Federal Fleet Services is in the final stages of converting a European-built containership into an auxiliary oiler replenishment (AOR) ship for the Royal Canadian Navy. According to Project Resolve, the ship will be able to assist with humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) in addition to performing replenishment at sea for task groups. (cnw group, davie shipbuilding)
(Volume 24-5)
By David Pugliese
Davie Shipbuilding says that its Resolve-class auxiliary oiler replenishment (AOR) vessel is heading into its final stages. The company announced May 1 that the “accommodation block” for the ship had arrived. The accommodation module was built in Europe by Almaco.
“While 85 per cent of the entire project was completed in Canada, the approximately 15 per cent we outsourced to Finland was in an area where Canada is no longer at the cutting edge and that is in marine accommodation outfitting,” explained Spencer Fraser, CEO of Federal Fleet Services. “Through the partnership with Almaco, there is a technology transfer which will result in the development of a new production line at Davie dedicated to the fabrication of pre-outfitted accommodation modules for future programs.”
Alex Vicefield, chairman of Davie Shipbuilding added, “This is not just about allowing us to meet the fast-track schedule to deliver Canada an urgently-needed naval supply ship. This is about developing a new set of skills which doesn’t currently exist in the Canadian shipbuilding industry.”
He noted the project is a demonstration of how shipbuilding programs can be delivered rapidly and at a significantly lower cost by building ship sections at different sites for assembly at a central location.
The conversion of the commercial vessel Asterix into a Resolve-class AOR involved stripping the modern vessel down to its bare hull and main propulsion system and then rebuilding the entire ship to military specifications, Davie noted. The conversion was designed and engineered in Canada and incorporates Canadian naval technology such as an Integrated Navigation and Tactical Bridge System from OSI in Vancouver, a STREAM-type replenishment-at-sea system from Hepburn Engineering in Ontario, and an entire Integrated Platform Management System from L3 MAPPS in Montreal, Davie said.
Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) celebrated the production of its 100,000th engine in May. The firm noted the milestone is a testament its longevity and leadership in the global aerospace market. P&WC, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., has 60,000 in-service engines operated by 12,300 customers in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The firm pointed out that its engine families span across general aviation, regional turboprops, business aviation, civil helicopters and auxiliary power units and total 730 million flight hours logged.
Pratt & Whitney Canada’s reach is so extensive that every second a P&WC-powered aircraft takes off or lands somewhere on the planet
Lockheed Martin Canada has been shortlisted by the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) to compete for the role of Combat Systems Contractor for the Finnish Navy’s new corvette program, known as Squadron 2020. Four ice-capable Squadron 2020 vessels are being designed to replace the Finnish Rauma-class fast-attack missile boats and Hämeenmaa-class minelayers which will reach the end of their life-cycle by the mid-2020s.
In December 2016, the FDF issued a qualification solicitation to 12 international combat system integration companies. The FDF has now shortlisted three companies to move forward over the next year in a competition. The selected Combat Systems Contractor will work with the native shipyard, Rauma Marine Constructions, to deliver the new ships.
“This is a fantastic testament to our Canadian-developed CMS 330 and integration capability — further validation of our world-leading offer in the international naval systems market,” Rosemary Chapdelaine, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Canada RMS (Rotary and Missions Systems), said in a statement. “Work on this program would be performed in our Kanata, Montreal, and Halifax locations; including manufacturing of the combat management system hardware in our production facility in Ottawa as well as software and systems development, integrated systems testing and trials in our Montreal and Halifax facilities,” she added.
DCNS delivered the FREMM multi-mission frigate Auvergne to the French Navy, as stipulated in the contract, on April 11. “The delivery of the FREMM Auvergne represents an opportunity to applaud the industrial and technological prowess of DCNS and its subcontractors. The frigate Auvergne illustrates our capacity to produce and deliver on time a series of front-line combat vessels to satisfy the needs of our client navies,” Nicolas Gaspard, director of the FREMM program at DCNS, said in a statement. On completion, the FREMM program will represent the construction of 10 vessels on the DCNS Lorient site, of which eight are for the French Navy. Six FREMM are to be delivered to the French Navy before the end of 2019.
DCNS is currently completing the FREMM Bretagne, which was floated on September 16, 2016, and is pursuing the assembly of the FREMM Normandie. Work has already started on the ninth FREMM in the series, the Alsace, which will be one of the two FREMMs with strengthened anti-aircraft capacities, whose deliveries are scheduled before 2022.
Davie Shipbuilding is once again highlighting its Project Resolute — a plan to provide Canada with the world’s four most powerful, privately-owned multi-role icebreakers at what it says is a fraction of the cost of building from scratch. The firm is promoting their design as an affordable and timely solution to meet the Canadian Coast Guard capability shortages.
Project Resolute was developed as part of an official solicitation from the government of Canada seeking solutions to meet our country’s icebreaking and oil-spill response capability requirements.
Rheinmetall AG announced it has won two important first orders for protecting sensitive government infrastructure from aerial drones. In Switzerland, the central prison in Lenzburg and the inter-cantonal penitentiary in Bostadel have contracted with the Düsseldorf-based high-tech group to install drone detection equipment known as the Radshield System.
Consisting of an array of video cameras, infrared sensors and radars, these sophisticated surveillance systems will monitor the grounds and airspace of these facilities day and night, detecting any flying object — not just drones but also model airplanes and balloons, Rheinmetall noted in a news release.
“Due to go into operation soon, these systems will make a significant contribution to countering attempts to smuggle in contraband such as weapons, drugs, tools and mobile phones,” the firm added.
In addition, the system can also detect objects thrown over walls and fences, even when they measure only a few centimetres in diameter.
Drone intrusions are on the rise around the world and in recent years there has been an upsurge in the use of remotely controlled aerial drones to fly contraband into prisons, the company added.
Rosborough Boats of Nova Scotia will build 12 multi-role rigid hull rescue boats, two for each of the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) Irving Shipyard is building for the Royal Canadian Navy. (rosborough)
Irving Shipbuilding Inc. has awarded Nova Scotia boat builder Rosborough Boats a $7.3-million contract to provide Multi-Role Rescue Boats for the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS).
Rosborough Boats will construct two of their Rough Water 8.5-metre rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB) for each of the six AOPS vessels being constructed at Irving Shipbuilding’s Halifax Shipyard.
ADGA Group received a recent contract to provide expertise to DND with the implementation of SSC Telecommunication and Network Transformation across the Defence department and Canadian military.
Jean-Pierre Lachance, president of ADGA Group, said the firm is “proud to provide professional services to assist the transition of DND/CAF employees to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony.”
L3 WESCAM has joined forces with Taqnia Defense and Security Technology Co. (DST). In February the two companies signed a long-term service centre agreement to open a WESCAM Authorized Service Center (WASC) in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
DST is wholly owned by Saudi Development and Investment Technology Company (Taqnia), which is 100 per cent owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF). DST’s objectives are to establish, develop, produce, and transfer defence and security technologies in cooperation with strategic international and national partners.
