“RCN”

“Canada’s next submarine fleet will secure our coastlines and waters,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said early last month in announcing the choice of Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems as the preferred bidder for the country’s new underwater fleet.

Patrolling Canada’s three coasts will be part of the job for the fleet of up to a dozen state-of-the-art diesel-electric 212CD submarines, says retired vice-admiral Darren Hawco, who commanded Canada’s Atlantic Fleet and served as the nation’s military representative to NATO until 2020.

I’ll believe it when I see it. We’ll get 3 subs if we’re lucky.

A little over two years ago, the federal government announced it would be “exploring options” for the purchase of a new submarine fleet. Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the winning bid, for up to 12 diesel-electric submarines. He did so in advance of a visit to Ankara for the NATO leaders’ summit, where the deal between Canada and the German-Norwegian consortium TKMS was exhibit A in demonstrating our commitment to increased defence spending, a contentious issue for the Trump administration.

Canada will have to squeeze at least another decade of life out of its used British submarines as it waits for Germany to deliver up to 12 new vessels. But not everyone’s convinced that can be done.

The four diesel-electric subs the Royal Canadian Navy acquired from Britain in the late 1990s have been plagued with disasters, including floods, a deadly fire and a grounding that took the only operational sub we have right now out of action for a decade.

OTTAWA — Canada might not buy a full slate of 12 submarines through its new partnership with Germany and Norway because of factors like advancing technology in autonomous underwater machines, says the government’s secretary of state for defence procurement.

In an interview with the Star on Wednesday, Stephen Fuhr said the government has not settled on how many 212CD submarines it will ultimately buy as negotiations begin on the purchase of “up to” 12 of the modern diesel-electric craft from German-based shipbuilder TKMS.

It will take close to a decade before the submarines Canada wants to buy will have any in-the-sea impact on the country’s security.

But Prime Minister Mark Carney will nonetheless get a boost from Monday’s announcement immediately upon arrival Tuesday for the NATO Leaders’ Summit.

That’s because it’s right on track with the theme of this year’s gathering in Ankara.

There’s a good chance that Prime Minister Mark Carney could make a brief stop in Halifax on his way to the NATO Summit in Turkey this week.

Speculation has been building that the Royal Canadian Navy is preparing to announce the winner of its competition for a new submarine fleet, and Monday would be an ideal day to do it.

The South Korean submarine ROKS Dosan Ahn Chang-ho arrived off British Columbia’s coast on Saturday in a flashy showcase of Hanwha Ocean’s bid to secure Canada’s multibillion-dollar submarine contract.

The vessel is visiting Victoria and will take part in joint anti-submarine exercises with the Royal Canadian Navy.

The newly built 3,000-ton KSS-III submarine made the historic 14,000-kilometre trans-Pacific voyage to demonstrate its long-endurance capabilities to Canadian decision-makers.