Canadian Surface Combatant design and design team selected

After a thorough procurement and evaluation process, the BAE’s Type 26 design has been selected as the starting point for the design of the Royal Canadian Navy’s future warships, the Canadian Surface Combatants. Irving Shipbuilding Inc., the project’s prime contractor, awarded a sub-contract to Lockheed Martin Canada for work to finalize the design.

This selected bid meets Canada’s stated requirements and offers the best value and overall combination of benefits in terms of capability, risk, affordability, and economic benefits for Canada.

Modern and more capable

Our Royal Canadian Navy must remain highly attuned to the changing nature of conflict in order to accomplish its missions. Doing so depends heavily upon the design of our ships. Our future Canadian Surface Combatants will therefore be designed, built and equipped to counter not only current threats, but future ones as well.

Whether supporting NATO Operations, such as operation REASSURANCE in Central and Eastern Europe, fighting illicit trafficking by organized crime as currently done in operation CARIBBE, or exerting Canadian sovereignty in the north during operation NANOOK, the Canadian Surface Combatants will be called upon to operate in a variety of environments. Our future warships will allow Canada to rapidly deploy credible naval forces worldwide, on short notice.

Equipped for excellence at sea

Maritime domain awareness and knowing one’s adversaries remain core to success in operations. Our future combatants will possess enhanced underwater sensors allowing for early detection of submarines and other underwater threats. State-of-the-art radars will provide the ship with the required awareness in all operating environments.

Increased pursuit of conflict through hybrid warfare is also putting a new emphasis on adaptability in modern naval platforms. Being able to quickly change roles from one mission to another will be key. Modern weaponry, like our future flexible missile launching system, will enable the Canadian Surface Combatants to easily adapt to multiple missions while deployed and to deliver decisive combat power when required. Full integration of Canada’s maritime helicopter will further enhance the ships’ range of operations, and better position us to contribute meaningfully to joint operations ashore, while preserving the ability to contribute meaningfully to naval combat operations at sea.

Canadian Surface Combatants will be designed to operate with the Canadian Army, Canadian Special Operations Forces and the Royal Canadian Air Force both at home and abroad. This means they will possess the right communication equipment, sensors and weapons to achieve the missions in Canada’s defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged. Robust command and control capability will be provided through specialized communications equipment, as well as facilities and accommodations for staff planning functions. This will enable the ships’ crew to lead operations from the sea and contribute to the leadership of joint actions and combined operations ashore.

Providing for our people

Finally, as stated in Strong, Secure, Engaged, our people are at the heart of everything we do. As such, the ships’ modern design will provide Canada’s sailors the accommodations and facilities that are so important to maintaining morale and effectiveness through operational deployments.

The Canadian Surface Combatants will be the core component of a globally deployable, multi-purpose, combat-capable maritime force. As such, they will require purpose-built and focused warfare capabilities, including task group command and control and the capability of providing naval fires and other support to forces ashore. The modern warfare versatility of the Canadian Surface Combatants will be central to the Royal Canadian Navy’s ability to respond to rapidly evolving situations at the behest of the Government of Canada. Selecting the design and design team is an important step forward in ensuring we have the right equipment to fulfill this important role.

Associated links

Government of Canada selects design for Canadian Surface Combatants
Canadian Surface Combatant