At the onset of the Cold War, it became clear that the Arctic was of strategic significance. So, for a brief period, the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) established a presence there. But this presence was sporadic and largely abandoned with the transfer of HMCS Labrador - the navy’s only icebreaker - to the Department of Transport in 1957.
In the 1970s there were semi-annual northern deployments (NORPLOYS), but it was only in the early 2000s that Canada began regular Arctic deployments. After an absence of years, in the early 2000s, there were two Narwhal exercises, then came Hudson Sentinel in 2005 and Operation Lancaster in 2006.
In 2007 the first iteration of Operation Nanook occurred, and has become an annual Arctic training operation. The navy is now rebuilding its expertise in operating in the Arctic. With the delivery of the first Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship, the RCN will have more capability to go North.
If you want to know more about the difficulties of operating in the northern areas of Canada, then take a look at the Naval Association of Canada Briefing Note “The RCN in the Arctic.” https://www.navalassoc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/BN15-RCN-and-Arctic.pdf
One thought on “The RCN in the Arctic?”
Canada’s navy has sporadically ventured into our Arctic waters in one form or another for many years now, but, with the exception of CFS Alert, has never been there on a continuous basis for any length of time. The AOPS along with the new jetty facilities will finally give the RCN a base of operations to patrol our Arctic territories and assert our sovereignty. Other surveillance options will also need to be explored. New satellite surveillance will help, but a fleet of MALE or HALE drones with communication suites to quickly assess targets and transmit information to bases in the south will be the next step. Another important step will be to acquire a new fleet of modern AIP submarines that can foray into the high Arctic on a continuous basis and give others ‘pause.’ This will not be easy and will be very expensive, however if Canada truly wants to keep our northern Arctic waters from being overtaken by others, then we must ‘bite the bullet’ and go the distance.