The North Atlantic Treaty Organization will be looking for naval forces that could deploy on short notice to the Baltic, Eastern Mediterranean, or even the Western Pacific. At NATO headquarters in Brussels, military planners must be preparing for a possible confrontation with Russia. They will also be keeping an eye on China — just in case the world’s newest superpower takes advantage of events in Ukraine, to capture disputed islands in the East or South China Seas. However, the Royal Canadian Navy cannot answer the call. Procurement delays have depleted a once-formidable fleet; most of the Navy’s remaining ships are now inoperable or obsolete. The Navy’s ability to deploy task groups depends on the availability of two 45-year old supply ships. On the east coast, HMCS Preserver recently returned from an anti-drug smuggling mission in the Caribbean and would take several months to redeploy. On the west coast, the HMCS Protecteur is out of commission, perhaps permanently, because of a serious fire in its engine room last week. In any event, both supply ships are due to retire next year, long before replacements are ready. Although the Martin government initiated the procurement of new supply ships in 2004, the project was stopped by the Harper government in 2006, restarted in 2008, and restarted again in 2010. The new ships are not now expected until at least 2019. Canada’s three Iroquois-class destroyers are nearly as old as the supply ships. But no action was taken to replace them until 2011, when the Harper government announced plans to build 15 “Canadian Surface Combatants.” Three years later, not even a design contract has been signed. Under the Harper government, the expected delivery date for fully functional replacements has slipped by nine years, from 2009 to 2018 With the destroyers due to retire in 2017, the Navy is facing a painful gap in command and air defence capabilities, which our elderly destroyers currently provide. That gap already exists on the west coast, as the sole destroyer based there – HMCS Algonquin – was damaged in a collision with Protecteur last year, and is currently under repair. Then there are the 51 year-old Sea King helicopters, which fulfill an essential anti-submarine function aboard the destroyers, supply ships and frigates. Jean Chrétien deserves much of the blame, having cancelled a contract for new helicopters in 1993. But under the Harper government, the expected delivery date for fully functional replacements has slipped by nine years, from 2009 to 2018. In 2007, Stephen Harper personally announced plans for six-to-eight Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ships, with a projected delivery date of 2013. But it took until 2013 for a design contract to be signed, and the first deliveries are not expected until 2017. Even then, the ships will be of little use militarily, being slow, unarmoured and equipped with only one light gun and a light utility helicopter. Canada’s only serious naval capability rests with the twelve Halifax-class frigates, which are only two decades old. But even their readiness has been compromised by accidents, refits and budget cutbacks. Thanks to a collision with a fishing trawler last year, there are only two operational frigates on the west coast. After billions of dollars in repairs and refits, and very little actual service, the submarines are also growing old Finally, there are the four Victoria-class submarines. Two are in the middle of major repairs; another is undergoing sea trials after a decade in dry-dock. Just one submarine is operational and actually able to fire a torpedo. After billions of dollars in repairs and refits, and very little actual service, the submarines are also growing old. Built in the late 1980s and purchased second-hand from Britain in 1998, they have already entered the final decade of their expected service life. The Harper government defends its record on the Royal Canadian Navy by pointing to the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy. But consider this: after eight years in power, not a single construction contract for a naval vessel has been signed. Last week, Foreign Minister John Baird said that Canada would not use its military to respond to Russia’s aggression. He is right, insofar as force is no longer an option for Canada — at least in the naval domain. National Post Michael Byers holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 15:12:45 +0000
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