Slow Procurement is Canada’s Greater Risk

By Mike Peasgood, 14 November 2026

The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) faces an existential problem. The character of naval warfare is changing faster than Canada can buy and field the systems needed to keep its ships relevant and survivable.

       In an August 2026 RCN account, Commander Phillip Durand, one of the navy’s experts in maritime counter-drone operations, emphasized the speed of the change. According to him, “[e]ven the observations I share today may be outdated within weeks because the technology is evolving so quickly.”¹ He expects the operational battle space to become saturated with aerial, surface and subsurface uncrewed systems within the next few years.

       These systems create an asymmetric challenge. Cheap and expendable aircraft and vessels can be fielded in large numbers, while their small size, unconventional materials and low electromagnetic signatures make them difficult to detect, classify and distinguish from routine activity. Swarms can exploit gaps in layered defence and exhaust limited magazines.

       These new technologies threaten the RCN fleet’s combat relevance. Canada could continue operating sophisticated and expensive ships while their military value erodes around them. A warship that cannot find, classify and affordably defeat large numbers of autonomous threats may remain seaworthy while becoming increasingly vulnerable. The RCN must adapt its sensors, defensive systems, networks, tactics and training at the pace of the threat. That pace is measured in weeks and months. Canada’s purchasing system usually works in years. Canada needs a naval purchasing pathway that can turn an operational problem into a paid field trial in months instead of years.

       Canadian companies are developing autonomous vessels, artificial intelligence, resilient navigation, sensors, electronic warfare tools and new propulsion systems. Naval personnel are looking for ways to use these technologies. The missing connection is often a timely purchase contract that allows a promising system to be tested in sustained operations.

       Start-up innovators have systems ready for testing. The RCN has operational problems it wants to solve. But once a purchase is required, both sides enter a process whose timing they largely cannot control.

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Latest CNR: Vol. 22 No. 2 (2026)

In his Editorial “The Art of Naval Thought,” Brian Santarpia notes that “the RCN dedicates relatively little effort to professional education in the foundations of strategic thought,” and that this is unfortunate. To start off the line-up of interesting articles, we have the winning essay of the 2026 CNMT essay competition. The author, C.A.M. Al Wahi, won with an impressive essay entitled “Vulnerable Arteries: Protecting Critical Subsea Infrastructure and the RCN’s Mandate.” Our second article, “A Submarine-First Royal Canadian Navy?” argues that, as Canada’s main strategic asset, submarines should receive more focus in the RCN. Our third article, “Slow Procurement is Canada’s Greater Risk,” outlines problems and solutions in the military procurement process from the perspective of a Canadian company. The next article, “Of Hulls and Sailors: Why Fleet Recapitalization Depends on Personnel Generation,” focuses on the importance of ensuring there are enough trained personnel as a crucial element of naval capability. The final article discusses HMCS Sackville and the ship’s recommissioning ceremony in the spring.   

We have a good selection of Making Waves commentaries. There is material about the future US Arctic Security Cutters, discussion of the importance of trained personnel, underwater surveillance in the Arctic, and suggestions about the design of Canadian amphibious forces.

And, of course, we have our regular columns. In “Allies of Necessity: Japan and South Korea,” “A View from the West” looks at the uneasy relationship between two key players in the Indo-Pacific region.  “Dollars and Sense” examines the shift from austerity to abundance in defence, and “Warship Developments” updates us on Tomahawks and aircraft carriers.  

No issue of CNR would be complete without the amazing photos! And there are many of them!

Stay tuned. In a few weeks, the issue will be available to people who are lucky enough to be subscribers! It’s not too late for you to subscribe. See here for the Table of Contents.

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