The budget this week had some new capital acquisitions listed.
Here is a quick and dirty look at a couple of the proposed purchases.
1. New amphibious ships. The federal Conservatives got overly excited last summer talking about ships that were basically way more than Canada needed.
Canada needs ships that can carry about a battalion of soldiers plus equipment (700 soldiers plus wheeled vehicles) and get them ashore by helicopter and landing craft. This is part of a revamping of Canada's strategic lift capability.
The Royal Navy just finished buying a new Ocean and Albion class landing ships. These are too small for Canada's purposes and are not significantly better than the multi-purpose support ship being considered by the Canadian navy as a replacement for its existing fleet replenishment ships. They can't do the replenishment task, at least as built.
The Americans have the most sophisticated inventory of amphibious ships. While some of the smaller types fit the bill for transporting personnel and vehicles, they don't have the ability to serve as fleet replenishment ships for refueling and resupply at sea.
The solution here - short of a costly redesign and rebuild - might wind up being a purchase of two new vessels. The navy could buy off-the-shelf amphibious vessels and look at an existing or proposed commercial design adapted for the replenishment task.
2. Medium lift helicopters. The Canadian Forces (CF) lost a major helicopter lift capability in the early 1990s when the CF sold off its Chinooks to the Dutch. Now we are looking to regain the same capacity.
Options include:
- new or rebuilt Chinooks;
- the EH-101 already in service as the Cormorant;
- a military version of the S-92 just purchased for the navy;
- something Russian like the Mi-8 or Mi-17.