Guess Who Can't Make the Party?

It's quite a gathering.  55-warships from 13-NATO countries are taking part in Exercise Joint Warrior in the waters off Scotland.  This year's war games are considered especially important given the perceived resurgence of Russian naval forces.

They take place against a background of rising concern about Russian expansionism but the Ministry of Defence said the Exercise Joint Warrior war games are a twice-yearly exercise rather than a response to any specific threat.

However, the Joint Warrior exercises are the biggest yet held by Nato and are intended to act as a show of strength while honing the ability of member nations to co-operate in the event of an attack.

Training for submarine hunts is regarded as particularly important in waters north of the UK as they are the most obvious route into the wider Atlantic Ocean for Russian vessels.

Russian submarines are also suspected of operating close to the UK shoreline. In March a fishing vessel 10 miles off the Isle of Lewis snagged an object suspected of being a submarine – none from Nato were said to be operating in the area at the time – while in November dozens of aircraft and ships took part in a major search after a sighting was reported.

...Warships from the US, including guided-missile vessels USS Porter and USS Anzio, will join the Royal Navy for the exercises along with ships from Poland, Estonia, Lativa, France, Netherlands, Spain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, and Belgium.

So, which country is conspicuous by its absence?  That, of course, would be Canada.  Unlike Latvia or Belgium, we don't seem able to contribute a naval presence to these games.  The best I could find is a National Defence press release from 2013 that proclaimed the importance of Exercise Joint Warrior and Canada's role in it.

News Release / April 2, 2013 / Project number: NR - 13.095

OTTAWA – More than 900 Canadian sailors, airmen and airwomen of the Canadian Armed Forces departed today to participate in Exercise Joint Warrior, a joint multinational NATO exercise taking place in the United Kingdom from April 15 to 25. Exercise Joint Warrior is the largest military tactical exercise in Europe and is designed to prepare NATO military forces to work together in a variety of missions from providing humanitarian aid to full-combat operations.

“This exercise presents an excellent opportunity for the Canadian Armed Forces to build and strengthen interoperability and combat effectiveness between Canada’s military and our NATO allies,” said the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence. “Our sailors and aircrew will conduct realistic training to enhance the various tactics, techniques, and procedures that they will employ on behalf of the Government of Canada in a variety of operational scenarios both at home and abroad.”

...Exercise Joint Warrior is organized by the United Kingdom and will involve the participation of close to 13, 000 military personnel, 55 vessels, and up to 40 aircraft from various NATO nations over a ten-day period. Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships (HMCS) Preserver, Iroquois, and St. John’sdeparted Halifax, N.S. today to begin their transit across the Atlantic Ocean and will participate in the exercise later in the month.

The Iroquois, of course, is now headed for the scrap yard. Sister ship
Algonquin has also been paid off.  HMCS Annapolis (pictured above) just got sent to the bottom of Howe Sound to become an artificial reef.  HMCS Preserver along with sister ship Protecteur are also awaiting their turn at the breakers' yard.

Canadian Navy's Pacific Fleet Out of Service, Waiting for Repairs

The Royal Canadian Navy's one and only supply ship for Pacific operations is awaiting a tow into the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  According to the Times Colonist, HMCS Protecteur is currently drifting off Hawaii following a fire in the ship's engine room overnight.  The ship is believed to be about 700 kms. north of Oahu. 

Commodore Bob Auchterlonie, commander of Canadian Fleet Pacific, applauded the actions of sailors who raced to put out the fire. “They saved the ship last night and they saved their shipmates,” Auchterlonie said Friday. “We’ve seen incidents like this around the globe and they’ve ended much worse than this. The fact . . . they got the fire under control, put it out, and secured the ship with only minor injuries on board is a testament to their training and professionalism.” 

 The fire caused extensive damage to Protecteur’s main engine room. “Picture an elementary school gymnasium about three storeys high filled with machinery, engines, and a lot of moving parts on fire in the middle of the ocean,” he said. “It took some time to get that fire out.” 

Fortunately, Protecteur sailors are well trained and well prepared, he said.

Onboard were 279 crew, along with 17 family members ages 14 to 73, and two civilian contractors. It’s a popular practice for family to join service members for the last part of a journey after a ship has been on an extended mission. “The idea behind it is they’re seeing what life is like in a ship,” Auchterlonie said. “Last night, they experienced more life on a ship than they probably wanted to experience again.” 

 Auchterlonie said about 20 people suffered minor injuries while fighting the fire. “There was dehydration, there was exhaustion, there was smoke inhalation, and that’s what the nature of the injuries were,” he said. “Fortunately, we have a doctor on board, we have physician assistance on board, and we’re aware all these people have been treated.”

Oh well, I suppose most Canadians wouldn't mind getting waylaid to Hawaii right about now.  Word is the prime minister is deeply upset because this will dampen his plans to stage a naval blockade of the Russian fleet at Sevastopol.

Another MacKay-Fantino Love Child?

They could've stuck with the ships Paul Martin had on the books when he left office, but nooooo.

The ships, three of them, were to replace the navy's 45-year old supply ships only they were to be supply ships and more.    That deal was scrapped by the Tories.

Now we're told to expect an announcement that the navy will get two, possibly three, replacement ships but they won't measure up to what was promised.

What followed, (after Martin's plan was scrapped) according to the series of internal briefings, was a drastic scaling back of the navy’s design concept, overseen by senior civilian defence and political officials.

