Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ship AOPS

[Oldgateboatdriver]

CCG also bases a 1100 class in the Pacific as the Pacific region is responsible for the Western Arctic.

You mean the slush-breakers like the Martha L. Black? Same ice rating as the AOPS.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Oh we broke more than slush on the Pearkes.  ;D

We used to have the Pearkes and the Black on the west Coast, till we got screwed with the worn out stuff they sent us.

 

[ringo]

5 AOPS will be enough, base them all on East coast, likely all that can be built with current budget anyway.

Would prefer 6 C-17's and 5 AOPS rather than 6 AOPS and 5 C-17's. 

Would love to see Coast guard get three heavy icebreakers, build oilers overseas to save money.
 

 

[MarkOttawa]

Dream Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! on:

The Great Canadian National Shipbuilding Procurement Screw-Up (aka NSPS), Icebreaker Section, Part 2
https://cgai3ds.wordpress.com/2014/11/12/mark-collins-the-great-canadian-national-shipbuilding-procurement-screw-up-aka-nsps-icebreaker-section-part-2/

From DFO on the CCGS Diefenbreaker, supposed now to be delivered 2021-22 (hah!),
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/rpp/2015-16/SupplementaryTables/mcp-eng.html#s1.4

construction only to start after JSS are finished,
https://cgai3ds.wordpress.com/2015/06/15/mark-collins-new-canadian-coast-guard-vessels-sticker-shock-and-never-never-land-media-scrutiny/

and named in 2008 and then supposed to be in service in 2017! Swiftboating, eh?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/new-arctic-icebreaker-to-be-named-after-diefenbaker-1.772716

By the way the cost has already almost doubled from $720 million to $1.3 billion:
http://o.canada.com/news/coast-guards-new-icebreaker-to-cost-twice-as-much-as-originally-estimated

Bets on that new number?

Mark
Ottawa

 

[George Wallace]

Construction has started at Halifax Shipyard on first Arctic patrol ship

Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.

Construction starts at Halifax Shipyard on first Arctic patrol ship

The Canadian Press
Published Tuesday, September 1, 2015 6:27PM EDT
Last Updated Tuesday, September 1, 2015 7:55PM EDT

HALIFAX -- Irving Shipbuilding has started building Canada's first Arctic offshore patrol ship at the company's massive shipyard in Halifax.

Hundreds of employees gathered Tuesday in the new assembly hall as a huge sheet of cut steel was hoisted into place and a special ceremony was held to mark the occasion.

Kevin McCoy, president of Irving Shipbuilding, says welders, pipefitters, marine fabricators and ironworkers are involved in the project, which is on schedule.

"Today is a milestone we have all been anticipating," McCoy said in a statement. "It is a great day to be a shipbuilder in Nova Scotia as we mark the beginning of this generational opportunity."

The company says the ship will the first of up to 21 vessels that will renew Canada's fleet of warships over the next 30 years.

About 900 Irving employees are working on the project at two locations in the Halifax area, but that number is expected to jump to 1,600 over the next two years.

The federal government's $35-billion national shipbuilding strategy saw shipyards chosen to do the work in 2011.
Last September, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that the first patrol vessel would be named after Vice-Admiral Harry DeWolf, a Nova Scotia native who was one of Canada's most distinguished sailors during the Second World War. DeWolf's lengthy naval career included command of HMCS St. Laurent and HMCS Haida from 1939 until 1944.

In January, federal officials formally announced that Irving Shipbuilding had been awarded a $2.3-billion build contract for a total six Arctic patrol vessels.

The first patrol ship is expected to be completed in 2018. McCoy has said the final patrol ship will be delivered in 2022.

Irving Shipbuilding says employment at the company is expected to grow to 2,500 when peak production is reached with construction of the larger surface combatant vessels, which will replace Canada's current fleet of Halifax-class frigates and Iroquois-class destroyers.

Irving Shipbuilding, under the name Saint John Shipbuilding, was the lead contractor on the construction of the existing frigates in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s.

Video and more on LINK.

 

[Kirkhill]

Neat simulations - and very good to see steel being cut.

Further to George's post, here is the production schedule for the AOPS as presented in the Halifax Shipping News in January.

Link

Given that this is Sept 2015 and steel is being cut, as the plan projects - perhaps we can believe timeline.

 

[Underway]

Congrats, they are on time at the start of the schedule.  Now to see if it slips!

The unwritten part of that schedule is that the CSC is supposed to start in 2020, so if the 6th ship doesn't get built then they are going to have layoffs for a good portion of the workforce.  Not a big surprise, but something to consider.

Looking forward to 2018 when we can see these ships in the water!

 

[MarkOttawa]

It is curious that the timeline for the construction of the A/OPs shows very little reduction in the time to build each additional ship--learning curve?

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Well if they keep the timeframe looking the same and then finish early, they look good. Always overestimate the job by a bit and look good.

 

[Lumber]

How do we know that graphic wasn't produced and quietly released the day before steel was cut so it looks like they are on schedule?

