The discussion in this BLOG on the NSPS has tended towards several themes. First, a belief that the Canadian Navy is proposing a fleet that is based on Cold War requirements which are no longer valid and too expensive. Second that we need to have a Fleet that includes the […]
future surface combatants
10 posts
*Moderator’s Note: This statement was my comment on the Naval Affairs Discussion of the Naval Association of Canada. The issue of submarines is being badly mishandled. The NSPS does not address future maritime security or sea power holistically. Australia has determined that submarines are central for their security and have […]
The F-35 “Lightning II” is a ‘5th generation’ fighter. It has capabilities that will theoretically allow Canadian air power to counter and defeat all potential threats for a period of decades while reducing attrition and sustainment requirements. (A set of briefing slides entitled “Canada’s Next Generation Fighter Capability” can be […]
Dave Shirlaw, editor and publisher of the on-line SeaWaves Magazine, wrote this commentary in the December 8th issue: “With the upcoming retirement of USS Enterprise in 2011, [the] Canadian destroyer Iroquois will become the world’s oldest frontline surface combatant. Iroquois will enter the Irving Halifax Shipyard next week for yet […]
*Moderators Note: This article is reprinted with permission from Seaways, Journal of the Nautical Institute, October 2009, pp. 25-26 After 16 months of careful preparation and stage managed partial disclosures, the orchestrated launch of “Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030” declared an apparent security paradigm for the […]
Many pundits were surprised by the extent of the overdue 2013 National Defence Review’s re-positioning of Canada’s traditional defence assumptions and, in particular, its revitalisation of the navy. Afghanistan and Somali had both provided belated impetuses for a doctrinal shift away from conventional Cold War thinking towards that required for […]
The fall out of the recent federal election, amidst the worldwide economic swirl, opens an opportunity for the Canadian government to invest in Canadian jobs and Canadian technology through Canada’s navy building sustainable long-term employment and, at the same time, increase Canada’s overall security and ability to execute a robust […]
Buoyed by the successful shooting down of a satellite by USS Lake Erie in February, supported by a well-informed congress, and concerned with the proliferation of ballistic missile technology, the USN is pressing ahead with plans to expand the Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) capabilities of their surface fleet. Speaking on […]
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the long awaited "Canada First Defence Strategy" (CFDS) yesterday. Or, as a cynic might put it, he repackaged several old announcements and planning document details, and attempted to pass it off as something new. The much awaited details? The Tories are serious about the North […]
I too am a subscriber to the "tyranny of distance" thesis, as well as that "size matters" in providing seakeeping platform stability for systems effectiveness as well as creature comforts. However, there is also much to be said for Ken Hansen's thesis, if I may paraphrase, that "good enough is […]