First submarine in new Canadian fleet won’t be operational until 2037, navy confirms

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Canada’s proposed new submarines will be required to launch and recover underwater drones and patrol covertly for a minimum of 21 days, defence industry representatives have been told.

But the first submarine won’t actually be operating with the Royal Canadian Navy until 2037, noted various Department of National Defence (DND) briefings obtained by the Ottawa Citizen.

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Defence Minister Bill Blair’s office announced Sept. 16 that information will be requested from naval firms about their capabilities in building the new boats.

But naval officers have already outlined to the companies what they need for the new submarines in a series of briefings presented over the last two years and obtained by the Ottawa Citizen. More details have also been added with the government’s recently issued request for information that was provided to companies.

The new subs will have to be capable of operating undetected for a range of 7,000 nautical miles, as well as a minimum of 21 days of continuous dived operations.

The briefings to industry stipulated that the subs be capable of no less than 60 days of self-sustained operations. On board communication systems must be compatible with the U.S. military.

The submarines will be able to deploy and recover drones as well as smaller crewed underwater systems, industry officials have also been told.

Even though Blair stated that information is now being gathered the project will take 13 years to actually deliver an operational submarine. Canada doesn’t expect to have initial operating capability for the first sub until 2037, according to the briefings. The Royal Canadian Navy does not have an idea at this time when the entire fleet will be available.

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The boats will need to operate under the ice in the Arctic but only for limited periods of time.

No details have been released about the budget for the project, but former naval officers who have examined the request for information told the Ottawa Citizen that the cost of the program will be in the $100 billion range.

The documents presented to industry Sept. 16 requested information on the production cost for acquiring eight or 12 submarines.

Canadian defence officials have already met with officials from South Korea, Spain, France and Sweden about conventional-powered subs. Norway and Germany have also pitched Canada about a program for such subs.

The Conservative party has supported an immediate replacement program for the Victoria-class submarines.

Canada currently operates four used Victoria-class submarines bought second hand from the British. Those were delivered between 2000 and 2004.

DND spokeswoman Frédérica Dupuis noted the Victoria-class submarines service life comes to an end between 2034 through 2040, and Canada’s intent is to avoid a capability gap in that time period.

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In April 2023, the Ottawa Citizen reported that the Royal Canadian Navy had made a pitch to the Liberal government for the purchase of as many as 12 new conventional-powered submarines at an initial cost of $60 billion. The navy had been pushing for the acquisition of those submarines to be included in the Liberal government’s Defence Policy Update, but that wasn’t done.

But increasing pressure from Canada’s allies to spend more on defence put the submarine purchase back on the agenda.

During the April 8, 2024 announcement of the government’s new defence policy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested that nuclear submarines might also be considered by Canada.

DND officials later confirmed that nuclear submarines are not being considered.

Besides the multi-billion dollar price tag for the submarines there are other potential hurdles for the proposed purchase.

In the past, the navy has had trouble training enough submariners to crew its current fleet of four boats, let alone eight or 12 new boats.

In addition, while the Canadian Forces has suggested the time needed to complete the purchase could be quite long.

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“The procurement timeline from project establishment to contract award is highly specific to the project, but staff analysis has shown that the procurement of a new submarine class will take a minimum of 15 years total from project establishment to first delivery and could exceed 25 years depending on the adopted procurement strategy,” DND and military officials told then-Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan in a briefing note on Jan. 6, 2021.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, including exclusive content for subscribers only, sign up here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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