products ranging from anchors to the integration of combat systems. Does anyone remember the hundreds of businesses that suffered when the Avro Arrow was canceled in 1959?

Canada can take a lesson from the fate of the Avro Arrow fighter program. COPY PHOTO BY IAN ROBERTSON, SUN

But the most important loss would be the loss of intellectual property (IP) that would go along with such an idea.

Intellectual property belongs to those who design the millions of things that go into a modern warship. This IP would belong to those offshore companies who designed the ship and it systems. We have already seen an inkling of this problem with the current attempt to buy offshore designs for the Navy’s Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC). Several countries and their shipyards have balked at the requirement for Canada to have access to the IP of their proposed designs.

But why is this IP important? It is primarily because it limits the amount of maintenance and modification that Canada can carry out. Without the IP, you cannot fix anything, you cannot modify anything and you cannot sell your technology to other countries. It would mean that we would have to send the ships back to their parent shipyards for dockings and other essential work. It would mean that maintenance of any ship systems, from main engines to combat systems, could only be done by the holders of the IP. It would mean little or no work for Canadian workers on any of these systems.

Artists Renditions of the Future Vessels of the RCN

But surely we could buy the IP from the selling shipyard? Well, that would also mean buying it from every IP holder who has equipment on the ship. And it would cost us billions, many of those billions we might also have to put toward payment of ex-employees. This is a sellers’ market and Canada would have very little leverage to acquire IP for minimal cost.

To those who argue the point: It is just not that simple to buy all our warships offshore.
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Gordon Forbes, LCDR (ret’d), has been involved in the naval procurement business for the most part of 38 years, both in the Navy and in the defence industry. He lives in Orléans.

Boeing Skips Industry Day in CF-18 Replacement

SOURCE: FLIGHTGLOBAL.COM
BY: STEPHEN TRIMBLE
WASHINGTON DC

Boeing has yet to decide whether to compete for a contract worth $12-14.5 billion to replace Canada’s tactical fighter fleet. The airframer once had the deal in its pocket before Ottawa terminated plans to buy the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet after Boeing filed a trade complaint against Bombardier last May.

In a possible sign that the company could forego submitting a bid, Boeing chose to skip a one-day information session for potential bidders on 22 January that was hosted by Canadian agency managing the Future Fighter Capability acquisition programme.

Boeing confirmed the absence and says it remains convinced that the Super Hornet is the best option for the Royal Canadian Air Force, although the airframer has not decided whether to offer the aircraft yet.

“We continue to believe that the Super Hornet is the low-risk, low-cost approach that has all the advanced capabilities the Royal Canadian Air Force needs now and well into the future,” Boeing says.

“We will evaluate our participation in Canada’s Future Fighter Capability Project (FFCP) after the Government of Canada outlines the FFCP procurement approach, requirements and evaluation criteria,” Boeing adds.

US government officials attended the information session hosted by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), the Canadian government’s acquisition arm, Boeing says.

Boeing may face a deadline in two weeks to make a decision. Attendance at the information session was not mandatory, but PSPC has requested that all potential bidders respond by 9 February to an invitation to join a Suppliers List. Only companies that respond to the invitation will be informed and allowed to participate in all future steps of the FFCP acquisition process, the PSPC says.

The indecision by Boeing reflects a staggering turn-around in the company’s fortunes in Ottawa since last year. In his victorious 2015 election campaign, now-prime minister Justin Trudeau promised to cancel the previous government’s plans to buy the Lockheed Martin F-35A without first staging a competition. A year later, the Trudeau government announced plans to acquire 24 new F/A-18E/Fs as an interim replacement for the CF-18, until a competition selected a permanent solution after 2020.

But those plans changed last May after Boeing filed an anti-dumping and countervailing duty complaint against Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier over an April 16 sale to Delta Air Lines of 75 CS100s. The US Commerce Department agreed with Boeing’s position and set a nearly 300% tariff on CSeries imports to the USA. The final outcome of the case now depends on a vote by the US International Trade Commission on 25 January, which will decide whether the Delta order caused financial harm to Boeing and, if so, ratify the tariff.

Meanwhile, the Trudeau government scrapped the plan to buy Super Hornets last summer. The RCAF instead plans to buy retired F/A-18s from the Royal Australian Air Force as an interim CF-18 replacement.

GoC Holds Industry Day for CF-18 Replacement

By: David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen 

The federal government held an industry day on Monday in Ottawa for those firms interested in the new fighter jet acquisition.

The objective of the event is to present foreign governments and industry with the information required for them to make an informed decision about participating in the procurement, according to the federal government. In addition, the event will provide an opportunity for Canadian industry to network with foreign governments and fighter aircraft manufacturers, it added.

The Liberal government has committed to buying 88 new fighter jets to replace the CF-18 fleet.

The acquisition will include associated equipment, weapons, and sustainment set-up and services, according to the government.

According to the government, the basic parameters for a new jet include:

• capable of performing missions from existing Canadian and allied bases.
• capable of being interoperable within the context of NORAD and allied
• capable of being deployable, operable, and sustainable worldwide in known threat environments into the 2060s, and be able to meet Canada’s military airworthiness regulations.
• capable of having the potential to grow and evolve to maintain an operational advantage throughout its service life.
• capable of including a comprehensive sustainment program that assures operational readiness and maintains mission effectiveness of the capability throughout its service life.

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According to several industry sources, more than 400 suppliers and industry representatives were present yesterday in Ottawa. 

New U.S. Warship trapped in Montreal by heavy ice

The Canadian Press

MONTREAL -- A newly commissioned Navy warship will be wintering in Montreal after its journey to Florida was interrupted by cold and ice.

The USS Little Rock moored in Montreal Harbor, December 2017. 

A Navy spokeswoman says the USS Little Rock was commissioned in Buffalo on Dec. 16 and was expected to make its way to its home port in Mayport, Fla.

Instead, the 118-metre Freedom-variant vessel has been moored in Montreal since Christmas Eve due to unusually heavy ice conditions.

Lt. Cmdr. Courtney Hillson says the Navy has now decided to leave the ship in place until the winter weather improves.

While there's no departure date scheduled, she says the St. Lawrence Seaway is generally navigable by mid-March.

Hillson says the crew are doing well and will focus on training and readiness while they wait to travel to warmer waters. The USS Little Rock is a Freedom-class littoral combat ship (LCS) of the United States Navy. The LCS designed for service in warmer climates. The USS Little Rock was to serve in Florida and the Gulf of Mexico for the duration of its career.