A consortium led by BAE Systems has been tapped to provide the Royal Canadian Navy's (RCN) next generation of frigates. On Friday, Irving Shipbuilding, the Canadian Surface Combatant Prime Contractor for the Canadian Government, awarded the contract to Lockheed Martin Canada to build 15 ships based on Britain's Type 26 frigate at the company's Halifax Shipyard as part of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy with BAE providing the variant modifications.
Today's announcement is the latest step in the RCN's procurement project to replace the Canadian fleet's aging Iroquois and Halifax-class warships. The award is the result of a four-way contest that included variants of the Dutch De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate. Britain's Type 26 frigate, Spain's F-105 frigate, and the Franco-Italian FREMM-ER multipurpose frigate.
The final award went to the consortium led by BAE systems with its partners CAE, L3 Technologies, MDA and Ultra Electronics, and Lockheed Martin Canada.
The new frigate will be based on the Type 26 frigate currently being built by BAE Systems for the Royal Navy, with HMS Glasgow the first of the new class. The state-of-the-art warship is intended for blue water operations, including anti-submarine warfare, fleet support, patrols, and air defense. The Canadian variant will be built domestically and will include modifications to suit the missions of the RCN as well as communications, weapons, and sensors supplied by Canadian vendors.
"The selection of the Type 26 design for the Canadian Surface Combatant reinforces its position as one of the world's most advanced anti-submarine warships and showcases the strength of British innovation on the global stage," says Andrew Wolstenholme, Group Managing Director, BAE Systems Maritime and Land UK. "This is great news for the company, the sector and our Naval Ships business and continues to build on our recent success in Australia for the Hunter Class Frigate program. It provides solid foundations within the export market and demonstrates the excellent design of the Global Combat Ship."
Source: BAE Systems
