Federal Fleet Services announced the Canadian government has exercised the remaining three option years for Combat Support Ship Asterix (U.S. Defense Dept. photo)
By David Pugliese
Federal Fleet Services announced that the Canadian government has exercised the remaining three option years under their unique Provision of Services Agreement (PSA) for Combat Support Ship Asterix. In addition to the provision of the Asterix, Federal Fleet Services provides personnel to operate and maintain the vessel, while the Royal Canadian Navy assigns mission specialists.
The original contract for Asterix was for an initial five-year period followed by five optional years, and an option to purchase the vessel, which remains in effect.
"Since 2018, Combat Support Ship Asterix has circumnavigated the globe several times working with NATO and other allied navies in military and humanitarian operations in the world's most hostile regions – from the Persian Gulf to East Africa, the South China Sea and the Korean Peninsula,” John Schmidt, President of Federal Fleet Services said in a statement. “In that time, the ship has performed flawlessly, without a single day of unplanned downtime.”
Alex Vicefield, CEO of the Inocea Group noted in a statement that Combat Support Ship Asterix has become an indispensable strategic enabler for Canada's blue water naval operations.
“In an increasingly volatile world, we continue to make major strategic investments in Asterix to meet emerging threats and challenges,” he added.
Asterix has come a long way since it was unveiled on July 20, 2017 at the Davie yards in front of Canadian Armed Forces senior leaders and federal, provincial and municipal politicians.
The 26,000-tonne Asterix, a commercial vessel converted for naval resupply purposes by Davie Shipbuilding in Quebec and leased to the Canadian government by the firm’s affiliate Federal Fleet Services, has been fully integrated into the RCN’s fleet for years now.
The $670 million project has provided the RCN for the first time since 2015 with its own capability to refuel and resupply its ships.
The project involved the conversion of a modern, European built containership into an Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment ship. Under a lease agreement, Federal Fleet Services provides the ship and a civilian crew to operate the vessel. Royal Canadian Navy personnel are on board to handle communications and the actual transfer of supplies and fuel to warships.
The price tag included the conversion of Asterix, the lease of its services to the Royal Canadian Navy for the initial five years, maintenance and the salaries of a civilian crew to operate the vessel.
The RCN has a commanding officer on board the vessel to oversee military personnel while that officer does tactical level liaison with Federal Fleet Services, directing how the ship is used for the Navy’s operations.
The size of the RCN crew fluctuates. It can range from 45 to 67 sailors, depending on the training or operations underway.
Rheinmetall’s PATH A-kit controlled two HX trucks received kudos at a recent European robotic competition held at a German military test facility. (Photo: Rheinmetall)
Rheinmetall announced Aug. 30 that its Interoperable Robotic Convoy (InterRoC) team, consisting of the Research & Technology division of Rheinmetall Landsysteme and Rheinmetall Canada Inc., won first prize in the European Land Robot Trial 2024 which took place at the German military’s technical centre for land-based systems. The company won in the competition’s ‘Automated Convoy’ category.
The combination of HX truck and integrated PATH autonomy kit proved its worth in the competition, the firm noted.
The Rheinmetall PATH autonomy kit (‘PATH A-Kit’) is an AI-supported navigation system that can be installed in almost any vehicle. It has already proven itself several times in trials in various platforms, including in the Mission Master robotic vehicle family, Rheinmetall pointed out. Just last year, it was successfully used in the 2023 Estonia Unmanned Ground Systems Autonomy Trials. At ELROB 2024, the PATH A-Kit controlled two of the highly mobile HX logistics vehicles as part of the convoy scenario, Rheinmetall noted. Both HX vehicles were also equipped with a drive-by-wire system.
The level of difficulty of this year's tasks was significantly increased compared to the 2022 competition, the firm added. The autonomously driving trucks and the convoy commander had to react to dynamic obstacles, alternative routes and various electromagnetic interferers, among other things.
The HX vehicles had to overcome eleven different obstacles on a six- km circuit. The most difficult challenges included narrow paths, transitions between on-road and off-road driving, navigating through open and dense forests, communication interference, reversing and driving around obstacles. “The course was very challenging. The organisers did a fantastic job of making the competition a realistic military scenario and our performance shows that the Rheinmetall PATH-A kit is ready for real-world use cases,” said Paul Rocco, Managing Director of Rheinmetall Provectus. The company was acquired by Rheinmetall Canada in 2019.
The competition organizers also surprised the Rheinmetall team by bringing a car into their convoy, the company stated. This forced the following truck to slow down and navigate around the moving obstacle. The convoy was also broken up, so the team had to remotely control the following truck on a parallel path and reconfigure the convoy to make the remote-controlled truck the new convoy leader.
Meanwhile, as part of its quest to secure an even greater portion of the U.S. military market, Rheinmetall has purchased Loc Performance Products, LLC, a vehicle specialist based in Plymouth, Michigan.
The acquisition expands Rheinmetall’s business with the U.S. military, increases its industrial base in the USA and creates further access for its technologies in North America, according to the firm. Rheinmetall says it is strengthening its production capacities in the U.S. with a view to targeted high-volume major orders for U.S. Army vehicle programs with a total potential of over $60 billion (U.S.). Rheinmetall is one of two remaining participants in the current prototype phase of the XM30 program. This program serves to introduce a new generation of infantry fighting vehicles for American ground forces. That could see the eventual production of around 4,000 infantry fighting vehicles.
In addition, Rheinmetall is participating in the U.S. Army’s CTT (Common Tactical Truck) program. That program is expected to acquire as many as 40,000 trucks. The U.S. Army seeks to field the new vehicles starting in 2028.
"We are making this investment because we have a clear strategy for growth and the United States will be an important core market for us in the coming years,” Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall AG, noted in a statement.
Loc Performance has three facilities and 1,000 employees. It builds a variety of structures including turrets, armoured cabs and long-range missile body components.
