The model of a class 212 CD submarine from the joint procurement program of the Norwegian and German navies at the Haakonsvern naval base.Annette Riedl/Reuters
A joint German-Norwegian project to build new diesel-electric submarines is pitching Canada to join the program, with one of the selling points being that Ottawa would get early access to a boat on the initial production line so it could meet targets for acquiring these new vessels.
In September, Canada formally began looking for up to 12 new under-ice capable submarines, as part of an effort to demonstrate to NATO members that Ottawa is boosting defence spending.
The federal government already ruled out buying nuclear-powered submarines that would have allowed Canada to operate for months underwater, saying it wants to buy less expensive, conventionally powered ships. Such submarines would normally run on a combination of diesel and electric batteries.
The list of possible suppliers for new submarines includes ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) in Germany, Saab in Sweden, Naval Group in France, Navantia in Spain and Hanwha Ocean and Hyundai in South Korea. The Department of National Defence has said it anticipates a contract award by 2028 and delivery of a first submarine “no later than” 2035.
The 212 CD is a submarine under development by TKMS for the Norwegian and German navies.
Tjorven Bellmann, the German ambassador to Canada, said the Germans and Norwegians have decided to each procure six subs under this program. She said if Canada agrees to buy the 212 CD, it would not have to wait until all 12 vessels had first been delivered to Germany and Norway.
“The idea would be, and the offer has been, that Canada wouldn’t have to go at the end of the queue,” Ms. Bellmann said.
The 212 CDs being built are designed to operate quietly with a reduced sonar signature. “It’s hard to detect, it’s basically stealth, and it can go under ice,” the German ambassador said.
An anti-torpedo torpedo is also in development in Germany that would work with the 212 CD, she said. Seventy per cent of NATO’s conventional submarine fleet comes from TKMS’s shipyard.
The Canadian military has said it needs 12 submarines to properly defend the country, based on the assumption that for high readiness only one of four submarines would be fit to deploy, with others under maintenance or used for training.
The commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, says circumstances now require a full complement of 12 by the early 2030s, when Canada’s aging Victoria-class boats will have reached the end of their useful life.
“The world has changed, and now we need submarines to actually defend Canada.”
He said the Victoria-class submarines Canada has had since the 1990s – after buying them used from Britain – have mostly served to help train Canadian sailors on how to defeat submarines, although they proved useful in helping catch ships illegally fishing in Canadian waters during the 1990s turbot conflict with Spain.
“The reason we operated submarines was not about actually what we could do with submarines; it was about training our surface force to defeat submarines,” Vice-Adm. Topshee said.
China and Russia are adversaries “who could potentially threaten us,” he said. “Both of those countries have weapons that could be launched from submarines and destroy things within Canada and the United States.”
Plus, he noted, Canada’s closest ally, the United States, has become mercurial.
U.S. President Donald Trump has disrupted decades of stable relations with Canada by repeatedly proposing to annex it. Mr. Trump has also persistently complained about Canada’s level of defence spending and said the Canadian government needs to shoulder more of the burden of defending itself.
“I would say absolutely right now, when our closest ally has proved to be unpredictable and potentially unreliable, I think we need to be able to make sure that we have the final and definitive deterrent in Canadian waters,” Vice-Adm. Topshee said.
Every submarine on the market that would be considered by Canada “has a significant advantage and a significant flaw,” he said.
“Every one of them comes with different trade-offs that we have to make, and we’re still working through what’s the right balance of trade-offs.”
The submarine requirements Canada is seeking do not include the ability to surface through the ice, an expensive extra feature that few classes of submarines have.
Vice-Adm. Topshee said Canada doesn’t see a need for the feature. Conventionally powered submarines can stay under ice for a “quite lengthy” period today, he said.
The only reason a submarine would need to immediately surface through ice would be a dire, life-or-death situation. In such an emergency, there is always a drastic option of blasting through the ice sheet. “If you really had to surface through the ice, you would fire a torpedo: It explodes, and all of a sudden, the ice is gone.”
Vice-Adm. Topshee said Canada could invest a “tremendous amount of money” in making sure our submarines punch through the ice. “That doesn’t mean it’s the right submarine for Canada. It only means it’s got this one unique skill that we might potentially require.”
Asked about the German-Norwegian offer that would give early access for Canada to submarine production, the Vice-Admiral said every submarine bidder is making promises right now, but Canada has to sort through them to figure out which boat best fits our needs.
“Every company that can sell us a submarine, like every salesman, will promise us the world till we sign a contract and realize that if we want the world, we need to pay an insane amount of money, and the right answer might be something else,” he said.