sealift – Canadian Naval Review

New Capabilities Must Be Thoughtfully Developed

It has just recently come to my attention that Ken Hansen recycled here in 2011 much of his 2007 criticism in the Canadian Military Journal (CMJ) (see Link 1 below) […]

Expeditionary Operations: Is Syria next?

Word is reaching me that two Canadian infantry battalions, 3rd Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry Regiment and 3rd Royal Canadian Regiment, have received ‘warning orders’ to prepare for operations and possible […]

What could one 10,000-ton ship carry?

After my recent posts describing the SC and HX eastbound convoy systems, I received an email that said, in effect, “What was the big deal about loosing one ship out […]

Army theory and naval practice seldom meet in amphibious operations*

*Moderators Note: This post is extracted from an article published in the ‘Views and Opinions’ section of Canadian Military Journal (Summer 2007): 79-80. You can read the original article here. […]

How much capacity did Canada really have with MV Wloclawek?

Canada’s decision to terminate the lease agreement for MV Wloclawek (IMO Registration No.: 8302313, pictured above) leaves the military without ready access to a sealift capability. You can read more […]

Logjams and logistical challenges

On Tuesday, 19 January, Murray Brewster of the Canadian Press filed a report that described the logistical problems confronting the Canadian Forces as they ramped up for Operation Hestia. Quoting […]

JSS adrift in a strategic black hole*

[*Moderator’s Note: This article appeared originally as part of the ‘Plain Talk’ series in the Fall 2010 issue (Vol. 6, No. 3) of Canadian Naval Review.] Is the announcement of […]

RFA Bay-class landing ships worth considering

Two recently posted articles ask if Canada should purchase a surplus Bay-class Landing Ship Dock (Auxiliary) from the UK. The 2010 UK Strategic and Defence Review could result in one […]

Naval support to disaster relief/humanitarian assistance?

If the Canadian navy had possessed a large ship available to deploy in the case of such incidents as the Haitian Earthquake: an AOR, JSS, Large Deck Amphib, or a […]

Vindication for more visionary naval requirements and procurement programs

The government, national defence, naval priorities and expeditionary requirements have not been well served by explanations for reconsideration of the approved JSS program given the economic importance and operational urgency in replacement of the old fleet supply vessels. These […]

The strange silence on neglect of strategic seaborne mobility

Dear Senator Kenny, Bravo Zulu on a plainspoken wake up call to Canadians. Jack Granatstein’s classics – “Who Killed Canadian History?” and “Who Killed the Canadian Military?” have fallen on […]

Dr. Elinor Sloan’s comments from her book “Security and Defence in the Terrorist Era.”

Having just reviewed Dr. Sloan’s book (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2005) for Canadian Naval Review, her comments on the JSS are fresh in my mind. Sloan wrote that “rapid deployability is […]

History challenges uniformity in fleet structure and capability

In today’s Defence Watch by David Pugliese an unnamed Canadian naval officer laments that the lack of progress on naval construction and refitting will result in the navy being short […]

A Stunning Revelation about its Theoretic Effectiveness

An article by Thom Shanker in New York Times on 12 January contains essential new information about how U.S. Marine Lieutenant General. Paul K. Van Riper, acting as the ‘enemy’ […]

Leased commercial sealift

The cost factors Ken Hansen outlines demonstrate the ongoing need for sealift. Indeed, with sealift costs being between one-tenth and one-seventieth the cost of airlift, coupled with the fact that […]

Whether to Fly or Ship Vehicles for the Army: The virtues of sealift vs. airlift

The Pentagon’s request to Congress for $750M in ’emergency funding’ to move Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs) by air for use by U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq (detailed here) […]

The strategic and operational effectiveness of sealift

This plan (David Pugliese, “Forces to lease supply ship”, Daily News 18 July 2007, p.12) to charter a cargo ship for a period of a year or more was described […]

Contracting For Transportation

The Canadian navy’s sea-lift capacity has been mentioned previously in these quarters, in the context of the rumoured Conservative plan to pay-off the existing Protecteur-class replenishment ships a full two […]