CPSP RFI: There May be Complications

By Peter M. Sanderson, 2 October 2024

The Issuing of the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP) Request for Information (RFI) came as a surprise but was welcomed by the CAF. The 2035 date is interesting for a government watching its spending; the last planes of the Future Fighter Capability Project (FFCP) will have been delivered 3 years earlier and the destroyer portion of the CSC will have been up and running for many years so government can now take on new commitments. Spoiler alert, looking at chart #1 you will see when TKMS will finally be free to build its 2,500 t Type-212CD for foreign buyers – its small size and stealthy hull certainly give it an advantage in the shallow Arctic seas. See chart #2 for the projected service life disposition of the Victoria-class SSK

The 2025 CUSMA negotiations. One of the reasons the Biden White House and its ambassador have been so patient with Canada’s defence spending “slow reveal,” was that they knew we were just months from these negotiations. And it matters not who wins in November, we will be dealing with the US Trade Representativewho wants a rematch with our ‘supply managed’ sector for starters. With no good will to put on the table, our economy will be damaged and we will suffer some real arm twisting before anteing up!  In 1939 Canada joined the USA to create Fortress North America and, while the two countries may have split as the United States fought its ‘forever wars,’ we still have a duty to defend the North. The world is at war, in Minute Men tradition, America rings the alarm bell, a Canadian saunters onto the village green carrying a rusty musket sans powder & ball. Canada doesn’t even have the self-interest to guard our Arctic Archipelago’s trillions of dollars of oil, gas, precious metals and rare earths.                                                                                                                                                  
Order 4 Korean Subs ASAP. See chart #3. ‘Perfect is the enemy of good.’ 

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Preview: Canadian Naval Review Vol. 20 No. 2

He describes the events when Harry DeWolf was in command of HMCS Haida in World War II and the battles that led to the ship earning the title of Canada’s Fightingest Warship – “HMCS Haida: Actions Under Commander Harry DeWolf.” Our third article, “Canada’s Arctic Forces: Preparing for the Future,” by Major (Ret’d) Les Mader, argues that Canada needs to consider what military forces it needs and what actions it should take now to be prepared if climate change leads to catastrophic changes in ocean currents. We also have a short, but poignant, piece about Remembrance Day as it approaches. In a time of increasing turbulence, we must all take the time to remember.

We are pleased to have a tasty buffet of Making Wave commentaries. There are two commentaries about increasing personnel in the RCN. A commentary discusses the 2% of GDP commitment Canada made to NATO. Another commentary explores the “fallacy of sunk costs” and discusses how this relates to the CAF/RCN commitment to the CSCs. A final commentary discusses China’s evolving strategy of engagement with Pacific island states. And then we have columns examining what Saab is up to in Sweden, the implications of RIMPAC 2024 for security commitments in Asia, and the defence spending commitment made at the NATO summit this summer.

Of course there are stunning photos to illustrate everything! You will be unable to put this issue down once you start reading! See the Table of Contents here.

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