Canada's vast shipbuilding plan still at starting line

Glad my old man got to miss all this utter idiocy.

It's just sad to watch this once proud industry swirling the bowl.

Well, the Canadian Navy at least looks pretty impressive on paper.

The promises made by this government aren't worth the paper they're wasted on.

For a great country Canada sure has the politics of an open sewer, especially when it comes to any kind of military/government procurement. I rip on the austerity pricks all the time, and for good reason too IMO. But spending eight-to-ten times as much for an item that can be built elsewhere much more efficiently and less expensive, all so the PMO and the local MP's can crow about 'look at all the jobs we created!' is just sheer fucking insanity. It gets even worse afterwards considering that the new shipyards are going to be so uncompetitive due to how much it costs to have anything built there that they will never be able to survive on their own if/when their government contracts dry up. The Tories doing something like this is bad enough. That every other federal political party would have also done the exact same stupid thing is what takes it from merely dumb to blatantly crazy.

Well for years now the conservatives have made hay with the idea that they are the natural 'friend' of the military. Im more convinced that on defence issues they are as bad as other party

No Canadian party has been the friend of the military. None, but then neither really are many Canadians. Sure we pay lip service to it, we thank the services etc but when push comes to shove WE the Canadian public are the first to make fun of the CF. OOO we only have one ship, or one gun anyway 'hahahaah'...we are our own worst enemy.

You can't have it both ways, you either say it's important and fund it, maintain a basic level of readiness (which takes years, most military capabilities isn't something you can just turn on when you decide..oo there is a threat now, we need it by next week)or you don't. For some reason this nation thinks military is 'merican' but then we are like anyone else yelling and screaming, 'where's the military'..well guess what time to fckn grow up!

Well, they're saving up money to buy our votes later in the year and I guess, buying Naval vessels doesn't translate into votes. It translates into responsible governance, but not into bums in seats in the Commons.

I have to laugh at people who think that after a twenty year sabbatical, the ship building industry in Canada would be building ships immediately after the NSPS program was announced. The entire industry was dead and had to be retooled.

True, all true. I knew a guy working on the TRUMP refit way back circa 1990 and he said exactly the same thing about the Frigates on the ways at the time ... that we build warships so sporadically that we have to relearn how to do it each time around. In all fairness, there is a major revolution in warship design going on simultaneously ... super stealth, tunnel hulls, electric linear accelerator guns, sea-borne drones ...

IF we get a cutting edge, leading design warship out of this (as was the New Tribal 280 class all those decades go) the wait could be worth it. As meek as our efforts seem to have been, Canadians have designed grade "A" warships every time we tried.

In my 20-some years of reading military news, the headline doesn't seem to change much. Wake me when we actually take delivery of something interesting.

In case any of you feel that Canada's traditional expertise in antisubmarine warfare is no longer necessary, ...


http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/nor ... id=DELLDHP

What ASW is left in the RCN lol. The RCN loose's more ships then gain.

What are you guys complaining about? Who needs the boats-we have the jets don't we?

Ah but in mutual Defense of Canada and her Citizens, you need more then Aircraft to project and protect and self defend your turf.