 

[PuckChaser]

Your tinfoil hat might be too tight there...

 

[Kirkhill]

How do we know that graphic wasn't produced and quietly released the day before steel was cut so it looks like they are on schedule?

:facepalm:

Schedules are project management tools.  They are regularly reset to reflect reality, otherwise they become irrelevant and ineffective as planning aids.  They are future oriented documents.

Accountants, Politicians and Historians get hung up on them, like all other documents, when they go seeking ammunition.  By the time that they are paying attention: "it just doesn't matter".

 

[Blake Castelein]

I've been following this thread for quite some time and please forgive my ignorance, the closest thing to any sort of naval experience I have is being in the royal canadian sea cadets, but there's one 'issue' that perplexes about this ship.

If the heaviest armament on this ship is a 25mm gun, how can it be expected to hold up for a ship it's size in a defence role and/or on multinational exercises? I'm sure against an armed drug trafficking vessel or pirate ship it could get the job done, but my concern is when it is paired up against a first world naval ship.

I am aware that the CH-146 can and will provide extra firepower, but it will not be in the sky ready to respond to sudden threats 100% of the time as a standing missile defence system on the ship would.

Once again I'm just some ignorant 17 year old and the only ships I have ever been around are the Orcas, so I'm sorry if I just wasted anybody's time.

 

[Lumber]

I've been following this thread for quite some time and please forgive my ignorance, the closest thing to any sort of naval experience I have is being in the royal canadian sea cadets, but there's one 'issue' that perplexes about this ship.

If the heaviest armament on this ship is a 25mm gun, how can it be expected to hold up for a ship it's size in a defence role and/or on multinational exercises? I'm sure against an armed drug trafficking vessel or pirate ship it could get the job done, but my concern is when it is paired up against a first world naval ship.

I am aware that the CH-146 can and will provide extra firepower, but it will not be in the sky ready to respond to sudden threats 100% of the time as a standing missile defence system on the ship would.

Once again I'm just some ignorant 17 year old and the only ships I have ever been around are the Orcas, so I'm sorry if I just wasted anybody's time.

Short answer: it won't; it wasn't meant to.

 

[Blake Castelein]

Short answer: it won't; it wasn't meant to.

So is all the class can do is just break light ice and be a body up in the arctic to remind everyone we own it? And then if need be pick off little boats with the 25mm?

 

[Kirkhill]

So is all the class can do is just break light ice and be a body up in the arctic to remind everyone we own it? And then if need be pick off little boats with the 25mm?

Short answer: Yep.

Blake, I was overly flippant.  The AOPS is intended to be a mobile outpost of the federal government in the Arctic.  It will be a service base, an observation post and an command and control centre, that will control access during the navigation season and stay on station longer than most of the civilian vessels in the area.  It has enough firepower to convince most vessels in the area to comply the wishes of the nice officers of the RCN and the RCMP that are also likely to be on board.  As Lumber says, it wasn't meant to be a major combat vessel going toe-to-toe with submarines and frigates.  It can also respond to disaster relief events and Search and Rescue events.

Hope that helps and it is good that you are taking an interest in this stuff.

Cheers.

 

[Blake Castelein]

Short answer: Yep.

Blake, I was overly flippant.  The AOPS is intended to be a mobile outpost of the federal government in the Arctic.  It will be a service base, an observation post and an command and control centre, that will control access during the navigation season and stay on station longer than most of the civilian vessels in the area.  It has enough firepower to convince most vessels in the area to comply the wishes of the nice officers of the RCN and the RCMP that are also likely to be on board.  As Lumber says, it wasn't meant to be a major combat vessel going toe-to-toe with submarines and frigates.  It can also respond to disaster relief events and Search and Rescue events.

Hope that helps and it is good that you are taking an interest in this stuff.

Cheers.

Short answer: Yep.

Thanks for all the short answers!  ;D (no sarcasm intended)

Edited to add additional response: (I typed my reply before it was added)

Okay, thank you, that does make much more sense to me. I feel more reassured about the relevance of the AOPS now for sure, that's what I was mainly worried about. I'll be sending in my application in a couple years so maybe I'll get to crew one of these ships and see my question answered first hand  ;D

Cheers, Blake

 

[Kirkhill]

Thanks for all the short answers!  ;D (no sarcasm intended)

See above for the edit Blake.  And nice handling on the short answers.

 

[Blake Castelein]

See above for the edit Blake.  And nice handling on the short answers.

Fixed my reply above, and thanks ;D

 

[jollyjacktar]

Thanks for all the short answers!  ;D (no sarcasm intended)

Edited to add additional response: (I typed my reply before it was added)

Okay, thank you, that does make much more sense to me. I feel more reassured about the relevance of the AOPS now for sure, that's what I was mainly worried about. I'll be sending in my application in a couple years so maybe I'll get to crew one of these ships and see my question answered first hand  ;D

Cheers, Blake

Well, Blake, it will be a couple of years until they start to come into service.  You never know, your timing might just be right to get in as a plank owner (a member of the commissioning crew) of one of them.  Good luck.