The coming $26 billion windfall for the Canadian Armed Forces. What to buy?

[Admiral Beez]

The CEO of Germany's TKMS was on the CBC a couple weeks ago and was pretty dismissive of the South Korean proposal, coming off as arrogant. Said they didn't need to publicize their bid like Hanwha was, because "we're the serious guys — we're Germans".

Arrogance (a dismissive attitude towards others), and hubris (a false sense of invincibility) has led the German people into trouble over more than 150 years. Nowadays, look how the Chinese are now taking over the EV business in Europe, a space where VW-Audi should be dominant.

Canada’s challenge for the submarines is that after the first German unit is rushed to deliver, the final boats won’t be delivered until well into the 2040s. Meanwhile the Koreans will have delivered all of the boats by the 2030s.

 

[wopchop]

Well, not Collingwood, but Hamilton just got a boost.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/mohawk-college-ontario-shipyards-hanwha-ocean-9.7096362

Major Development for Ontario’s Marine Sector Announced - Ontario Chronicle

Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. Mohawk College in Hamilton has established a new international...

ontariochronicle.ca

The Koreans are really sweetening the deal to get their subs across the finish line.

One of the advantages of Hanwha Korea is they can build like ten ships at once at their shipyard. All at various stages. Mass production to take advantage of economy of scale. I don't believe their US operation has space to do anything near that. A Canadian shipyard to make sense would also need to consider that.

The Hanwha Philly shipyard delivers around 1 ship a year. A South Korean Hanwha shipyard delivers 1 a week.

The Trump administration has called the floundering American shipbuilding industry an economic and national security crisis. Getting help from overseas may be one way to save the domestic industry.

www.cbsnews.com

Hanwha, which owns one of the only U.S. shipyards still building large commercial cargo ships, has its main shipyard in South Korea. While the Hanwha in Philadelphia rolls out around one ship a year, a South Korean Hanwha shipyard makes one a week.

"You might think, 'Well, seems like an easy problem to solve. Go build the ship, transport the gas,'" Grabow said. "Except the math doesn't work. If you want to build one of those ships in Asia, the cost is around $260 million; here in the United States? About $1 billion!"

The Philadelphia shipyard, now owned by Hanwha, was once a symbol of American might and innovation. Ships built there helped the U.S. win its independence in the 18th century, and WWII in the 20th.

Today, it's become a symbol of American industrial decline, a money loser falling decades behind global rivals. The yard still uses a crane from 1942.

Hanwha bought the Philadelphia shipyard in 2024 for $100 million, then poured in another $100 million and tasked David Kim, a Korean American born in Texas, to bring the yard into the 21st century. The company plans to spend $5 billion in Philadelphia. The hope is to eventually make 20 ships a year at the yard.

..

 

[Admiral Beez]

That said to be fair, that Arctic base won't be a year round thing. They'll end up kinda like what we do for Alert where we post in rotations of 6 months. Or we end up with some kind of manning cycle where various units have an obligation to staff the place for 4 months every 2-3 years.

Looks like it's a dog.

Great White Nothing: How Harper’s naval station became an Arctic white elephant - National | Globalnews.ca

The Nanisivik Naval Facility still languishes unfinished more than a decade past its completion date, amid a flurry of Arctic announcements from the Liberal government.

globalnews.ca

 

[Admiral Beez]

Korea’s sending one of its new subs 14,000 kms to Victoria, BC. I bet it doesn’t catch fire like the British one did.

Hanwha Ocean's KSS-III Submarine Departs for Canada - Canadian Defence Review

KSS-III submarine has departed for Canada, marking a milestone in bilateral defence cooperation between Canada and Korea.

canadiandefencereview.com

Imagine if after the 14,000 Km run to Esquimalt, the Koreans sail a further 10,000 Km northeast, including under the remaining ice, to Halifax, before sailing a further 20,000 km around Africa and home for a circumnavigation.

 

[lenaitch]

Looks like it's a dog.

Great White Nothing: How Harper’s naval station became an Arctic white elephant - National | Globalnews.ca

The Nanisivik Naval Facility still languishes unfinished more than a decade past its completion date, amid a flurry of Arctic announcements from the Liberal government.

globalnews.ca

The issue of pier settling/shifting isn't new. The Harper government tried to do something that looked pretty but on the cheap by trying to leverage abandoned existing facilities and, like most governments, was only interested in the announcement. Why they didn't want to build something near an existing facility, or even build/contract an ice-strengthened oiler is beyond me.

Korea’s sending one of its new subs 14,000 kms to Victoria, BC. I bet it doesn’t catch fire like the British one did.

Hanwha Ocean's KSS-III Submarine Departs for Canada - Canadian Defence Review

KSS-III submarine has departed for Canada, marking a milestone in bilateral defence cooperation between Canada and Korea.

canadiandefencereview.com

Imagine if after the 14,000 Km run to Esquimalt, the Koreans sail a further 10,000 Km northeast, including under the remaining ice, to Halifax, before sailing a further 20,000 km around Africa and home for a circumnavigation.

Not a bad 'full court press' demo ride. Top that Germany.

 

[guavadelic]

Defence Reporter Murray Brewster takes the government to task online for what he alleges is an increasing lack of transparency regarding recent defence expenditures.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2036915776444133620

Increasing defence spending currently enjoys broad support across Canada. However, that could change if its perceived the spending is being mismanaged or not transparent.