And Then What?

Not Much Good Sitting in Drydock

A boat is sometimes described as a hole in the water into which you pour money. If that applies to any boat it's surely the Royal Canadian Navy's deeply-troubled Upholder-class submarines.

They were junk when their original owner, Britain's Royal Navy, mothballed them just a few years after they came into service. They were junk while they floated at British docks waiting for some sucker to come along with a cheque. They were junk when the Chretien government decided to go cheap and dirty and pick them up for the Canadian Navy. They've been junk ever since.

Designed in the 70's, they were finally approved in the early 80's and came into service from the late 80's to the early 90's. They were declared surplus and "paid off" in the early 90's.

In 1998, Canada announced it would buy the Royal Navy's cast offs. Four boats for $750-million but, like all boats, that was just for starters. Mishaps and mechanical failures have plagued these boats, requiring some of them to be taken out of service for years at a stretch. That's when the dockyard bills started pouring in.

Details of the less than impressive service careers of our U-boat fleet are available via Wiki.

Now the federal government has a decision to make. These boats are in "end of life" mode. Submarines come with a "best before" date and that means they should be scrapped beginning in 2020.

RCN brass, with a straight face, say Canada must have a submarine capability.

“As Canadians, I think we want to know who’s operating on, above and below our water from a sovereignty perspective,” [Vice Admiral Ron] Lloyd said. “The one strategic asset that allows you to understand what’s operating below the water is a submarine. Nothing else can replace that.”

But, to be effective, the submarine has to be in the water, not undergoing heavy repairs or refit in drydock. From Admiral Lloyd's "sovereignty perspective" these boats have left Canada blind to what is operating below our waters.

The question now becomes do we sink another 1.5-3 billion dollars in upgrades to extend the life of these underwhelming U-boats? 

Type 212

The current price of a brand spanking new, state of the art, German-built Type 212 submarine is about $550-million Canadian. These are a proven design. Even the Israelis use them. They also come with 21st century capabilities including Air-Independent Propulsion that allows a non-nuclear submarine to operate submerged for weeks at a stretch.

Scorpene

Or there's Australia's choice, the French Scorpene sub. It seems they're a little more costly than the Type 212 but we might be able to piggyback on the Aussie's deal. There's also the Japanese, Soryu-class subs that the Americans regard very highly.

Soryu

Most of us have had the experience at looking at a beloved, old car and realizing that you just can't justify pouring money into it any longer for endless repairs. However, when the cost of repairing old equals or exceeds the cost of buying new, it should be a no-brainer.