The $2.6 billion program relaunched in 2010 is expected to deliver two — maybe three — ships.

But with the program delayed until 2018 and accounting for inflation — currently running at seven per cent in the shipbuilding industry — it will likely cost taxpayers more than if the government had stuck with the original plan.

The new proposal will see the joint ships carry fewer helicopters, drastically less cargo, no space for a joint mission headquarters or a full-fledged hospital, as mandated in the original concept.

The Harper government has assigned the task of building the ships to Seaspan Shipyards in Vancouver and is expected to select from two specific designs sometime this year.

Unlike the troubled F-35 fighter proposal where capabilities such as stealth were hardly questioned, the briefings on the joint support ships suggest civilians played a large role after 2008 deciding what the military could live without in the new vessels.

...The initial concept was for a joint ship that could act as floating supply base for the navy, carrying vast amounts of army equipment to trouble spots, and act as offshore command post and hospital for humanitarian missions. It was well-researched and thought out by the navy.

...The ships, as they are envisioned now, almost entirely give up the sealift role.

Turning to Submarines

HMCS Victoria

Back in the 60's the Royal Canadian Navy fielded a small number of reasonably capable submarines, the Oberon-class boats we bought from the UK.   We had five of these subs.   Introduced in 1965 they were decommissioned in the late 90's, a commendable service life.

As the Oberon boats were being phased out Canada went shopping for replacements and, voila, the Royal Navy happened to have four "nearly new" Upholder-class subs it was looking to unload.   These subs had been mothballed after just four years of somewhat chequered service.

During construction of the first boats it was recognized that the weapon-discharge system design did contain flaws. The torpedo tube slide valve controlling operation of the torpedo tube doors could have, under certain system failure conditions, allowed the opening of the inner door while the outer door was open. The flaw was quickly fixed in the first three boats and the modifications included in the fourth boat while still under construction.

Miscalculations were made in the design of the main-motor control circuitry. During the sea trials of Upholder, when performing the specified trial for an emergency reversal ("crash back"), a flash-over incident occurred, which resulted in the complete loss of all power and propulsion. On investigation, this was traced to a fault in the design of the control circuitry insulation, resulting in a battery short circuit current of more than 60,000 amperes.

The diesels were originally designed for use in railway locomotives, and were not intended to be rapidly stopped and started. Shutting them down after snorkelling led to many failures. Similarly, the motor-generators were operated at full power for longer than expected, and consumed brushes and filters rapidly (the brush problems were not specific to the Upholders, and were a widespread issue on all UK RN vessels at that time).

Canada bought these boats in 1998 only to find them chock full of gremlins.  Fourteen years later the Canadian navy hopes to have one of them operational this year.  It's now thirty years or more since those submarines became operational with the Royal Navy.   Thirty years in submarine years is just about a full lifetime.

So not only are Canada's subs about to enter service as geriatrics, they're no longer state of the art in the engine room where it really counts.   The propulsion units of these diesel/electric subs are a somewhat advanced version of what submarines have used since WWI.   That is so yesterday.

A big disadvantage to conventional, or non-nuclear, subs has been that they could use their diesel power only while surfaced or while running just below the surface using a snorkel.   One way or another they needed a source of air to run at full power.   Nuclear  boats were air independent and could chug along in the ocean depths for months at a time.

Conventional subs bridged the gap recently with the introduction of air-independent propulsion engines.   The latest German submarines of the 212 class use fuel cell technology that allows them to cruise fully submerged for weeks.   This gives them an endurance capability vastly greater than our vintage subs and somewhat similar to nuclear submarines without the noise penalty of nuclear power units.

Why does this matter, especially to Canada?  For the first time in our nation's history we're probably going to have a genuine need for a submarine capability, that's why.   The Arctic Ocean is going to become ice free.   That means Canada's northern waters are destined to become a major shipping route.   It also means the Arctic Ocean will see something akin to a gold rush in the pursuit of seabed resources from oil and gas to mineral wealth.   That in turn will fuel tensions over unresolved territorial disputes.   That will also lead to new and expanded military presences in the far north.

There will be no shortage of legal, diplomatic, commercial and military muscle-flexing in the decades ahead.   Right or wrong, like it or not, Canada will need to establish and maintain a credible presence to uphold our sovereignty and protect against encroachment.  You snooze, you lose.  It's that simple.

Submarines, especially of a type our potential rivals cannot readily detect, are essential for defending Canada's north.   That means we need modern boats that are capable of silent, extended patrolling underwater.

Let's face it, if Harper gets his way and Canada does wind up saddled with a few dozen single-engine, limited range, minimal payload F-35s, we can pretty much kiss goodbye any meaningful ability to defend the vast north from the air.  We will need something to pick up the slack.

Which brings us back to Canada's not-ready-for-primetime Victoria class subs.  It is possible to retrofit those boats with air-independent propulsion systems but is it feasible given their age, remaining usable life, ongoing reliability questions and the substantial cost?  Anyone who has owned an old car knows that sometimes you have to cut your losses and get a new car.

It's time for the Canadian government to admit that the Victoria boats were yet another disastrous mistake brought to us by the dimwits that populate our National Defence headquarters.  It's probably time to stop throwing good money after bad.  It's probably time to go shopping for new boats.   This time we might even be able to get new for cheap.   Greece has several new boats on order from the Germans and it's looking like Greece is a bit short on Euros to pay for them.   Could be a deal there.