CdnDefWriter
New Member
Feb 24 update - nationalnewswatch
I think John missed this one, also similar article in national post on February 23.
Liberals alter course on frigate replacement and rely on foreign design
OTTAWA — The Trudeau government has quietly revised the framework for the navy's planned frigate replacement program, opting for a proven foreign design over a custom domestic blueprint.
Defence contractors were given details of the proposal on Tuesday, which is subject to industry feedback and final approval, expected later this year.
Lisa Campbell, the assistant deputy minister in the acquisitions branch at Public Services and Procurement Canada, said an evaluation has determined that there are existing warship designs that would meet Canadian needs and deciding to go in that direction "was a big step for us."
Commodore Art MacDonald said the navy has also refined its requirements for the advanced warships, on which Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax is expected to begin construction some time around 2020.
In addition, the federal government will run only one competition for building both the ship and installing the sophisticated electronics, instead of doing it separately, as originally planned.
Campbell said those decisions will help not only speed up the shipbuilding process, which has been proceeding at a glacial pace, but could help control costs down the road.
When originally conceived, the Harper government estimated the cost of building 15 warships would be in the range of $26 billion, but internal documents and published reports last fall suggested the price tag could go as high as $40 billion.
Relying on a proven, off-the-shelf warship design from another country takes a lot of the uncertainty out of the planning process, Campbell said.
"We don't know the actual cost per ship yet," she said in an interview. "We're not talking about a custom build anymore. We're talking about existing designs .... and in our view that is likely to have an impact on diminishing all sorts of risks."
There would be, however, some modifications to the design to suit unique Canadian requirements. The process is not unlike the one followed when the Harper government selected a German design for the navy's soon-to-be-built joint supply ships.
It's about time they started going with a more reasonable approach.
The previous approach with Warship & Combat Management System [CMS] primes was a mismatch disaster waiting to happen.
Just imagine trying to mate Type 124 AAW systems on a Type-26 hull, you just know it's a cluster fuck waiting to happen.
And was exactly the same as the Martin gov'ts crazy Basic Vehicle [BV] & Integrated Mission Systems [IMS] approach to the Maritime Helicopter Program [MHP] before switch to one contender. Although the paper-helicopter CH-148 Cyclone that was Politically Selected for the MHP has not resulted in much better results.
I'm glad the admins added me as it's nice to find a forum of like minded individuals with some knowledge of defence matters. :coffee :canada
Cheers
I think John missed this one, also similar article in national post on February 23.
Liberals alter course on frigate replacement and rely on foreign design
OTTAWA — The Trudeau government has quietly revised the framework for the navy's planned frigate replacement program, opting for a proven foreign design over a custom domestic blueprint.
Defence contractors were given details of the proposal on Tuesday, which is subject to industry feedback and final approval, expected later this year.
Lisa Campbell, the assistant deputy minister in the acquisitions branch at Public Services and Procurement Canada, said an evaluation has determined that there are existing warship designs that would meet Canadian needs and deciding to go in that direction "was a big step for us."
Commodore Art MacDonald said the navy has also refined its requirements for the advanced warships, on which Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax is expected to begin construction some time around 2020.
In addition, the federal government will run only one competition for building both the ship and installing the sophisticated electronics, instead of doing it separately, as originally planned.
Campbell said those decisions will help not only speed up the shipbuilding process, which has been proceeding at a glacial pace, but could help control costs down the road.
When originally conceived, the Harper government estimated the cost of building 15 warships would be in the range of $26 billion, but internal documents and published reports last fall suggested the price tag could go as high as $40 billion.
Relying on a proven, off-the-shelf warship design from another country takes a lot of the uncertainty out of the planning process, Campbell said.
"We don't know the actual cost per ship yet," she said in an interview. "We're not talking about a custom build anymore. We're talking about existing designs .... and in our view that is likely to have an impact on diminishing all sorts of risks."
There would be, however, some modifications to the design to suit unique Canadian requirements. The process is not unlike the one followed when the Harper government selected a German design for the navy's soon-to-be-built joint supply ships.
It's about time they started going with a more reasonable approach.
The previous approach with Warship & Combat Management System [CMS] primes was a mismatch disaster waiting to happen.
Just imagine trying to mate Type 124 AAW systems on a Type-26 hull, you just know it's a cluster fuck waiting to happen.
And was exactly the same as the Martin gov'ts crazy Basic Vehicle [BV] & Integrated Mission Systems [IMS] approach to the Maritime Helicopter Program [MHP] before switch to one contender. Although the paper-helicopter CH-148 Cyclone that was Politically Selected for the MHP has not resulted in much better results.
I'm glad the admins added me as it's nice to find a forum of like minded individuals with some knowledge of defence matters. :coffee :canada
Cheers
