National Post – Military commanders and experts say subs are critical to defending Canada, including in the Arctic, as Russia and China build up their own underwater fleets.

(Thanks to Alain)

Globe and Mail – The Canadian military found and retrieved Chinese monitoring buoys in the Arctic this past fall, a development whose public exposure adds another item to a list of pressing concerns about Beijing’s interventions in Canadian affairs, including interference in recent federal elections.

(Thanks to Alain)

CIMSEC – Canada has been conducting annual Pacific deployments of strategic import, including Westploy in 2016, Operation Poseidon Cutlass in 2017, and Operation Projection since 2018. These deployments highlight increasing Canadian naval presence and naval exercising with other China-concerned partners in the region. The particularly successful Operation Projection of 2022 has complemented Canada’s recently-released Indo-Pacific Strategy and its maritime provisions for the future.

Defense News – The Royal Canadian Navy will have to continue relying on allies and a private firm to refuel its ships at sea after a project to build a new fleet of supply vessels was hit with more delays.

Breaking Defense – Media reports indicate a major Canadian investment in the Indo-Pacific is coming, and it’s not a moment too soon.

Global News – The Royal Canadian Navy is launching its long-anticipated push to replace Canada‘s beleaguered submarine fleet, setting the stage for what will almost certainly be an extremely controversial debate around the need for such vessels.

CTV News – For the first time in seven years, the Canadian navy expects to have three of its four submarines operating simultaneously by the end of 2021.

War Zone – Canada’s tiny submarine fleet has been in sad shape for years. Now with the return of HMCS Corner Brook that could start to change.

Naval News – The Canadian Coast Guard announced on 6 May 2021 that two Polar icebreakers will join its fleet to enhance Canada’s Arctic presence and provide critical services to Canadians.

CBC – A Canadian warship sailed through sensitive waters near China this week amid heightened tensions between the two countries.

Canadian Navy – Canada’s next-generation frigate is putting on weight and will cost more money than originally projected, according to a new cost analysis.

CBC – It will be 2031, at the earliest, before the navy sees the first of its new frigates; a setback brought about partly by the fact Canada, Britain and Australia are still feeling their way around how to build the ultra-modern warship.

Naval News – An interview with Admiral Art McDonald, Canada’s Chief of the Defence Staff. The former Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy spoke about the importance of cooperation with regional countries including Japan and his country’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific region.

War Zone – The Royal Canadian Navy’s Victoria class diesel-electric submarine HMCS Corner Brook will be out of commission until at least next summer after a recent leak caused damage to the boat, which has already been undergoing maintenance for some six years. The plight of the Corner Brook in many ways reflects the at best disappointing service career of all four of the Victorias, which Canada first agreed to acquire second-hand from the United Kingdom more than two decades ago and that have spent far more time laid up than at sea.

Naval News – The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) released the latest details on the configuration of its next generation frigates: the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC). They will be heavily armed, featuring Naval Strike Missiles, Tomahawk and both ESSM and Sea Ceptor.

– Naval News – HMCS Harry DeWolf, the first of six Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS), was delivered on 31 July to the Royal Canadian Navy.

– Forbes – The Canadian navy is about to get its first new large warship in two decades. But HMCS Harry DeWolf, the first of up to eight Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessels, is all but unarmed. Her only organic weapon is a 25-millimeter cannon on her forward deck.

– Naval News – The Government of Canada is modernizing its fleet of 14 CP-140 Aurora aircraft. The Aurora Incremental Modernization Project (AIMP) involves 23 individual projects to acquire, integrate and install new mission systems and sensors onto the CP-140 for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. This project is being executed in a phased approach with four blocks; blocks I, II and III are complete, and block IV is now in the implementation phase.

– USNI News – The Canadian Coast Guard will be procuring six new program icebreakers to replace its current aging fleet of icebreakers.

– NPR – Cambodia’s prime minister has denounced as “fake news” a report in The Wall Street Journal that his country had signed a secret deal to allow Chinese warships to use a naval base in the Gulf of Thailand.

– Defense News – The Royal Canadian Navy is moving toward Britain’s Type 26 frigate design, a multimission ship designed to cut through the water quietly, hunt submarines, and defend against hostile missiles and aircraft.

– War Zone – The Canadians have already spent more than a decade working to identify a replacement for their aging Halifax-class frigates.

– CBC – The MV Asterix is the first naval ship to be delivered since the launch of the National Shipbuilding Strategy. Built in Germany, the former container ship was converted to a naval support ship at the Davie Shipyard in Quebec. The Asterix will replace HMCS Preserver and HMCS Protecteur, two supply ships no longer in service.

– Breaking Defense – The contest to build Canada’s next warship just kicked into high gear, and it’s a preview of the US Navy’s own frigate competition, with many of the same players.