Canadian navy aims to have 3 submarines at sea by end of 2021
For the first time in seven years, the Canadian navy expects to have three of its four submarines operating simultaneously by the end of 2021.
The achievement would mark the realization of a plan that was scuttled last year by faulty maintenance work and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The commander of the Canadian submarine force says the success of the plan depends largely on HMCS Corner Brook. The sub left dry dock in Victoria on June 13, following years of repairs and upgrades since running aground off Vancouver Island in 2011.
The sub was supposed to return to service last summer but its re-entry was delayed by a year after a maintenance contractor caused significant damage to one of its main ballast tanks.
The Corner Brook is now set to undergo a series of in-water tests, ideally culminating in a camber dive this fall and sea trials before the year is out.
Upon its return to service, the Corner Brook will join two other submarines – HMCS Victoria and HMCS Windsor – that were supposed to return to operations early last year but were instead tied up when maintenance work was stalled amid the pandemic.
HMCS Victoria eventually returned to the waters of B.C. last September, followed six months later by HMCS Windsor in Halifax.
If all goes according to plan, the end of 2021 will be first time Canada has had three subs in service simultaneously since 2014, according to Maritime Forces Pacific spokesperson Capt. Chelsea Dubeau.
The overlap in operating schedules will be short-lived, however. HMCS Victoria is slated to begin several years of maintenance work next summer after spending less than two years in the water.
The rigorous maintenance schedule underscores one of the main criticisms of Canada’s 40-year-old submarines, which have spent more time in repairs than in the water since they were bought second-hand from Britain in 1998.
“What one must understand is that a submarine – by design with the maintenance model – is only available approximately 50 per cent of the time,” says submarine force commander Capt. Jean Stéphane Ouellet. “We’re making great strides right now to having three submarines back to operations by the end of the year.”
The fourth submarine, HMCS Chicoutimi, is currently in dry dock, where it will remain into 2023.
TESTING UNDERWAY ON NEW TORPEDO
As the submarines cycle through the maintenance and modernization work necessary to extend their life into the mid-2030s, they are each being equipped with new sonar, communications and torpedo capabilities.
A new heavyweight torpedo – the Mark 48 Mod 7 – was first sought by the sub force in 2011, according to the U.S. Defence Security Cooperation Agency, the office in Washington that clears large foreign military sales.
“We’re just starting to receive those weapons right now,” says Ouellet. “The first time that we’re going to be firing from a submarine will be in 2022.”
HMCS Windsor has been selected to test-fire the new torpedo off the East Coast next summer before the sub-sea weapon is eventually rolled out across the fleet. The Mod 7 torpedo, a conversion of the navy’s current Mod 4 weapon, is now being test-fired from a barge in Nanoose Bay, B.C.
“The main thing is that we went from an analog weapon to a digital weapon,” Ouellet says. “I can’t get into the details of what the new weapon provides us but it’s an increase in capability.”
The subs are also gaining the capability to better detect icebergs, according to the sub commander.
A new Lockheed Martin sonar system is being installed fleet-wide and could open the door to undersea missions in the Far North.
The high-frequency sonar “is an enabler to Arctic operations for the Victoria-class submarine,” Ouellet says, given its improved accuracy in detecting sea ice over the current system. “Should the need to arise to essentially get involved in Arctic security, we will do so.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Air quality advisories issued in 5 provinces, 1 territory
Air quality advisories are in effect across Western Canada as smoky conditions plague some areas, according to the latest forecasts. Here's where.
'Oh my God, you're my brother': Man in his 70s discovers 6 unknown siblings
After receiving a DNA kit one Christmas from his son-in-law, Hugh McCormick soon discovered that he had six unknown siblings, with whom he shared the same birth parents.
No refund for travellers who cancelled flight already scrapped by airline: regulator
Four years on, the controversy over whether airlines owed refunds to passengers after cancelling hundreds of thousands of flights during the pandemic continues to simmer, aggravated by a sluggish, opaque complaints process.
Just how bad are ultraprocessed foods? Here are 5 things to know
Many foods fall under the category of ultraprocessed foods, depending on their exact ingredients. This type of food has been studied a lot lately, and the results aren’t great.
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Rates of cancer declining in Canada, but more work needed to save lives: projections
A new study projecting declining rates of cancer cases and deaths in Canada demonstrates the success of prevention and early detection programs, but also highlights areas where more work is needed to save and prolong lives, researchers say.
DEVELOPING Trump trial arrives at a pivotal moment: Star witness Michael Cohen is poised to take the stand
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial is set to take the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
India's mammoth election is more than halfway done as millions begin voting in fourth round
Millions of Indians across 96 constituencies began casting their ballots on Monday as the country's gigantic, six-week-long election edges past its halfway mark. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third straight term with an eye on winning a supermajority in Parliament.
Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.